Peace Corps Blog

I decided to make a new blog for my Peace Corps experience. It is marypauline210.wordpress.com

Feel free to follow me there :)

Ecological Footrpint

I was pleasantly surprised to see that I lowered my ecological footprint from 3.4 planets to 3.1 planets.  57% of my footprint is services, 9% goods, 17% food, 11% shelter and 6% mobility.  

I also feel that I succeeded in all three of my goals.  My first goal was to eat more locally grown food.  I started shopping at the Co-op and it made this really easy.  I still shop at Fred Meyers every once in awhile, but not as much.  I am also looking forward to when the Farmers Market opens up again in April, I live right down the street so it is really easy to just walk there on Saturday mornings.  

My second goal was to ride the bus to work twice a week, this was more difficult, but I still managed to do it.  I believe this one is really important, I shouldn't be driving all by myself, there and back 4 days a week.

My third goal was to buy more natural and organic foods.  I never really defined what natural was to me, so I kind of gave up on this part.  Like we learned in class, there is no real definition for "natural" so it is really open-ended.  I did buy a lot of organic foods though.  Like I said earlier, I shopped at the Co-op, so it made this easy.  

I am going to try and continue with all my goals and also try to assess them and think of new ones as time goes on.  

Here is where I calculated my footprint: http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculators/

Green Fest

Last night as I was trying to write as essay for another class of mine I saw an advertisement on TV about a event in Seattle called Green Fest. It caught my attention, so I wrote down the Web site so I could check it out and see what Green Fest was all about. It sounded somewhat interesting. Accordind to their Web site, Green Fest is:

• The largets sustainability event in the world
• It is the only green even that screens exhibitors for their commitment to sustainability, ecological balance and social justice
• And each year it gets closer to being a zero-waste event.

The event in Seattle is the last weekend in March and is held at the Seattle Convention Center. It sounds interesting, they have all sorts of exhibits including ones on green burials, composting, green skin care, etc. Danny Glover will also be there as a key note speaker.

Here is a link to their Web site http://www.greenfestivals.org/

Old Town

Last week I wrote about how I rarely spend money on consumer items anymore, but after I wrote that I realized that the place I spend my money is on going out to eat with my friends.  My good friend loves to go out to breakfast, as do I.  She usually goes out at least once a week.

This morning we went to Old Town Cafe, it was great. I have always enjoyed there food and the service is really nice. I also don't feel to guilty when I do eat there, because

1) I am supporting a local business

2) They make their products with organic product

3) And, they also get their products from local suppliers.  

They support Edeleen Dairy from Lynden and Odwalla from Seattle.

Even as the quarter is coming to a close, I am still going to work on my goals and also continue to re-evaluate them and re-do them when I need to.  One of my new goals is going to be to not eat out as much, and if I am going to go out I want to go out and eat at local restaurants, instead of the huge franchises that are seen on almost every roadway.

So my thought for the week is Buy Local, and support our community members. And if you haven't tried Old Town, you really should, it is amazing!

When I was in high school and even my first two years of college, I would spend a lot of money on useless, un-needed stuff.  I would buy a lot of clothes and then hardly wear them, I would also buy a  lot of music and movies.  I am not entirely sure why things have changed now, but now i do not spend much on consumer goods.  

I have read the blogs of my fellow students, and a lot of the people talk about how one of there goals is to spend less on clothes and unneeded items.  That is not a goal I set for myself because over the past year, I don't see that this is a problem for me.  Eve at my work,we are able to set up monthly accounts, which we pay-off at the end of the month.   I see things that I want at the store, but unless I find something that I know exactly what I am going to do with it I don't buy it.  I have worked at Treasury since September, and I am pretty sure that I have had the lowest account balance of all my other co-workers every month since I have worked there.

I am still trying to figure out what about me has changed, I have a job, I have money to spend, but I usually don't choose to spend it.  

As for my other quarterly goals, 1 of them is easy, but the other two are a little harder to achieve.  I have been doing them, but it takes a more conscious effort to actually achieve them.  I can but all sorts of organic and local foods, but it is harder to actually cook it up and use it when I am so busy with my school work and do not come home it 9 or 10.  It is also difficult to take the bus to work sometimes, my bed is so comfortable and most days, it seems like a much better option to stay in bed for an extra 1/2 an hour, but i usually pull myself out of bed so I can make the bus in time.

Dead week is coming up, good luck everyone!

Last night I was on campus until almost 10:30, filming a video for my Management 313 class.   My group and I were filming in Parks Hall and I am pretty sure that we were the only ones in the entire building, and if there was anyone else it was the cleaning crew.  I was disappointed though because all the lights in the hallways were on and the lights were also on in the workroom for the faculty and staff on the third floor.  

Everyone keeps discussing the budget cuts that need to be made, so why should we be wasting electricity with having all the lights on, on a Friday night.  I know that the new building has censors in the hallways so that when there is no movement for a certain period of time, they turn off.  Maybe the university should invest in the same things for all the buildings.  The upfront cost would be expense, but it could pay off in the long run and reduce the electricity bill.

This week has been incredibly busy, and the end of the quarter is coming up quickly. I have been keeping up with my goals for the quarter. But, the hardest by far for me to do is take the bus twice a week to work. I take the bus everyday to school and then usually walk home, but the extra half-an-hour of sleep is hard to give up.

This week in class we had an assignment to create a new marketing campaign that targeted students. Mine was about buying local foods. I love that we have so many farm options out in the county and the summers are so much fun when you go with your friends and pick raspberries and strawberries, then make some great jam! More people just need to be aware of the great things that Whatcom County has to offer. My tagline was "Be Passionate about Bellingham!"

So enjoy the snow, and "Be Passionate about Bellingham!"