Plastic:
I don't drink water all the time, but when I do, it has to be bottle water.
Each day at home I would open a bottle of water that I never finish and the
next day the bottle would be in the trash. So when the bottle wasting became
something I noticed since I'm trying to go green I decided to use a recycling
bin to store all the plastic bottles in. At the end of every week when I decide
to clean my room and take the trash out, it dawns on me that I’m living on the
4th floor. This means that I would have to carry the trash and recycling bin
all at once outside. The area for the trash and recycle is not even near my building.
So when I got sick of going up and down the stairs with two sets of bins, I
decided to get rid of the recycling bin. Everything inside of it became part of
the trash bin. I closed my eyes to going green because I was tired of taking
two bins up and down the stairs
Food:
I love to eat junk food and when I came to college it was like a dream come
true. There are two dining halls that serve the ultimate junk foods. When I go
to Hope or Butterfield to eat I get more food than I can even consume. At the
end of my breakfast, lunch, or dinner I end up throwing away all the food I
got. I tell myself that I will decrease the portion of food I get to eat, but
each day it gets worse. I have a fast metabolism so I feel as though I can eat
everything. Take my first semester of school for example; since I lived
upstairs in Butterfield Hall, one of the dining halls on campus. Every day I
would go down for lunch and I would get a plate and fill it up with chicken
nuggets, wings, fries, and whatever else is being served in the entree area. Then
I would get two slices of pizza and I would make my best friend get me two
more. The only reason I tell her to get it is because there is a sign in the
pizza area that says “2 slices per person." Once I start eating I would
feel empty so I would eat the four slices of pizza and three chicken nuggets.
By the time I get to everything else I'm already full and I end up throwing
away whatever else is left on the plate. After class I would go back to
Butterfield or Hope and do the same thing again; in fact I did it about six to
seven times a day.
Water:
My water wasting habits goes along with my plastic wasting habits. Each plastic
bottle that I throw out usually still has water left over in it. Each day I
would open a different water bottle without even finishing the one from the
previous day and if I open one and someone touches it, it automatically goes in
the bin. See the thing is, I have never been the type to waste water unless it
was in a bottle. When I came to college I noticed that my best friend had some
water wasting habits. As she brushed her teeth she would leave the faucet
running. Every time she did that I told her that she was wasting water and that
she needed to stop. One Saturday morning I went to brush my teeth and I had a
million thoughts running through my mind that I didn't realize what I was
doing. After I was done brushing my teeth I decided to open the faucet to rinse
my mouth, but it was already on. So the whole time I was standing there
brushing my teeth, I was wasting water. Each day I would notice that the same
thing was happening. My best friend’s water wasting habits had gotten to me.
Money:
I don’t know how you can go green for something that already happens to be
green, but all I know is that my money wasting habit is ridiculous. I guess
it's all because I'm not the one waking up in the morning and going to work to
make the money that I spend. My stepfather is the one who supplies me with
money. The minute he calls me and tells me that he has put money in my account
I would go online to shop before we even get the chance to hang up the phone.
One day I ordered two pairs of combat boots. I didn't even like one of the
pairs, but I just wanted to buy it because they were combat boots. Then I saw
on the top of the sites page that if you spend seventy five dollars or more you
get free shipping. Since I was only ten dollars away from free shipping I
decided to buy something else. Then I decided to get on my favorite stores (Hollister)
website and ordered four pairs of jeans. Three of them were for me and one was
a gift for my cousin. Then I got on another website to order some shoes called
Moccasins. I really wanted the shoes because it has fur inside which helps keep
your feet warm. My friend who happened to be in the room also wanted them and
being the nice person that I am I decided to order a pair for her. After the
online shopping I checked my online bank statement only to find out that I
overdraft my account in under an hour. It was the craziest thing, but it got me
to realize that I waste too much money on unnecessary stuff.
I
have personally been trying to work on my go green outlook, but for some
strange reason I am addicted to wasting. Sometimes I really do believe that my
habits are because of my best friend. In my opinion I never use to waste
anything besides money. I chose to keep trying to go green and I am hoping that
sooner or later I'll get a wake up.
I have personally been trying to work on my go green outlook, but for some strange reason I am addicted to wasting. Sometimes I really do believe that my habits are because of my best friend. In my opinion I never use to waste anything besides money. I chose to keep trying to go green and I am hoping that sooner or later I'll get a wake up. I have stopped drinking bottle water to avoid throwing out plastic bottle so now I just stick to filling up a Brita which filters water from the tap. I went to see the school nutritionist about how I should eat and since then my food wasting has reduced. I have begun to respect food as I am aware that there are some countries in the world that lack food. I brush my teeth in the shower and not at the sink so I can avoid running the faucet. My money wasting habits barely exist now since I have been cut off.
My advice to anyone going green is to first write down a list of things that you believe you waste and what method you plan on using to reduce the wasting. I would suggest asking people for help. For example, if you waste food a lot, you might want to sit down with a nutritionist and talk about your eating habits, if you waste money a lot you might want to see a financial adviser or find a way to budget yourself. You just have to seek out your resources.
I have personally been trying to work on my go green outlook, but for some strange reason I am addicted to wasting. Sometimes I really do believe that my habits are because of my best friend. In my opinion I never use to waste anything besides money. I chose to keep trying to go green and I am hoping that sooner or later I'll get a wake up. I have stopped drinking bottle water to avoid throwing out plastic bottle so now I just stick to filling up a Brita which filters water from the tap. I went to see the school nutritionist about how I should eat and since then my food wasting has reduced. I have begun to respect food as I am aware that there are some countries in the world that lack food. I brush my teeth in the shower and not at the sink so I can avoid running the faucet. My money wasting habits barely exist now since I have been cut off.
My advice to anyone going green is to first write down a list of things that you believe you waste and what method you plan on using to reduce the wasting. I would suggest asking people for help. For example, if you waste food a lot, you might want to sit down with a nutritionist and talk about your eating habits, if you waste money a lot you might want to see a financial adviser or find a way to budget yourself. You just have to seek out your resources.
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Mammy Jallow, Guest Writer, is currently a sophomore at the University of Rhode Island majoring in Health Studies.
