zedweiller:
pharaun:
pharaun:
A couple weeks ago, I noticed my roommate had thrown some plastic bottles and paper into the trash. I thought it strange she hadn’t recycled them, but I wrote it off as a careless mistake since the recycling bin isn’t too far from trash can. Then I caught her brushing her teeth…
To me, leaving the water running is something children do because they don’t know better. Forgive me if my choice of words sounds ridiculous, but I found the whole situation just that. Like I said, she is an educated adult. I was surprised that she would do this just asked her why she left the water running and that she wouldn’t because it was wasteful. Even if she didn’t see this as a conservation issue, I hoped she could see it as a cost issue.
I don’t see how a protest or a meeting would be more effective. Please explain your reasoning and how I might convince her to attend one and take it seriously. I would genuinely like to know since there are several coming up in the spring.
what i’m saying is that if you want her to take an interest in environmentalism, assuming she has any interest or potential interest in it, getting her involved in some kind of group political activity would probably be more effective (for convincing her and for helping the environment) than leading with getting her to turn off the water while brushing.
i say this as an environmentalist. i know it drove my girlfriend crazy when i would fish her soda cans out of the trash to put in recycling; she said that when i did stuff like that it felt invasive and pushy, and i would rather be pushy about things that matter more, like stopping mountaintop removal or protesting the XL Pipeline. i think that people who become environmentalists politically will decide in their own way how to change their lifestyle to accommodate their new ideas, but fundamentally, small lifestyle changes are less useful than becoming politically active and aware.
I have to disagree. Starting with the lowest hanging fruit like not leaving the water running, keeping thermostats at moderate temperatures, tuning off lights when one leaves a room, recycling, reducing, reusing, ect. are what is going to add up. These are simple things that don’t require commitment and with most you can see an uplifting reflection on your utility bill. Then people can be drawn into further measures.
She is not interested in the environment in the least which was a surprise to discover. I didn’t expect her to be an activist, but I expect most modern people to take some conscious efforts. I hoped bringing issues down to at least a cost issue would help, but I guess she has enough discretionary income to blow on utilities (but not gas?).
I can understand how someone might consider my behavior invasive, but on a certain level I feel that any kind of cultural movement is. As it turns out, our flatmates have also had words with her about some of these things because they don’t want to pay high utility bills either.
I don’t see how people can make a direct link between stopping mountaintop removal or protesting the XL Pipeline and what they can do on a day to day individual level. I suppose one could be inspired by a specific environmental effort and I would prefer people to be moved by their love for the environment over bills any day, but getting someone with no environmental interest at all politically active is beyond my current abilities.
(via hobbit-hero)
pharaun:
A couple weeks ago, I noticed my roommate had thrown some plastic bottles and paper into the trash. I thought it strange she hadn’t recycled them, but I wrote it off as a careless mistake since the recycling bin isn’t too far from trash can. Then I caught her brushing her teeth…
To me, leaving the water running is something children do because they don’t know better. Forgive me if my choice of words sounds ridiculous, but I found the whole situation just that. Like I said, she is an educated adult. I was surprised that she would do this just asked her why she left the water running and that she wouldn’t because it was wasteful. Even if she didn’t see this as a conservation issue, I hoped she could see it as a cost issue.
I don’t see how a protest or a meeting would be more effective. Please explain your reasoning and how I might convince her to attend one and take it seriously. I would genuinely like to know since there are several coming up in the spring.
(via hobbit-hero)
A couple weeks ago, I noticed my roommate had thrown some plastic bottles and paper into the trash. I thought it strange she hadn’t recycled them, but I wrote it off as a careless mistake since the recycling bin isn’t too far from trash can. Then I caught her brushing her teeth with the water running and made a comment about water conservation which she brushed off and claimed it was too hard to turn the water off and on multiple times while she brushed. I found her excuse to be lame, but I wasn’t going to get in a fight first thing in the morning and I knew she would just be obtuse and stubborn if I got on her case.
Then today she thought the room was too cold so she went to turn the thermostat up. I told her to try and not crank it up too much because it would be sweltering in the night. I jokingly added that maybe she should adapt to the slightly colder temperatures instead of continuously playing with the heat. She said that as a human she changed her environment to suit her needs and not the other way around. I said that this was sadly the view of many people, but humans shouldn’t kid themselves that we could tame the natural environment and think that there would be no negative reactions.
She reiterated, “If I can be comfortable, why not do what I want?”
In shock, I stuttered out plenty of reasons why she should consider more than her own comfort. She just smirked at me and returned to whatever she was doing on the internet.
We are on good terms and I don’t constantly sprout environmentalist crap so this is not just her trying to get a rise out of me. She just doesn’t care.
My roommate’s major is international studies. She is a very bright young woman who cares about human rights issues. She is educated in or at least exposed to data about pollution, conservation, climate change, ect.
How can people focus on their current superficial comfort knowing about stronger storms and sea level rising? about drought? Increasing scarcity of natural resources? How can she not care about her future and that of her children?
This is very depressing. I have dedicated much of my life to environmental and natural resource economics in an attempt to salvage what is left of the global environment and help secure sustainability. I try to educate people in order to deter their actions because knowledge is power and the most effective method of making people take action. But what do you do when people know and understand, but still don’t care? How do you make people care? This is a difficult question to which I have no answer.
Filed under environmentalism climate change natural resources sustainablility
I was going to wait on becoming a vegetarian until a specific date for habit building technique purposes. But the more I read about vegetarianism in preparation for the switch, the more I felt the need to start NOW. For example, in the essay Looking Deeply at the Nutriments by Thich Nhat Hanh, he states “A totally vegetarian diet requires 300 gallons of water per day, while a meat eating diet requires 4,000 gallons of water per day.” Hard to ignore that kind of inspiration. This is just one of many reasons for making the switch.
Filed under vegetarianism environmentalism
Today I went through my clothes again and cut out another 3 reusable grocery bags worth. I’m really getting to the foundations of my wardrobe now. My love for neutrals is REALLY apparent. But my palette is hardly boring due to the diversity of texture. Everything that’s left is high quality, well cut, classic and comfortable. I’m also almost completely finished selling off my costuming wardrobe. I hardly wear any of that stuff anymore. It’s what I wore last year, not this or the next. Out it goes! Hopefully I can sell off some of this stuff so I can upgrade my athletic wear. My workout clothes are either loosing their elasticity or I’m shrinking because they are sliding off of me mid yoga pose. NOT a good thing!
Other than clothing, I have been able to find new homes for my craft supplies. A friend from high school gets my old beading supplies for her business and my little sister gets all my modeling clay for hers. I’ve learned to be more functional with my crafting creativity by exploring the vegetarian diet and actually cooking. No lie! Of course, I’m taking the minimalist approach and using only cookware that I already have access to. In addition to cooking, I explore new yoga poses and meditation in my spare time. All of these new hobbies defiantly improve my quality of life.
Wow, does this whole post make me sound like a new age hippy? I better not mention my love for organics and birkenstocks.
Filed under hobbies minimalist decluttering declutter
The last of my three roommates has joined a vampire LARP. They’re downstairs spazzing over in-game drama and IRL drama surrounding their LARP groups. Why would anyone sign up for this??? I likely missing something, but it sounds more like a headache than fun.
Filed under drama irl in-game headache i just don't get it
On January 17, I started doing one hour of yoga a day. On February 17, I’ll be trying out vegetarianism for at least one month. This way I’ll have time to prepare for each future habit (physically and mentally) while ingraining the current month’s habit. Not all of my new habits will be health related, but all will be towards improving myself. By the end of this year, I will have 11 new positive habits. It really adds up!
Filed under habits health positive new year's resolution habit building
I’m very inspired by this image by the Sartorialist. Her outfit is so clean and neutral, but still fresh. It’s partially the well fitted suit, but mostly the watch. In my opinion. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen way too many Micheal Kors watches that are super blingy and tacky. Sometimes tacky can be cool and fashionable, but in this case, it’s been run into the ground. Luckily, I located this gorgeous Uniform Wares watch. Look at that clean face! It’s still functional, but has cut out unnecessary flair and labels. Stunning.
Filed under watch fashion uniform wares sartorialist suit
Today I’m moving back into my two bedroom apartment with three other girls. It’s ridiculously crowded. RIDICULOUSLY. It’s one of my inspirations for being minimalist. Do I want to live with all this disorganized crud?? They are all of the geek/nerd/whatever stereotypes which seems to promote the collection of tons of crap. Comic books, DVDs, VHS, manga, games, cords, collectables, tea sets, cosplay materials, and whatnot permeate the entire apartment. Even I am guilty of a few of these. The girl who shares a room with me is quite a bit more organized than the other two, but our room is dominated by boxes, shelving, ect. It can be stressful just looking at it.
So you might think that I’m not really looking forward to moving back. Well, that would be wrong. I can’t wait!!!! For some reason, I have tons of issues sleeping alone in my room at my parents’ house. The best sleep I ever got was in a six girl dorm room in a hostel over the break even if it meant being rudely woken up by an angry Russian woman chewing out a little boy (don’t ask). I’m looking forward to the restful sleep I get when my roommate is only a few feet away from me. Is this creepy? Is this weird? Who knows? Maybe it’s completely natural. After all, the more people vulnerable around me, the less likely a predator will target me. Am I really this subconsciously paranoid?
Filed under roommates college life sleep
My opinion of lolita meet-ups…
Okay, here I am in my non-traditional lolita outfit. I think I look hella adorbs. But this pic is of the one time I wore this dress. How friggin’ sad? I adore this look, but I really hate it when people look at me. It makes me seriously uncomfortable. I know I should not allow this to determine how I look or act, but it has. I only like dressing up in lolita for anime conventions, because that is when over the top craziness is celebrated and no one bats an eyelash at what I’m wearing unless it is to complement me. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the opportunity to go to one in over a year and my future is so unclear that I have no idea if I will be able to attend one for a very long time. I contemplated purging this dress so I wouldn’t feel guilty about not wearing it. But the moment I get my hands on it, I can’t seem to bear the thought of getting rid of it. In fact, I have considered buying more lolita dresses because I feel good in them and like the way I look.
I shared most of the above information with a friend and she suggested I attend a lolita meet-up. Um… what? People who get together just because they dress the same? The idea struck me as being very silly. But then I realized that most people who are good friends dress similarly. So I warmed up to the idea. Surely they have more to talk about at these lolita meet-ups other than lolita clothes. Dressing in lolita is kind of an icebreaker and an excuse to meet people. I would be able to dress the way I want, but the strength offered by the group setting would empower my choice of clothing. This all sounds great right up until my friend admits that the only lolita group near me is extremely bitchy. Well #*&%. Back to the drawing board!
Filed under lolita social insecurity
