The challenge of Day 1 of No Impact Week is to do more with less. In our society, consumption has become an integral part of our lives. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, consumption is the utilization of economic goods. These goods, or commodities, include clothes, food, cars, toys and technology, to name a few. The reason for curbing consumption in this project is to realize how large a role it plays in our daily lives.
In her quick Web video “The Story of Stuff,” Annie Leonard notes that 99% of all purchased goods are disposed of within 6 months. At this rate, we are going through our products quicker than they can be generated. Further, our waste disposal is ever-increasing .
As of Day 1, my tasks are to:
- Type up a list of of all the stuff you “need” to buy this week. Delete those items you can live without for a week. For the rest of the items, figure out if you can purchase them second-hand, borrow them, or make them yourself.
- Put an empty re-usable bag in a private place at home. Throughout the day, fill it up with all of your trash, recyclables, and food waste. If you are out of the house, carry your trash home with you. Make sure that no one else's trash gets in there but your own. This will help you get ready for Monday's challenge.
- Just for this week, try not to shop for new items. Will you find something better to do with your time and money? Could you use this time to spend with friends instead?
- Start determining what is the hardest part of decreased purchasing.
(Source: No Impact Experiment How-To Manual)
Below is my list of items that I “need” to buy this upcoming week. After creating the list, I then crossed out those items that I can live without. For each item, I also listed specific details on why I need to purchase it or how I will adapt without it.
Item 1: Food
This item I cannot rule out. While it is possible for me to eat on-campus, I have learned that my body does not react well to Aramark's food. I often become sick or at the very least, feel ill and sluggish. Since purchasing and preparing my own food I have found that I feel better physically and that I also have greater stamina and concentration completing my schoolwork.
Item 2: Gas
I can carpool instead. This is a temporary solution until Tuesday when I cut out motorized transportation. Even better, I can walk or bike in order to consume no energy.
Item 3: Stamps for thank you notes
This one I cannot rule out. While I can easily send all my thank you notes electronically, it is not appropriate in this case. I am currently in the process of applying and interviewing for jobs. According to business etiquette, the correct method to thank an employer after an interview is with a hand-written note. Ironically, this week I happen to have 3 job interviews, requiring me to send three cards and purchase three stamps.
The next item to do today was to compile all the trash I made over the course of my day. Below is my photograph of my final trash bag. According to the project instructions, I will be doing more with this bag of trash later this week, so stay tuned!
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| My trash from today |
Starting today, I will not purchase items that are not necessary. In many ways, I do not think that this will be a challenge for me. As a college student, I do not have many needs that are not met by campus services. Those needs I do have that require purchasing are essential and ones that I cannot rule out. Overall, I find my consumption rate to be surprisingly small, based on my list. I tried to add more items to this list, but I could not think of any. I am a college student of little means and thus few wants and simple needs. Perhaps during the course of this week I will uncover additional items that I did not think of. This discovering in itself would prove how integral consumption is part of my daily routine.
While I do not have to decrease my purchasing at a large scale, I do think that this change presents difficulties. To me, the greatest difficulty of lowering the amount I purchase is learning how to compensate for that need. The solution may be that the items is not needed at all. Another possibility is that reusing or borrowing can meet that need instead. Or, perhaps after contemplation, I will learn the value of that needed commodity which will influence me to then use it more conservatively.
That is all for now! I will update tomorrow on Day 2-Waste.
Stay tuned,
Krista
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