L M

Wow, last day! Every effort I've been making is part of my routine now. I don't see the point in stopping. All of the little things are so easy to do, now that I know to do them. If only everyone knew how easy it could be. Honestly, if I can remember to make these small efforts every day, the majority of people in the world can. I think it just comes down making sure people know that these small efforts are worth it and more. I can't stop saying this, but environmental education will be key if we want to progress towards a greener future. There are a lot of obstacles in the way. We need to fix so many things before we can hope to educate people, but we can start with these two; We have to fix our government, so that they allow us to teach every kid about climate change in school. We need more honest media that isn't run by big companies that want to push their agenda. If we can do those things, we can show people how easy sustainable living is.

Worked out for an hour tonight before bed. Feeling very good and ready for a good night of sleep. 

I brought a couple of cups and some silverware into work so that everybody in my department can use them. My workplace doesn't provide anything but paper and plastic and I noticed a lot of it went into the trashcan after one use. I'm hoping I can get people to use the stuff I brought instead.  

I got my exercise in today by chasing a dog that got loose in my neighborhood. I am grateful that it eventually made it home safely and that so many people in the neighborhood were caring citizens. 

I braved the rain this morning and went to the farmers market. I bought enough tomatillos to make a huge batch of salsa, which I will likely put on top of everything I eat this weekend. I stocked up on some books at a used book sale a couple of weeks ago and am very excited to sit by a window and read. I am going to avoid watching TV today. 

Today I donated money to a charity that is helping get water filters to Puerto Rico. Several people have been drinking dangerous dirty water, because that's all there is. I chose to skip my shower today, because I didn't really need one and I have had the tragedy in Puerto Rico on my mind.
https://chuffed.org/project/clean-water-for-pr
There are plenty of charities sending aid to Puerto Rico. I encourage everyone to donate what they can. 

I've been trying to save water a couple different ways. I can't access NWEI to reference who said this (the link isn't working), but I agree with the statement that the water crisis on Earth is the biggest problem we will face. Although water may seem plentiful, because it covers 70% or so of the Earth, only 3% is fresh water and a lot of that is trapped in inaccessible areas. I turn the tap off when I am brushing my teeth and washing my hands. If it's yellow, I let it mellow. These are practices that I usually do, but I have committed to doing them full time. I take short showers every day. In the future, If I decide to take longer showers every other day, I will turn the water off while I am scrubbing my body/hair and only use it when I begin and need to rinse.

Since I wasn't able to get to the farmers market last week, I have been trying to use up the food I already have in my kitchen. I wanted to avoid buying things I don't actually need. I've been eating a lot of canned beans, grains, kale, and eggs topping it all off with salsa. My roommate brought home some tomatillos from her garden space, so we used those and ingredients we already had in the house to made a delicious tomatillo salsa.

I have been taking very short showers since the challenge started and I think it will be one of the challenges that sticks with me even after we are done. Usually I take a very long shower every other day or so, but 5 minutes every day has been working even better for me. I still feel clean and I feel less guilty about all of the water I’m using. 

This week I'm really trying on focus on avoiding refined sugar, reducing my time spent watching tv or on my phone, and getting enough sleep. I am going for a walk after work with a friend and we are going to do some reading outside. I'm really looking forward to it.