1.  Consumption - What did you consume today?

Water – 5 minute shower, washed hands, brushed teeth, 5 glasses of water

Food – turkey burger and rice noodles with vegetables

Electricity – lights in my house weren’t on all day because no one was home, charged my phone.

Gasoline – drove to and from Worcester for my cousin’s State Final game.

$$Money$$ - Spent $7 on ticket, and $12 for rice noodles.

2. Reduction - In what areas of your current lifestyle did you try to scale back the use of specific resources?

Today my goal was to cut back on my food consumption, which I managed to do. I only had lunch and dinner today which composed of very small portions. I also cutback on my money use because usually on the weekends I can spend anywhere from $60-$150 because I usually go shopping, but this weekend I didn’t. I spent a total of $35 from Friday, Saturday, and (Sunday).

3.  Sustainability - Are there any changes that you made to your daily routine that you could envision making for the long term?  Can you reduce your consumption permanently?  Why or why not? Please be specific, and provide examples.

After this 7 day challenge I realize that I can make long term changes to my daily routine of washing my hands, brushing my teeth, how much electricity I use, and my money use. All of these things I usually take for granted, but now I understand that I should conserve these resources better. I will no longer allow my water to run while brushing my teeth or washing my hands for an unnecessary amount of time, I will not spend excessive amounts of money on thing I don’t need, and I realize that I can also conserve my energy in my cellphone and iPod by not using them as much and only charge them once every couple of days.

4.  What did you learn from following the tumblr feed of your peers?  Did one person’s actions resonate with you in a positive way?  Will you adjust your own actions as a result of their post?

After reading all of my classmates tumblr posts, I read that a lot of us tried our hardest to cutback on our every day resources and that we realized that we overused some of these luxuries that we have. I think most of us believe that we can cutback on our daily resources and spread the word with our families and friends to help others realize just how good we have it and how we should conserve these available resources.

1.  Consumption - What did you consume today?

Water – 5 minute shower, washed hands, brushed teeth, 4 glasses of water 

Food – grapes, salad, and chocolate chip cookie

Electricity – lights have been on since 5 o’clock, charged my iPod and phone, heating

Gasoline – mom dropped me off and picked me up from school (twice), I drove to Panera and back home.

$$Money$$ - Spent $15 on my copay for the hospital, $9.50 for Panera

2. Reduction - In what areas of your current lifestyle did you try to scale back the use of specific resources?

My main goal was to reduce my technology use today, which I’ve done pretty well with. I haven’t watched TV, which isn’t hard for me at all, I just signed onto the computer to do homework, and I didn’t text that much today either.

3.  Sustainability - Are there any changes that you made to your daily routine that you could envision making for the long term?  Can you reduce your consumption permanently?  Why or why not? Please be specific, and provide examples.

Since today’s focus was technology, I’ve been considering changing my daily routine of my computer usage. I think I spend way too much time on youtube and Facebook so it wouldn’t be a bad thing to reduce this for the long term. I’d have to consider cutting back on my cellphone usage because I’m not sure how possible that one is, its too important to my every day life.

4.  What did you learn from following the tumblr feed of your peers?  Did one person’s actions resonate with you in a positive way?  Will you adjust your own actions as a result of their post?

I learned that people are turning off their electronics when they aren’t using them to save their battery life and reduce their electricity consumption. I usually hate when my phone or iPod has lower than a full battery, but I think this change would definitely make a difference in my electricity use.

1.  Consumption - What did you consume today?

Water – 25 minute shower, 4 glasses of water, washed hands, brushed teeth, etc.

Food – grapes, granola bar, cape cod chips, chicken, broccoli

Electricity – no one was home until 7 o’clock tonight; living room and my bedroom lights are on, charged my phone.

Gasoline – mom dropped me off and picked me up from school, I drove to the doctors and back.

$$Money$$ - Spent $15 on my copay for the hospital, again.

2. Reduction - In what areas of your current lifestyle did you try to scale back the use of specific resources?

I attempted to cutback on my water usage today, which I did for everything but the shower. When I was washing my hands, I used the soap before I turned the water  on and quickly shut it off and when I was brushing my teeth I only used the water to rinse my brush and mouth. Also today I cutback on my technology usage, I barely used my cellphone today and I haven’t listened to my iPod at all.

3.  Sustainability - Are there any changes that you made to your daily routine that you could envision making for the long term?  Can you reduce your consumption permanently?  Why or why not? Please be specific, and provide examples.

I definitely think I can cut back on my water usage with my hands and brushing my teeth, its not hard to not let the water run. I also can improve my showering, which I was doing so well on to begin with, but I can probably cut it back for most days. As for technology, I really don’t know if I can reduce my consumption permanently because of the society I’ve grown up in and how much I rely on my cellphone and iPod throughout the day. 

4.  What did you learn from following the tumblr feed of your peers?  Did one person’s actions resonate with you in a positive way?  Will you adjust your own actions as a result of their post?

I’ve learned that some of my classmates are struggling with certain aspects of this assignment, usually the one that they rely on the most. I think everyone is doing a good job with reducing even by a small amount. I hope to reduce my need for technology over the next couple of days and make it so that I can stick to it for the long run.

1.  Consumption - What did you consume today?

Water – Drank 3 glasses of water, 5-minute shower, brushed teeth, washed hands, etc.

Food – pineapple, pb & j sandwich, lean cuisine.

Electricity – I just got home so I turned on the computer to do my homework, oven, charged my cellphone, and lights in my office.

Gasoline – Didn’t drive today, my mom dropped me off at school and picked me up from the doctors.

$$Money$$ - Spent $15 on my copay for the hospital, but I can’t really avoid that.

2. Reduction - In what areas of your current lifestyle did you try to scale back the use of specific resources?

I scaled back on my water usage after learning about how many gallons we use in a day from today’s class, so I’ve continued to cut back on my shower time and on how long I let my sink run for. Also, instead of my typical 6-7 glasses of water I’ve only had 3. I’ve also tried to scale back on my electricity use, which I’ve been doing since Sunday and it’s not that hard to follow through with.

3.  Sustainability - Are there any changes that you made to your daily routine that you could envision making for the long term?  Can you reduce your consumption permanently?  Why or why not? Please be specific, and provide examples.

I think I can reduce my daily use of electricity because I realize I tend to leave a lot of lights on that aren’t necessary; I can definitely make this change for the long term. I don’t think I can continuously reduce my water use, drinking wise, because it’s the only thing I drink every day so it’d be hard to cut back.

4.  What did you learn from following the tumblr feed of your peers?  Did one person’s actions resonate with you in a positive way?  Will you adjust your own actions as a result of their post?

I learned that people are cutting back on their food consumption, but not in a harmful way. I think I could try and focus on this for tomorrow and just eat what’s necessary to get me through the school day.

1.  Consumption - What did you consume today?

Water – Drank 5-6 glasses of water, 10-minute shower, brushed teeth, washed hands, etc.

Food – grapes, cape cod chips, tortellinis.

Electricity – no lights until 5 (when my mom came home), no tv, no computer until 6.

Gasoline – I didn’t drive today, but my mom drove me to school. And then took commuter rail home.

$$Money$$ - Didn’t spend any money today! 

2. Reduction - In what areas of your current lifestyle did you try to scale back the use of specific resources?

Today, I cut back on the electricity by not immediately turning on the lights when I got home, I waited until it was completely necessary to use them. I didn’t watch any TV when I got home, and I’m only using the computer for homework assignments. I also cut back on my food consumption, basically had small meals throughout the day. 

3.  Sustainability - Are there any changes that you made to your daily routine that you could envision making for the long term?  Can you reduce your consumption permanently?  Why or why not? Please be specific, and provide examples.

I could see myself not using the lights in my house as often as I usually do, probably only when I desperately need them. I could also probably cut back on my computer usage to only use it for homework and school assignments. For the reduction of my money spending, I obviously can’t not spend any money for the rest of my life but I think I can put myself on a budget where I only buy things that are extremely necessary for me.

4.  What did you learn from following the tumblr feed of your peers?  Did one person’s actions resonate with you in a positive way?  Will you adjust your own actions as a result of their post?

I learned that my classmates are taking different stands on the idea of the 7 Day Challenge, some are choosing to immensely reduce their food consumption, while others are reducing the heat in their houses and wearing more layers to keep warm. I think I will try to keep warm by wearing multiple layers tomorrow at home instead of turning on my heat and see how well it goes.

1.  Consumption - What did you consume today?

Water— 4 bottles of water (drinking), shower, brushing my teeth

Food— no breakfast, had a sandwich and apple for lunch, and just had steak and vegetables for dinner.

Electricity— TV, lights in house, charging my phone

Gasoline (fossil fuels) — drove to and from Taunton, MA. 

$$Money$$ - What did you spend money on today? — ticket to cousin’s soccer game, lunch

2. Reduction - In what areas of your current lifestyle did you try to scale back the use of specific resources?

    I tried to cut down on my use of Social Networking. I went through the whole day without Facebook, but ended up Tweeting at the soccer game. So basically all day I limited my computer (except for homework), blackberry, and iPod usage to avoid social networking. Other than the social networking, I cut down on my water usage by shortening my shower to only 5 minutes and instead of my typical 7-8 bottles of water a day, I only drank 4.

3.  Sustainability - Are there any changes that you made to your daily routine that you could envision making for the long term?  Can you reduce your consumption permanently?  Why or why not? Please be specific, and provide examples.

    I think I can last without Facebook for as long as I want, I’ve done it before and it’s not that important to me anymore. I’d say I could do it permanently, but I can’t be sure for school projects and stuff like that. I’m unsure if I can reduce the amount of water I drink in a day for the long term, I’ve been accustomed to drinking so much in a day that it would probably be the most difficult to give up. If I cant reduce the amount of what I drink, I could probably try to limit the time on my showers permanently.