We didn't have that much exciting happen in the world of our green transformation this week. I do not remember us actually setting up a green goal for this week. And so, we have not really added anything new to our plates, but homework levels have been pretty high, so I think I have a good excuse. Not that it is difficult to live a greener life style; the shortened showers, cutting down of phantom power, and vegetarianism have all been going really well for us. This week our showers have gotten a little longer than five minutes, but like I said last week, they are still under 10. We have also been turning off the tap when brushing our teeth and making sure that the faucets are all of the way turned off. For our phantom power challenge, we have been keeping things unplugged. I have doubled my efforts in turning off the lights when I leave rooms, or not turning them on during the day when natural light is all that is needed.

 Our vegetarian-ness has been going very well. We haven't really been monitoring the amount of protein and other vitamins that we have been eating to make sure that we are not suffering from not eating any meat, but I have not felt any different. I can assume then that we have been getting enough protein and iron from other sources, like tofu. One way that I know that my performance has not been affected by my lack of meat is that Amber and I go to our school's gym every Friday and workout. Over the past few weeks I have definitely not noticed a decrease in my levels of endurance. If anything, I am getting stronger from going to the gym. The point is, that not eating meat has not made me tired or sick feeling. I feel completely healthy and love eating more healthy foods.

This week, I think that our challenge will be to cut down on the amount of paper towels that we use. Our family uses a lot more paper towels than the average family. In fact, we generate a lot more trash than the average family. This has always bothered me, but as I learn more and more about the environment, it bothers me more. And so this week I will focus primarily on not using so many paper towels. We have rags for drying dishes and wiping hands on, but no one ever uses them. This is ridiculous, and I am going to stop using paper towels unless it is absolutely necessary.

As a sub-challenge, I am going to try and keep on track with my posting of articles. It is almost midnight here in Washington, which means that I almost missed my deadline. I'll write more about reducing trash and paper towels later in the week as this challenge starts.

Have a good President's Day if you have it off. I do, and I am so glad for the 3 day weekend.
-Morgan