Marcus Suzuki

Pd.1
Journal #1 (11/16/16)
Home:165/100
Diet: 962/1050
Energy: 978/700
Stuff: 232/232
All: 2337/2088

According to the Water footprint calculator, my use of water in home and my energy use is
extremely high, and barely not over for the stuff category. My best score was in the diet section
but its still not very low compared to the national average. These results opened my eyes to
how wasteful I am with water. What I was surprised about was how much water outdoor use
takes up, but also with how much water solar panels save. I hadnt really considered how
drinking coffee and milk effected my use of water, but when I changed it around, I noticed how
much it affected the total amount of water.

Journal #2 (11/18/16)

Looking back at my First journal, I noticed how most of my water usage was in the Home and
Energy category. And not just those two, but I noticed how the stuff category and diet categories
were pretty high as well. Since I am not able to change the amount of stuff and the amount of
energy I use in a year too much in just 2 weeks, I will be focusing on reducing water in my diet
and home categories significantly. First of all, most of the foods that were asked were meats, so
my plan is to reduce the amount of meat I consume significantly by using tofu as a substitute or
part of the meal. Instead of 100% beef hamburgers, I will be eating tofu and beef
hamburgers instead, and simply reducing a meat dish and replacing it with carbohydrates such as
rice and bread to have energy substituting the energy I get from meats. For household use, I will
be reducing the number of showers by not taking showers on friday and saturday since I will not
be meeting people, and duration by washing my head and body as quick as possible. At the same
time cutting the number of baths I take to 0, I will also reduce the # of dishwasher loads 7 to 5
and Laundry loads from 6 to 4. Finally, I will not be watering the yard, and allow only natural
rainfall to water the yard. Adding on to that I will be driving less and bike or walk more to get
around. I will then reduce my use of electricity by opening windows instead of using a fan when
I shower, and have all lights off until 5:30pm(Because Its Winter) which will result in me using
a little less electricity than the average person. I will also buy less clothes by wearing clothes my
dad cannot wear anymore.
All these strategies directly connect with the water footprint calculator so I will be experimenting
with these strategies in the next 2 weeks.
Journal #3 (11/27/16)
Running the strategy has been going very well so far. Unlike my friend who fixed his diet so
that there is no meat at all and is replaced by vegetables, My extra carbohydrate diet leaves me
with a lot of energy and no weak feeling my friend was talking about. My mistake was
thinking that I would be able to reduce the number of showers and laundry loads significantly.
Because I dance, my clothes tend to get dirty and I sweat a lot. So it was a challenge to reduce
the number of showers and laundry loads. I then came up with another strategy to fix this
problem. Instead of wearing pajamas, I wear my day clothes to sleep, so that I wont have 2 sets
of clothes everyday, and only have one set. For this challenge, my parents are also in together so
that we have maximum effect of the strategies.
No concerns for 2nd week except that I wont be able to reduce traveling in just one week.

Journal #4 (12/5/16)
Home:66/100
Diet: 625/1050
Energy: 978/700
Stuff: 192/232
All: 1861/2088

By using all my strategies, I was able to stand below the average water use, but I am a little
disappointed how I was not able to change the amount I travel in a short period of time, but I am
very satisfied with the results that have been made. This project really opened my eyes to how
much I abused water and how easily I could reduce the amount of water I use. Simple things as
quickers showers and less laundry loads do a lot more than one would think. I will most likely
use these strategies, mostly the home and diet category because it is a lot easier for us to control
our use of water through food and activities. I believe the goal of the project was very important
because it tells us all about how easily we can reduce use of water and how significant of an
impact it can have on the environment. We need to push the issue of water use because water is
used/wasted a lot more than we think. Even eating meat wastes water because the water is
needed to supply the animals. So we have to know our excessive use of water and do our best to
reduce it so that we can help the environment strive.