Energy

One thing Americans really take for granted is the availability of energy in this great country that we live in. We leave lights on, run air conditioning, leave all kinds of appliances running, and wash clothes often using the convenience of a washing machine/dryer. Going through the exercises listed in the "no impact week" reading, I realized that I am just as guilty as anyone else when it comes to energy consumption. My roommates and I often leave the lights on in our rooms even when no one is using the rooms. The bathroom light is constantly on, In our suite, all together we have seven televisions, four refrigerators, and three video game consoles, so I guess you could say that we are using a good bit more energy than your average college student.

In order to fix these habits, a huge lifestyle change is going to happen in this suite. For this week, I will definitely turn the lights off when leaving the room, and I am going to try and get by with the clean clothes that I have from doing laundry last week. I can also unplug some of the things that  I don't use very often, and cease to use them for the rest of the week. Since I have to use a computer to write this blog, that will be one thing that  I can't give up for the rest of the week. Hopefully the weather is nice, so that I can enjoy going outside while I am still here on campus. This weekend in Atlanta, I can cut back on energy use by turning lights off in the hotel room, and unplugging chargers and things when I'm not using them. On campus, I can also turn off the air conditioning and leave windows open instead.

I think this part of the week will be really tough because I don't think we realize how much energy we use without even thinking about it. I guess I will probably learn this the hard way from going through these exercises mentioned in the "no impact week" instructions...