Things I Am Excited About!

Hey everyone!

With the first EVER Ecolympics rapidly approaching, there is still so much to do and so much to get excited about! So, here is my top 5 list of things related to Ecolympics that I'm pumped about, and also one thing that I'm not looking forward to so much.

1. Buying my T-shirt! Not only is it an eco-friendly T, not only is it tye dye, but it also allows me to put off laundry for another day! And everyone knows that doing laundry is bad for the environment. This is the shirt that keeps on giving!

2. The Meat-less event! I think that this is going to be one of the most difficult for me. Yesterday's menu included, a ham english muffin, pasta toss with sausage, a hamburger, and soupy (which is an Italian cured-sausage like snack. A bit like pepperoni except spicier, homemade, and hung in my basement for months. To be quite honest, I just don't ask what's in it, I don't think I want to know.). Thankfully, the dining hall will be helping to provide me (and everyone else) with meat free meals. While I don't know if I can go the whole week without eating any meat at all, I am certainly going to try to cut my meat consumption to at most once a day.

3. The Biodiversity@BU photo contest! I can't wait to see all the awesome pictures from all around BU. I'm also excited to finally have an excuse to get out and take pictures rather than do homework.

4. Oceans! This is not directly related to Ecolympics however, it is during Earth Week so it gets included. Starting Thursday (Earth Day) the AMC on Tremont St. will be showing Oceans, a Disney production (yes, I may be slightly obsessed with Disney but the obsession has finally come in handy because now I know about Oceans!). Oceans is a Planet Earthlike production that takes us under the sea. The part I am most excited about however, is that a portion of every ticket sold during it's first week in theaters will go to helping our Coral Reefs. Not only can I go see larger than life fish on the big screen, I can go knowing that I am helping the ocean.

5. Raising Awareness! When we had our first Ecolympics meeting, one of our fears was, would anyone actually care? This fear did not subside until our last meeting. Our facebook group has more than 200 members, not only from BU, but from all over the world. Over 100 people have taken the Ecolympics Oath (those of you who haven't signed up for events yet better get a move on!). The amount of people we are reaching is more than I expected, by far. And that is what I am most excited about! The fact that we are raising awareness (through friendly competition) about issues that are important to me and impacting us all.

So now, the one thing I am not excited about this week. Something that will pain me more than Meat-less. TV Free. You all might be saying, if it's going to hurt you that much, don't sign up for it. Valid point. However, I do believe I suggested the event. Therefore, I feel an obligation to go without TV. Should this be hard for me? No, it shouldn't. Can I entertain myself without the TV? Yes, I can go for walks, read the many books piled haphazardly around my dorm, write letters, hang out with my friends in a TV free zone. The options are there. But going TV Free denies me of the reward of the "TV Coma" I fall into after a long day of homework. Will I miss my Grey's Anatomy, my Law and Order SVU, my pointless MTV, and my Celeb Rehab with Dr. Drew? Yes, I will miss them dearly. But, will I come out of this week a new person, enlightened by all of the experiences that I had while doing something instead of sitting stuck to the TV? Probably not but I will still be alive and hopefully, I will have saved a little piece of the planet.

What are you excited most about? What do you think will be the biggest challenge? Post it to our facebook group! We are all in this together!

Ecolympics Love,
-Jill

PS-I will not be seeing Oceans until Sunday, AFTER TV Free Week is over. Also, I promise not to sit aimlessly in front of my computer for hours on end watching Youtube videos, nor will I attempt to catch up on my TV shows or watch movies on it either. That would be cheating, and Mother Earth will know.