For the first week of my Earth Month Challenge, I made an effort to remember to turn lights and appliances off and unplug them when they were not being used. Over the course of the week, there were several thigs that I noticed. The first was that my roommates and I are very forgetful and oblivious to the fact that we leave lights on all the time. Even with stickers over all of the light switches, I still found that the lights to the common room, bathroom, and study rooms were constantly left on with no one in the room. Fortunately, a few of my roommates had the same challenge for week one as I did so we were able to pick up most of the slack. Another thing that being conscious of which lights are on and which are off made me notice is that there are a significant amount of lights in Morill which can never be turned off. For example, the lights in the hallway are always on at all times of the day. While it would probably not work to have a light switch in the hallways, some kind of motion detector could save a lot of energy. Additionally, the light in the center room which connects all of the study areas to the common room and bathroom remains on at all times and there is no switch for it. Unlike the hallway light, having this light on at all times is unnecessary and having a switch could easily fix it. Other than this, the challenge went well and I was able to keep lights off for the most part and remembered to unplug my phone and laptop when I was not using them. The first two weeks of my challenge are relatively easy tasks and can be done without too much effort, so I expect things to go well next week, but after that it will get much more difficult.

For my Earth Month Challenge area, I am doing energy and transportation. In order to save energy, I will be completing four cumulative challenges, adding one each week, with increasing difficulty and energy savings. For the first week, my challenge is simply to turn off lights whenever I am not in a room and to unplug appliances, like my phone ad laptop, when I am not using them. The only thing that I foresee being difficult about this challenge is that I am very forgetful so it is easy for me to walk out of a room without realizing that I left a light on. One resource that I plan to use to help with this are stickers that go over light switch panels that were given out at a presentation on Morill Tower energy usage which say, “turn off,” and will remind me to turn off the lights.

For the second week, my challenge is to go outside and do something active rather than watching TV or playing video games in order to minimize my usage of electronics. The only thing that I see being challenging about this is that it may be time consuming because outdoor activities tend to require more of a time commitment, however this issue can be resolved by simply planning my activities in advance.

For the third week, the challenge I will be completing is to take colder, shorter showers to save energy used to heat the water and get it all the way up to the tenth floor where I live. The most challenging part of this will be getting used to having the shower being cold because I am so used to hot showers, but at the same time this will make me want to get out sooner and only shower when I need it instead of when I am stressed or just need to wake up.

Finally, for the fourth week, my challenge is to use the stairs. The most difficult aspect of this challenge, other than the obvious physical aspect, is that it will be time consuming. Because I live on the tenth floor of Morill, already have a long walk home after class, and sometimes need to come back very quickly to grab something before leaving, I am going to give myself three elevator uses for the week, which can only be used on the way up. This way if I need to get something quickly, I will not have to be late or run to class after going up and back down ten flights of stairs, but I will still be significantly reducing the energy needed to take me to and from my room.

The area that I am choosing to focus on for Earth Month is Energy and Transportation. I was drawn to this area because, as an engineer, I am very conscious of energy consumption and efficiency. In addition to this, I attended the presentation on energy at Morill Tower and seeing how much energy we use as a dorm and how much room for improvement there is made me want to do my part. Fifteen things that someone could do to decrease the amount of energy they use and make Morill Tower more efficient include: (1) take colder showers, (2) turn off the water when you brush your teeth, (3) take shorter showers, (4) bike to places off campus instead of taking the bus, (5) walk to and from class every day, (6) take the stairs rather than the elevator, (7) turn the lights off when you leave a room, (8) unplug your phone and laptop when they are fully charged instead of leaving them plugged in all night, (9) do a “light bulb raid” and stop by different places around campus to replace their lightbulbs with more energy efficient ones, (10) go outside instead of playing video games or watching TV, (11) turn your laptop off when you are not using it instead of letting it go into sleep mode, (12) set the thermostat to a few degrees colder (or warmer in the summer) and dress for the weather, (13) do laundry only when you have a full load, (14) do not turn all of the lights on in a room unless you need them all, (15) Wash your clothes with cold water whenever possible.

One good resource around campus that will help you save energy is the CoGo, which is a bike rental service that allows you to get around campus without creating any waste and without having to worry about getting your bike stolen. Another resource that would be helpful is the Car2Go service, which allows you to rent a car and pay a small amount based on how long you use it. Not only does this cost incentivize you to not let the car run for too long, but all of the cars used by the business are smart cars, which are extremely efficient. Finally, a good resource for someone who wants to reduce their energy impact is the OSU Office of Sustainability because you can learn anything you need to know about how to save energy there, including how to get involved and ways that you can personally save energy.

One good website that can help you to reduce your environmental impact is the World Wildlife Fund website, which has a great page that gives examples of how to save energy in almost every aspect of your life. A second example of a website that is extremely helpful in reducing your environmental impact is the FLOW website.  The purpose of trying to use less energy is to try to limit environmental destruction, but rather than limiting it, FLOW is actually trying to restore the environment, thus making your lifestyle less harmful overall if you volunteer with them. A third website that could be helpful is a site called berrybreeze.com, which has a page that discusses many ways to purchase food that is better for the environment. The website also gives several examples of foods that have the least environmental impacts, which can help you eat healthier and keep the Earth healthier. Finally, a great website that can help you reduce your environmental impact is the OSU ARC website, specifically the outdoor recreation page. This page gives numerous examples and opportunities to get outside and away from electronics to participate in activities that have little to no impact on the environment and use almost no energy.