My experience with Earth Month Challenge was pretty good. It was cool knowing that what I was doing was for the benefit of the Earth. One night I was hanging out in my room with Katie and Bugg and she was looking up facts about red meat for a project in a different class, but they were very interesting; such as 50% of water in the U.S. goes to raising livestock and about 75% of grain goes to raising red meat livestock. It was very educational because I knew a lot of our resources went towards the raising of livestock but I never knew how much and knowing that is more powerful than just knowing ‘a lot’ is used. The challenge surprisingly wasn’t that hard. I was shocked that I didn’t crave meat at all during the days that I wasn’t able to eat meat. I think that was due to the fact that there was plenty of other options for food which is great for a campus to provide such things. One thing I’ve learned about myself is that I am able to dedicate myself to a plan and stick to it, that it isn’t that difficult when I put my mind to it, which isn’t very original. However, I had been very good at things like that, but lately I had been doubting myself about whether I had that dedication and discipline anymore and it was nice to realize that it was still there. I also learned that I complain about things a lot and need to work on not oding that as much because it annoys the people around me, but I think I did better towards the end of my challenge. I won’t continue my challenge as far as my third and fourth week because I still like meat, even after learning those facts. However, I will have more days where I eat vegetarian, like meatless Mondays and such because I know even a little bit can help. I think this activity is a really good idea because it can be enlightening, if you choose the right challenge. I know that some people chose challenges that are difficult to do, especially on a college campus, so they had good intentions, but were unable to follow through as much as they may have wanted.

The Last few places we visited were the Audubon Society, Schmidt’s Fudge Haus, and Schiller Park. At the Audubon, we visited the obstacle course and climbed all over the monkey bars and wooden beams trying to get a good picture and just having a fun time goofing around. I definitely want to go back there because I think it would be a great resource to help get in shape and would be very fun to go through with friends! After that we went to Schmidt’s Fudge Haus which was awesome. There was a lot of fudge and chocolate, but a lot of cool merchandise as well. After a few minutes looking around and figuring out what to buy, we all checked out. When it was my turn, the guy rung me up and accidentally rung something up twice perhaps because the total was way more than it should have been so then he was trying to fix it. My total was $11.54 so I got $10 out an asked for the rest on my card and he said “Let’s just make it an even $10”. I was surprised and tried to give him the card but he said no, that he had already made me wait so long while he’s tried to figure out my total. It was so nice and something that’s so nice about little private owned shops because they do small things like that and are so friendly that they just make your day. Last on our list was Schiller Park. This park was so pretty with dogs all around playing with each other and the sun made everything so beautiful, especially this amazing little island that had an adorable tilting willow tree that looked so picturesque. I was very jealous when we were walking back to the car because there was a girl lying in the sun in the grass reading a book and it looked like a really good time. Both Schmidt’s and Schiller Park are places I would recommend for people to visit, especially because they get you to go down and just see German Village which is beautiful in and of itself.

              My favorite experience has to be when we visited the book loft. That place it so adorable and just the atmosphere there is so calming and relaxing. It would be a great place to go for a break from studying for finals. It was also fun going there with friends and looking through all the books, especially the kid’s books because it was so nostalgic and made you think of your childhood and how stress free it was! I learned that I need to explore my city more because from what I have explored so far, it has so many little gems hidden here and there are must-sees. From watching the documentary on German Village, I learned that the Germans were one of the largest ethnic groups fighting for the Union and that Ohio was one of three of the largest providers of German born soldiers, one of the ways they gained acceptance into society in Columbus. For someone else trying to complete this to do list, I would strongly encourage them to go with friends because it makes the experience ten times better than if you were to do it alone. I would also recommend to visit it during the day when it’s nice out because you can really appreciate the skill and the beauty of everything it has to offer.

       My third week actually went well and pretty smoothly. I was supposed to do vegetarian for Monday-Friday. As I said last week I had a problem of complaining about it too much, well not necessarily complaining, but just bringing it up a lot and talking about what I could or couldn’t eat depending on where I or we went to eat. Anyways, it also wasn’t that hard to find food to eat so I actually ended up eating vegetarian Monday thru Sunday afternoon and ate a turkey sandwich for dinner. Unfortunately I haven’t really been able to use any of my resources because I don’t have time to cook or go to a restaurant so I’m just utilizing the dining halls and the RPAC. Personally I don’t think there’s anything I need to do to help with my challenge since it’s going pretty well. Something I’ve learned about myself is that if I apply myself and focus, I can do a challenge like this, and can do it without “complaining”.

       I anticipate that next week should go just as smoothly since I basically did my fourth week challenge this week. What’s also interesting is I am fine not eating meat. I’m not craving it and I feel fine without it. I forgot to ask how to figure out the CO₂ and financial savings so I still can’t relay that, but I’m going to assume that I’m saving a lot of money and CO₂.

My second challenge week went pretty well. Monday was tough because I went to Morrill for dinner with Katie and didn’t know what to get because since I couldn’t have meat I was unsure as to what to get as the main part of my meal because the only options were a bunch of sides. That’s where Katie said I was wrong because we weren’t made to eat as much meat as we do today. She broke down what each meal should mostly consist of and it was very interesting to think of and realize. Wednesday and Friday weren’t as difficult but I did have to think more about what options I could have, like what they had at Morrill I could eat or the RPAC. Friday was a good example because Katie and I went to Morrill and it was pasta night and normally I like pasta night because I can get their meatballs. t I realized I wasn’t able to do that and so I got pasta and rice with new Orleans sauce and both the marinara with the pasta and New Orleans sauce were spicy and there just weren’t that many great options for vegetarians that night.                  

Apparently I complain and talk about it going vegetarian too much so that is something I need to work on to not be so annoying to the people around me. Next week is upping the ante by making every weekday vegetarian. Unfortunately I still haven’t been able to figure out how to get the website to give me a reading on my Co2 and money savings so I am unable to give that information this week.