Reflection

These past three weeks have not gone by as fast as I had hoped. I learned a lot about my self while completing this task. I learned that I hate doing my laundry by hand that’s for sure, but I know that if I had to I defiantly would be able to do it on my own. After doing this task I have much more respect for the no impact man and I know how hard it must have been for all of his family. I noticed that I criticized Colin’s wife because I saw that in the video that was shown in class, that she slipped at one point with her weakness which was I believe Starbucks Coffee. Now after having gone through this myself I completely understand why she would allow herself to do this at one point. The no impact summative was only up to three things for our class ( that we offered to give up) Colin’s wife had her whole life turned upside down when her husband decided to take out everything that he thought some how made an impact. Like I said, much more respect for this woman and her family. To a certain extent I enjoyed this summative because I really got to see like how my life would be without these machines that help me in my day to day life. I know I did a pretty good job, although I failed at one point, with keeping with doing laundry by hand. My parents were pretty impresses (as was I) because to be honest, I didn’t think I was going to be able to do this myself. So will I carry on this no impact? Well telling the truth here, I don’t think so. I think I will defiantly keep this up to a certain extent though because I know that I can. Like for example, during the summer my family plans to actually use the clothes line that we have purchased during the summer months only. My parents like that we made such a good investment and we will continue this. I think this would be the part I like the most, because I really isn’t that hard to do. All I would have to do instead of placing all the clothes in the dryer is to bring them outside and hang them. And it’s not like I would have to do them all by myself, I could have my family help me out on this part since it would be all our laundry at this point. To conclude my summative, I’d like to say that this was truly a summative that I would remember down the road. I know now that if everyone tried to eliminate one thing that does make an impact to our planet, we would have the confidence that our planet would be able to sustain life for many more years to come.

Tenth Blog

This is the last day! I didn’t have to wash my clothes today because I totally have reduced the amount of washes I do. So much easier to wash a bunch of really dirty clothes rather than half dirty clothes. So I wear clothes more often and I also rotate my clothes so they don’t get as dirty as fast. I know for a fact though that my parents are exceptionally happy that these three weeks are finally over. I totally am too, not going to lie; they have been a long three weeks. And I have been miserable all three weeks too, so I don’t know if it was worth it or not yet. But I defiantly made a lot of progress.

Ninth Blog

Yay, almost done! It will soon be over. And that is what I am mostly thinking about at the moment. Haha. I am finally getting the hang of totally getting all the absorbed water out before I dry my clothes. Also the weather is still pretty good, so like I am able to use the clothes line as well. Other than that the only problem is that my clothes don’t smell as good as I would hope. I am used to that fresh sent when your clothes just get out of the dryer. But I don’t get that. And I also noticed that when I dry my clothes outside there are not only so many bugs on my clothes, which is SUPER gross, but also my clothes seem to be abnormally harder. Like it is so much harder to fold and stuff, but I am guessing that is just because there is not the same amount of heat that is being used to dry the clothes. Only a few more days left. Thank goodness!

Eighth Blog

What can I say, other than I can’t wait for this summative to be over. Honestly I don’t know if I have said this enough, but this has defiantly dragged me down a little bit. I’m almost convinced that this is like over. And even in my head I want to give up. The problem for me is finding the time to actually do this summative. It is so hard to find the time to put aside my clothes and wash them for a certain time and have them ready and DRY, key word, for when I need them. I had to start wearing wet clothes to school in hope that they would dry by the time I get there. It’s terrible I know, and I sound like a total hobo, but because of the amount of water I do not squeeze out before I lay the clothes out to dry, by morning, the clothes that I need are not dried. And I’m kind of getting sick of it. :(

Seventh Blog

So problem. Haha. My parents forgot that I was doing this whole no impact summative, and they put my clothes in the washer along with their clothes. I don’t know what to say. Like I’m disappointed to a certain extent. I’m super glad they did it deep down though, cause my clothes finally smell fresh. LOL. I’ve been waiting for the end of this project for this to occur, but I got it sooner than expected. So yes, I am happy, but I defiantly told my parents that I can’t happen again. Or else I’ll fail this project. They don’t want that to happen so I’m sure they won’t make that mistake again. That’s about it that happened today. It feels like I have a gigantic weight lifted off my shoulder cause I don’t have to deal washing my clothes this week. Yay.

Sixth Blog

OH YEAH , fun, another rugby game that was played in the rain. Aw yeah (sarcasm). Not pumped at all actually. Like me knowing that I had to go home and wash the nasty clothes that I was wearing was making me less interested in the game. I really miss my washing machine. I can defiantly live without my dryer though. I mean it’s hard, but I can do it. But my washing maching… Like I’m contemplating giving up. It is terrible. I really don’t know how the No Impact man dealt with all this stress. I’m sorta kinda hating my life. This really sucks. Anyways I’m sure the weather will get better? I hope and pray to God it does. I have so much homework and summatives to do, and when I got home I had to deal with all those dirty clothes. I asked my parents to help me out. :P Guess what they said.. “You told your teacher you were going to do this, so deal with it.” Oh yeah, best day of my life.

Fifth Blog

The weather just keeps getting better and better. This time for real ; no sarcasm. :) it’s good though cause I can finally use my clothes line out side. Oh gosh though, the effort to put it out though, is a drag. As I’m writing this, I am thinking “what a lazy ass”  & you might be thinking that yourself too, but seriously, it’s really tiring especially since it’s nice and warm outside. I had to purchase a bunch of pegs, because I realized I didn’t have enough for the amount of clothes that I put out there. I just went to the dollar store and bought them for like a dollar. Pretty reasonable. But yeah the weather has finally been perfect to put the clothes out on the line and so I did that today. Lots of reaching up to get the line though, and now my arm hurts. :( Not so happy about that. And I am defiantly not looking forward to doing that again.

Fouth Blog

I can’t even tell you how fed up my parents are. I have been making such a mess with all my clothes and leaving them just about everywhere. All our bath tubs have been filled with water most the time and it’s just making such a mess. I usually wash my clothes in their bath tub because our washing machine is upstairs along with their room. I don’t use the machine just all the supplies inside of it. Haha. Anyways my room is all the way in the basement and it would just be such a hassle if I did it in my room. I can’t imagine how my parents feel. Cause if/when they want to shower there will be like a tub filled with dirty water and all my clothes. It’s really gross, but what can I say, it’s not really my fault. Haha. I try to clean up after myself but I also try and let my clothes soak so I don’t have to put so much effort into scrubbing. Yes, I know lazy bum. But I’m sure my parents will be able to put up with it for just a little more time. Hopefully they can, if not, you’ll be hearing from me.

Third blog

Rain, Rain, go away, come again another day. It was quite impossible to hang my clothes outside this weekend mostly because it was it was raining all day. we have installed a special clothes hanger out side in our backyard so that i can hang my clothes out there when the weather is nice and warm. This helps my clothes dry quicker and doesn't take up all the space inside my house. But that couldn't happen this weekend because of the stupid rain that has been going on non stop. So i hung my clothes the usual way, all over my house, on hangers, ledges and some were even on the floor. bad sign. Also, i realized that i am terrible at squeezing the max amount of water out so that it can easily dry.. yeah, there was water everywhere. My parents are kind of getting fed up with the whole summative already and like it hasn't even been that long.

Second Blog

As soon as friday came, i knew i was going to have a hard time with the clothes this weekend. Friday morning, i unfourtunatly had practice in the rain, which might i add was terrible. Maybe it was because i knew i had to go home and hand wash the clothes myself. Anyways when i got home i immediatly took my clothes out from my bag, and i got a basin and put all my dirty clothes in there. This was just the begining. Everything from that point on was super hard. So First i got Tide soap, and poured some inside the basin along with my clothes. Then i turned on the hot water cause i figured it would get some of the dirt out much easier. That worked out really well, especially when i got a scrubber that i didn't even know we had in our house, and i used it to scrub my clothes. I can't even explain how badly my clothes smelt. But yeah, the dirt came out, then i rinsed it once again. After that i tried to squeeze as much water out as possible so that i could hang it out to dry without it dripping ALL over the place. My family is getting a good laugh at the moment, watching me break a sweat over cleaning my clothes. It is actually really harder than i thought it was going to be. And yes, i do realize it has only been like the first three days. LOL. Can't wait for the next two weeks. (sarcasum)

First Blog

My fist day giving up my washing machine and my dryer turned out well. mainly because i didn't have to wash anything on the first day. My family doesn't seem too convinced that i am fully capable of giving up these two things mainly because of my situation at the moment. I am in the midst of rugby season and so this means that there are up to four practices a week including games. It is very hard to keep up with everything at the moment, so i get where they are comnig from when they say "you can't do it Jerinne." I am convinced that i can see through with it, and although i know it may be hard, the benifits/outcomes at the end will out weigh everything else. After thinking about the assignment after i had written my statement of intent, i realized that there is something i can do to make my life a little easier. When i was using my washing machine, i always put clothes (especially my rugby things) after one day of use. I decided that since i am going to be messy anyways, why not save some time & wear the same things to practice and wash them all at the end of the week. This seems like a good idea and i think that it will work except for days when it rains. On days when i have practice and it rains, i think it will be best to either hang it out to dry or wash it when i get home.

The “No Impact” Summative Statement of Intent

Colin Beavan is a man who “got tired of listening to himself complain about the world without actually ever doing something about it.” In 2006 he and his wife and two year old daughter attempted to live in the middle of New York City with creating as little environmental impact as possible. The point of this experiment for Colin and his family was to show the world that with perseverance they can improve the quality of life and not be harmful to the planet. Colin Beavan's experiment is definitely something that would be very hard to attain, but in watching his documentary about improving the planet, I see that we ourselves can make a few adjustments in our lives as well. For the “No Impact” summative, I decided that for the next three weeks, I will be hand washing all my clothes, and air drying all of my family's clothes. I decided that this course of action will be very beneficial because I find that my washer and dryer consume the most energy in my household. Usually my family does two to three washes a week depending on how dirty my clothes are after the sport that I play (rugby/basketball). When my washing machine is being used, the setting is always on “warm”. I have never stopped to think “why not cold”, but when thinking about my summative, this question popped into my head instantly. When using my dryer, it is the same idea which can definitely make an impact on my environment. By reducing the number of times that I click start on both my dryer and the washing machine, I can reduce the amount of energy that I use in my house hold weekly. Personally, I believe that this action will be attainable, but it will have it's good and bad times. I think that absent mindly my parents might put my clothes into the washing machine, but before hand, I will have to sit down and talk to them about the decisions that I am making to avoid that problem. Giving up my dryer will not make as much stress on my life as the washing machine because as the weather is getting better, the thought of hanging my clothes out side can be an easier option. When or if it rains though, I will have to find the room around my house to properly hang my clothes so that I can have the dry. As of right now, I will not set any rules for myself for the reason that this intent is pretty straight forward. If accidentally, my parents put my clothes in the washing machine, I cannot reverse this, but I can offer to hand wash my siblings clothes as another option. I will not be too excited for that one, but it will be something that I would have to suck up my pride and do for the summative. What I find is going to be the most difficult is that I now have to actually find the time to wash my clothes weekly. I am usually pretty busy with work, school, and rugby that I am afraid I will not have the energy to personally hand wash my clothes. Although this may be difficult for me, I know that I must do this so that  I not only get a good mark, but so that I can have a little taste of the hardship that Colin Beavan's family had to go through to prove a point to the world and themselves.