For my last challenge of Earth Month, I decided to take only the stairs down out of Morrill, and the stairs up to my room at least once daily. This was a lifestyle change, for sure. I actually had a hard time even remembering to take the stairs, in fact, because using the elevator is so second nature to me now. I feel a deeper appreciation for the elevators now, after spending a week almost without them. Even though they break down all the time, don’t always come when called, and get pretty crowded early in the morning, the elevators are a central fixture in Morrill Tower life, and deserve a little appreciation now and again.
Overall, I would describe my Earth Month experience as positive. I learned a lot about how to find little, easy ways to reduce my carbon, energy, and waste footprints. I flt accomplished every time I turned off a light or took the stairs. I have a more acute understanding of how modern conveniences play into my lifestyle, and how unnecessary many of them are. I’ve learned that I can, more easily than I thought, make small lifestyle changes over time, culminating in big impacts. I will continue at least some of these challenges in my daily life, for sure, and hope to add many more little challenges going forward. Namely, I will continue to unplug the things I don’t use, and only charge my things during the day. I will use colder water in my showers, and will limit my time in the shower altogether. I hope to be able to keep up the motivation to take the stairs before the elevator.
I think it would be interesting to begin another challenge, maybe one in the field of food and waste. I hear often about how wasteful many modern practices are, with respect to food. I could start limiting my red meat intake every week, begin eating more vegetarian options, and maybe even have some days where all I eat is vegetarian options, cutting out meat completely for a day or two every week or every other week. I will continue to experience with ways to make my life more efficient in the future.
The Earth Month Challenge assignment as whole is a very solid idea, I think. I really did enjoy trimming unnecessary habits from my every day life. As a student in ENR, I think it very prudent that ENR lead the way in publicizing and participating in green and sustainable activities, and I believe that this challenge is a very good way to do that.