Experiment Day 1

“It seems that you are living like Jonathan Safran Foer this week,” my friend said over dinner while observing me crunch on my vegetarian burrito on a plastic plate. In certain ways, I am. However, I am doing more than just watching what I eat due to animals; I want to build my relationship with the environment, but most importantly, with people too.

My first day began as if nothing new was happening until I went to eat breakfast with my friends. Even though the alluring smell of bacon made me hungry for meat, I ignored it and ate fruit, yogurt, and eggs instead. Even though I had to watch my friends savor their bacon, I actually didn’t miss eating it that much.

After breakfast, I returned to my room and remembered to take the stairs, which isn’t abnormal for me since I usually take them. However, when I had to go to class, I immediately went to the elevator buttons and pressed down. The elevator dinged; I was standing right in front of the opening doors ready to enter when I remembered my experiment. I quickly turned around and descended the stairs. On the way back to my room after class, I did the exact same thing. I guess I have a button pushing problem, but at least I remembered my no-elevator promise.

In between classes, I decided to try another aspect of my experiment: no disposable products. I washed my blueberry tea-smelling travel mug and used a paper towel to dry it. Immediately after throwing it away, I realized I broke my rule about wasting paper. Even though it was just one little piece of recycled paper towels, I should have remembered a washcloth. This event will remind me for the next time. I then headed to an on-campus grill place called the Tavern to get something to drink. I approached the cashier, told her about my experiment so she wouldn’t hand me a paper cup, and tried to pay for the drink. She smiled and told me to help myself without paying anything.

After this surprising encounter, I bumped into a friend and decided to sit down while he ate some food. During our conversation, I ate some of his chicken tenders. I didn’t realize until hours later that I broke another rule: no eating meat. I ate this without even thinking about my actions at the time. As my week continues, I hope that I will begin realizing the sources of my food.

I went to my French class drink until it was time for me to keep my promise of piano for 30 minutes a day. My plan today was to help a friend with his choir music for learning parts. I helped him until he had to leave for rehearsal. I actually was able to bond with a friend while doing something meant for me to enjoy.

Throughout the day, my fingers would type facebook.com automatically. The first time, I decided that I should post on my wall that I would be doing this experiment so no one should try to communicate with me online until my week is over. After that though, I continued to find myself looking at my news feed. The worst part is that I would be either doing work or talking with friends while doing this. My Facebook habit is going to be harder to stop than I thought.

During dinner time, we decided to eat at a Mexican burrito place called Salsa (which is next to the Tavern). I borrowed my friend’s plate and brought my cup to use during my meal. I ordered my vegetable burrito and handed them my plate. They were able to make my burrito without giving me the foil or paper plate they traditionally use.

Even though I made some mistakes, I hope that the rest of this week will have just as many accomplishments. Besides only throwing away one paper towel, I have yet to see a major impact so I am looking forward to what will happen later this week.