Over this summer I worked at an all girls camp in North Carolina. At first I was a little hesitant about living in a log cabin with no technology, minimal electricity, and a bunch of kids. Needless to say, this experience was really eye opening for me. It made me realize how little we can live on and how much stuff I have that I don’t need. It also was a lot of fun because we didn’t rely on technology for entertainment. The camp itself was very sustainable. There was a huge garden that we would get most of our food from. Sometimes we would help with picking the food for the meals. And, as shocking as it may sound, to conserve water we were only allowed 5 minutes of shower time. I guess it helped that there was no water pressure and the water was usually pretty cold. Daily use of electricity was a minimum as we were more concentrated on bonfires and s’mores. We probably only used at most 30 minutes a day of electricity. Due to the fact hat we used minimal technology, there was more of a sense of involvement.

Overall this way of sustainable living ended up being a lot easier and actually more fun than I had originally expected. I was there for three months. It was hard leaving a place that was so off the grid for me and going back to a house with so many appliances and things I don’t really need. It was definitely a transition I wasn’t expecting. Although I am living in the city now and I recognize that I am not living as sustainable as I did this summer, I am still trying to do my part here in Charleston towards a more sustainable living.