Author: Allison King

It’s finally spring break! Many of you may be traveling via plane, car, or train. Although we’re on a break from school, it’s still important to make sustainable choices. If you didn’t know, electric cars fill up for approx. $1.14 per egallon while gas fueled cars fill up for approx. $3.65 per gallon. Driving an electric car not only helps maintain gas emissions, but it also helps you stay within your spring break budget. Another tip for staying in budget would be to ride with a few friends, preferably in a hybrid car if someone owns one, and split the gas cost equally. Doing this would save money for gas and also limit the amount of gas emissions. Did you know burning 1 gallon of gasoline creates 20 pounds of carbon dioxide which promotes global warming? Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas which traps sunlight on the earth’s surface. Basically the greenhouse gases create a thick atmosphere which prevents sunlight from leaving the Earth causing it’s climate to raise over time.

-Allison King

Yes. You read that title right. The Cabbage has risen. What exactly is “The Cabbage” you may ask? The Cabbage is a nickname given to the eco-cottage. We are among one of the most sustainable cabins, 3/8 of our residents are vegetarian

This past week in class, we all had the opportunity to make green cleaning products. We made a multi-purpose cleaner and a deodorizer. One of the main ingredients in both of them was vinegar, so you can guess how that smelled. We usually do rotations of cleaning to make sure the cottage stays clean, so when it came time for the group of the week to clean, we tried out the new products. We used the multi-purpose cleaner on the kitchen counter but once we noticed the smell, we stopped using it. It may have actually cleaned the counter, but there wasn’t any way to tell.

One of my roommates, Celia, said that the cleaner did not work and that it smelled bad. Actually, everyone in the house agreed that the cleaners didn’t smell great but it was fun making them. However, we’ll probably just stick to Lysol and Clorox even if they may be carcinogenic. (Just kidding, i’m not sure if they actually cause cancer)

One of my favorite parts about living in the Greenbelt Community, is always being able to meet with our neighbors every Friday for class. We often have interesting discussions or fun activities planned which makes it one of my favorite classes.