Entry #3- Being environmentally aware in my own home

I’ve only lived in my current apartment about 4 months now. The Community from what I’m aware of is made solely of concrete buildings. I have 2 other roommates and I believe we are pretty environmentally efficient when it comes to being careful with the amount of electricity and water we use and also with turning off the air or turning it up when we are out of the house. Since we live in Florida heat isn’t something we really tend to use and if we do it’s very rare. Being in a gated community one amenity we have for free is our water. I think at times that tends to make us less aware of how much we are really consuming and how much we could preserve. The apartment is about 20 minutes to both school and to my job which makes an easy commute and helps me to burn less fuel. Our community is actually one of the few I’ve seen that has a lot of lush landscaping and plants that make it feel like you’re in more of a natural environment.  There are no yards to maintain so the only maintenance done is by the community landscapers. The only animals I’ve really seen are small insects like lizards and ladybugs as well as other animals such as snakes and bunny rabbits. We do have an Olympic size community pool that is also maintained by the community I’m assuming with all the same chemicals that would normally be used to clean a pool such as chlorine.  The only household chemicals we store would be cleaners for the showers or sinks that include bleach in them. We normally just store them under the kitchen sink in a safe place out of reach or harm. I feel that a natural environment is one that naturally forms around you, whereas an unnatural environment is one that you bring both plant and animal species into and try to make it look like its natural. I feel that my community is a little more unnatural because many of the plants and landscaping were brought in to make it feel more natural. I don’t feel like I’m necessarily “of nature” because I feel like I’m more forced into being in nature rather than seeing and experiencing nature around me. I feel like the community is trying to fit into nature and the surroundings. I don’t think it’s wasteful or overuses its materials and wants to help the environment rather than hurt it. Overall I think my community is trying to be one with nature by helping us feel like we are living in a more natural environment with our lush surroundings and plant and animal life.

I don't have too many pictures of me in my house, but here is one of me(right) and one of my friends in my living room.