Electricity = 108.8

Water = 643.8 

Natural Gas = 212.4 (I couldn’t figure out how much is used through the furnace so in reality the amount is much higher)

Vehicles (Gasoline) = 18.3

Rail Travel = 5.25

1.  Consumption:

Water: 6 glasses of water, brushed teeth, flushed toilet, washed hands, took a 10 minute shower

Food: cereal with milk, apple rice casserole, chicken noodle soup

Electricity: a short while on my laptop and I had the lights on in my room

Gasoline: I drove from Dorchester to Braintree, from Braintree to South Boston, and from South Boston back to Dorchester

Money: $0.00

2. Reduction:

I wasn’t home for most of the day so I didn’t use my laptop as much as I normally do so I used less electricity in general. I also wanted to give the Foodless Friday a second try since I failed at improving my diet and reducing my food consumption yesterday and surprisingly I think I did quite well today. I only had 3 average sized meals and I didn’t eat snacks in between meals.

3. Sustainability:

In this past week I have made various changes that I plan to make a habit even past this challenge. Probably one of the biggest changes that I have made is that I avoid using social networking sites like Facebook because the time in which it takes me to complete my homework has been shortened and so I use my laptop less and as a result I use less electricity. I am also much more water conscientious and I make sure that I don’t take unnecessarily long showers.

4. Following:

I’ve noticed that within the past week so many people have been able to make changes in their life that are beneficial to the environment. Not only this, but it appears that many people will also be keeping these of habits and I believe that this was a worthwhile experience.

Sorry it’s late…

1. Consumption:

Water: brushed teeth twice, took a 10 minute shower, flushed the toilet, washed hands, drank 7 glasses of water

Food: cereal with milk, chicken patty, tater tots, stuffing, mac ‘n cheese in a bread bowl, potato chips, cupcakes

Electricity: I got home late so I just had my laptop and the lights on for a short while

Gasoline: carpooled to school today

Money: $6.49 at Panera Bread + $1.00 for 2 cupcakes + $47.00 for Senior sweatshirt = $54.49

2. Reduction:

I did waste any fossil fuels today and I used much less electricity. Normally I drive to school but today I carpooled with a friend so I saved on gas and then later on I went out with friends and went to see the Hypnotist show so I got home really late and so I wasn’t using my laptop for a long duration like I normally do. I wanted to attempt to have a much more 3^rd World diet today but because I decided to go out, that didn’t really work out so well and I ended up spending more money than I usually do.

3. Sustainability:

There are definitely many other modes of transportation that will reduce the waste of fossil fuels like carpooling or taking the MBTA and although it is slightly more inconvenient, it is something that I can imagine myself doing more often.

4. Following:

I noticed that I wasn’t the only one that had trouble reducing on their food consumption and that some even ate more than they usually do. It just goes to show that breaking old habits can be difficult, especially on a Friday night when everyone wants to go out with their friends and not worry about reducing how much they eat.

1.  Consumption:

Water: 6 glasses of water, brushed teeth, flushed toilet, washed hands, took a 10 minute shower

Food: cornflakes and milk, chicken salad sandwich, tater tots, apple pie, kit kats, roast beef, and a baked potato

Electricity: laptop and light in bedroom

Gasoline (Fossil Fuels): 20 minute ride to school

Money: $0.00

2. Reduction:

For Technology Thursday I decided that I would lower my use of electronics. Unfortunately it was difficult for me to do so because there are certain parts of my homework that require using my laptop but I made an effort to use it as little as possible. For example in English we had to answer a few questions about a movie that we watched in class and we had the option to type it or handwrite it. Normally I would choose the option to type it since it is faster but I decided to take the time to write it out and use my laptop less. I also usually go on Facebook while doing homework but I avoided doing so today which sped up the time that it normally takes me to complete my homework which also reduced the time spent on the computer.

3. Sustainability:

This is something that I can see myself doing in the long term even though I may not always have the option of not using my laptop to do homework. But for the most part, if I use social networking sites less then I complete my homework sooner which means that I use my laptop less overall. I also don’t really have to go out of my way to use my laptop less and so it is something that can be easily done.

4. Following:

I’ve noticed that a lot of people attempted to use their electronics much less today and this included using computers less and also watching less TV. This is something that I also worked on today and I definitely plan on continuing my reduction of technology use as much as possible.

1. Consumption:

Water: 5 glasses of water, 8 minute shower, flushed the toilet a few times, washed my hands a few times, and brushed teeth twice

Food: cereal with milk, fish, tater tots, chicken, and baked potato

Electricity: I had to help my grandfather use his laptop and then I had to use mine later on for homework and I had the lights on in my room once it got dark.

Gasoline (Fossil Fuels): 20 minute drive to school but then on the way back I took the red and green lines.

Money: I spent $5 today on hypnotist tickets.

2. Reduction:

For Waterless Wednesday I attempted to use less water although I’m not so sure how effective I was in doing so. I usually drink about 6 glasses of water but today I drank 5 although I probably shouldn’t reduce any more since I don’t drink as much as I should to start with. I also attempted to shorten my shower times and normally I take a 10 minute shower but today I reduced it to about 8 minutes so it wasn’t that much but 2 minutes still did save a few gallons of water.

3. Sustainability:

Drinking less is not really something that I can see myself doing in the long term just because I don’t drink the suggested 8 glasses to start with so it wouldn’t be good for my health. But I could see myself taking those slightly shorter showers and although it only is 2 minutes less, it does add up.

4. Following:

I’ve noticed that a lot of people were affected by the water audits done in class the other day and as a result they attempted to limit their water usage today. I also attempted to limit my water usage but I also feel like for one person to reduce their water usage by a little isn’t enough and I feel that it should become a family effort which is why I plan on informing my parents and sibling about this audit that we did and hopefully it will affect them in the same way that it affected me and other students. 

1. Consumption:

Water: 15 minute shower, washed hands, flushed toilet, brushed teeth, drank 6 glasses of water

Food: cornflakes with milk and strawberries, yogurt, pizza, potato wedges, chicken breast, mashed potatoes.

Electricity: used laptop and had lights on my the bedroom

Gasoline (Fossil Fuels): drove to school in the morning (20 minute drive) but I took the green and red line back home

Money: I didn’t spend any money today.

2. Reduction:

Because today is Try Harder Tuesday I figured that I would try harder on this 7 Day Challenge by trying harder to make some sort of reductions and because I was impressed yesterday by people’s attempts to reduce heat usage, I wanted to do the same. It wasn’t too cold of a day to start with so I lowered the thermostat to 65 degrees and surprisingly it hasn’t gotten that cold in the house (although I am wearing a sweater so that may make up for it). I’m not sure if I’ll keep the heat lowered throughout the night since I don’t know how much the temperature will drop but if it won’t be getting much cooler than I’ll leave the thermostat the way  it is (or until my parents realize that it’s been lowered and raise it back up again).

3. Sustainability:

Lowering the heat in my house is something that I could see myself doing in the long term. Obviously when it gets much colder in the winter it may be harder to do so, but on days like these where it’s about 60 degrees outside there is no need for the heat to be running. Even if it happens to get a bit chilly on a day like this, an extra layer will solve the problem.

4. Following:

I’ve noticed that people are attempting various different methods of trying to reduce their usage of various things in their life and that includes taking shorter showers.  Even before starting this project, I used to take much longer showers (about 20 to 30 minutes) and I was able to reduce this time to about 10 to 15 minutes. I realized that I was able to do the same amount in a shorter amount of time without feeling any less hygienic and I was also using less water. Although I don’t know if I would be able to reduce this time even more to about 5 minutes, for example, like other people have been able to do but I would definitely like to give it a try.   

1. Consumption:

Water: I brushed my teeth, washed my hands a few times, flushed the toilet a few times, took a 10 minute shower, and I drank 6 glasses of water

Food: today I ate cereal with milk and strawberries, chicken patty, cookies and kit-kat bars, and tamales.

Electricity: I used my laptop to complete my homework and had the lights on in my room once it started to get dark out.

Gasoline (Fossil Fuels): I drove to school to school this morning (20 min drive) but on the way home I took the green line.

Money: I get free lunch at school so I didn’t have to pay for that and a few of my friends wanted to go to Starbucks so I decided to go with them but I ended up not buying anything so in the end, I didn’t spend any money today.

2. Reduction:

Because today is “No Money Monday” I decided that I wasn’t going to buy anything and I succeeded in this goal. I was very tempted to buy a Frappuccino at Starbucks but then I thought about today’s assignment and I decided not to. I was also able to cut back on my electricity usage since all I really did was use my laptop and have the lights turned on for a while and I didn’t turn the TV on once like I normally do.

3. Sustainability:

Unfortunately, the reduction of money usage is not something that I can realistically see myself doing. For now I could potentially do so since my parents are the ones that support me financially so I am technically paying with their money and not with mine but as I become more financially independent this is something that will become highly impossible especially since I will have to pay off college loans, etc. Although in an ideal world, I would love if I didn’t have to buy anything since everything would be free.

 4. Following:

By reading other posts on Tumblr, I have learned that there are many levels in which this experiment/challenge can be taken ranging from the more extreme like not eating to just cutting back on TV usage. I am definitely not on the more extreme side of this and I would rather take little steps that I can actually see myself doing in the long term although I would like to try something different one of these days like reduce the heat and where an extra layer of clothing like others have been doing.

1.  Consumption:

Water: I took a 10 minute shower, brushed my teeth twice, washed my hands a few times, and drank 5 glasses of water/juice

 Food: I ate yogurt, toast, stuffed shells, fried chicken, corn bread, mashed potatoes, and brownies

Electricity: I used my laptop for most of the day to complete my homework, and I turned the lights on in my room once it got dark

Gasoline (Fossil Fuels): I need to practice how to parallel park so I drove around the neighborhood multiple times and parked in available spaces.

Money: I didn’t spend and money today.

2. Reduction:

Today I attempted to reduce my usage of social networking sites like Facebook and Skype. Normally I am on Skype and Facebook for a few hours throughout the day but today I made an effort to limit the amount of time that I was on Facebook and I didn’t log into Skype at all today. I also scaled back on my usage of the TV and so I didn’t watch anything today.

3. Sustainability:

Many of the changes that I made today I could imagine myself making for the long term because there are many other forms of communication other than Facebook and Skype and so they are not a critical part of my life. As for not ever watching TV, that is slightly harder for me to do and I most likely would not be able to do so because the TV is where I receive all of my news from and where I find out about the weather.