Week 9- A Reassessment of my Consumption and the Environment in Nature Journal

Since we’re now over halfway through the semester, I thought it would be a good idea to check back in with myself and see if I’ve grown any, or maybe even picked up some bad habits.

I will say that for the most part, I have continued with my previous practices for trying to create a smaller ecological footprint on Earth. However, due to my hectic schedule and sheer amount of responsibilities, I have been a bit more lax when it comes to using disposable items. It seems that nearly everyday at work I use one or more plastic utensils, which I then throw away. There is of course an easy solution to this-I will bring in my own silverware from home, and wash them at work when done. Another thing I’ve done in the last week was grab a gas station coffee. I did not take my own cup for fear of how they might react, and if they would charge me more. I didn’t have time in the mornings to make my own coffee or tea like I normally do-but I’ve been trying to wake up earlier to combat this in order to both save money and paper products. On top of this, I’ve had to buy a few pre-packaged meals. They’re healthy-I make sure of that-but they’re a lot of extra packaging. It seems that in order to save time and money, it’s a necessary evil to buy these products from time to time-but I can try to limit my use of these by meal prepping in advance.

I’m also sad to say that I haven’t yet made it to the Farmer’s Market. I’ve tried, but either the weather doesn’t cooperate, or I can’t find the time to spare. I’ve also been worried about prices and if I can even afford to buy the fresh goods-perhaps this weekend will be calmer and nice weather so I can estimate if it’s worth the weekly splurge.

One thing that I have done that is an improvement from before, is I hand wash my clothes in a water-saving device. It uses 1/8 of the water a typical machine would, and I power it by my own hands as well. For the larger items such as towels and sheets, I still need to go to the laundry-mat, but I limit myself to once a month and save money and water this way.

From this week I’ve also been reading a lot of poetry-specifically Emily Dickinson since I am researching her for my final project. I noticed that I never really paid much attention to her nature poems before-they weren’t taught in schools. I was much more intrigued by her poems on death and religion because they were something easier for me to grasp. After taking this course and reading up on many different concepts, I found that I enjoyed her nature poems much more and that there was a depth to them that I had not made it to before. I saw many parallels with the Dao De Jing, and also with many other writer’s that we’ve looked at so far.

After a very busy and stressful few weeks, it was nice to come and sit outside without any technology to pull me back into the stress of work and school. I sat and reflected on what I’ve gathered over the past week, and decided that all of these readings have really struck a chord with me on a larger scale. I do feel more connected to nature, and I feel a need to protect it that is much deeper and personal than before.

I still miss the fall back home, but I’m finding that there are perks to where I am as well. I often forget to look at the mountains and see the fog collecting over them, but when I do I’m amazed. I suppose this is just an example of finding beauty in all things, and not comparing or expecting something to be better than another. This concept goes for all things, not just for viewing nature.

Last updated October 25, 2018