Katrina Santiago

This week I took my dog on some walks. She's really old and she can play in the backyard so we don't really take her on walks. But I decided this would be a good motivator to get outside more than I usually do. Also I wanted to share this picture from the field trip today. I love how green it is. 

This week I went through my closet and made a pile of clothes I don't want so I could donate them. I also asked my stepmom if she had any and she gave me quite a few too. I took them to the goodwill that's like 2 minutes down the street which is very convenient.

This week I decided to walk to places that were close to me instead of driving. I walked to Barnes & Noble which took about 15 minutes and then I bought a book as a treat. I also walked to the grocery store which only took about 10 minutes. These are places I'm usually too lazy to walk to, so I've always driven in the past. 

I know quite a few people have done this already but I've wanted to try it out for myself. This week I decided to plan out my meals and only get the stuff I needed for those meals at the store. This was actually helpful in spending less money because I tend to buy stuff I don't need when I'm at the store. It was also really nice because I had a structure instead of searching for random food in the fridge every day. 

Since we were talking about water this week, I decided to reduce how many showers I take in an attempt to conserve some water. Honestly, I had no need to leave the house this week so I didn't even feel bad about not showering as much. I showered about once every 3 days and I used dry shampoo on days I'd normally shower. I also tried to reduce my time in the shower. Whenever I found myself just lost in thought in the shower, I would notice that and try to hurry along with the shower. I don't mind not showering as much, but I found it hard to reduce my time in the shower. It's such a nice place to just stand and think about things without any distractions. 

This week I decided to consciously spend 20 minutes on my deck every day to enjoy the outdoors. It was really nice to be able to get outside every day even if its just for a little bit. I am hoping by doing this I can create a habit out of it because I tend to not leave the house very much. I especially enjoyed sitting outside on the sunny days and being able to soak up some sun while it lasts. Here are some pictures of the trees changing colors behind my house!

This week, my girlfriend brought to my attention how much water we waste when flushing the toilet. Newer toilets waste about 1.6 gallons per flush which is an improvement from the 7 gallons that older toilets waste. However, that's still a lot of water. So this week I decided not to flush the toilet as much. I know some people may find this gross, but I see no harm in not flushing if you've only peed. Plus I have the luxury of having my own bathroom to do this with. So this week, I have worked at not flushing the toilet as much so that I can limit my water waste.

I went to a tiny park in Vancouver near my house this weekend and had a very pleasant time. The park felt very natural with no paved paths, just little trails and I liked that a lot. I especially enjoyed the cool air. I really like the air during fall. It feels so crisp and cool and clear. Most of the leaves were green but there were a couple trees that were changing colors. It was really nice to enjoy some time in nature and appreciate the beauty. I definitely don't do it enough and would like to try to do that more. The one thing I noticed is that it felt impossible to escape the noises of cars on a road. They could be fairly far away and you could still hear them. Its sad that a lot of our nature in the city is polluted with city noises. 

This week in the grocery store, I was putting my items in bags. So far I have just done what I was taught without questioning it. My mom taught me that frozen items go in plastic bags, and we can put the rest in paper bags. So while I was packing up my items I thought why can't I put frozen items in paper bags as well. I decided to put all my items in the paper bags and use no plastic bags. Then, I recycled the bags when I got home. I also found a reusable bag in the house and put it in my trunk, so hopefully next time I can start implementing reusable bags as well.