roomate issues

So Ive been trying to change my ways for the past couple of weeks now...

Instead of using water bottles I now use my canteen.
It was incredibly difficult at first. My roommate has three stacks of water bottles in our room and its always so tempting to just grab one as I run to class. But its easier now as I just keep telling myself no. I make sure to have my bottle filled so that I am not tempted to grab a pre-filled bottle. Also I leave one in my backpack and one on my desk so that it is always accessible. The only thing that bothers me though is that the one UCLA gave us tastes like metal...bleh. Any suggestions? is it okay to drink metal? lol anyone else bothered by this?

Also I am trying to convince my roommate to stop using water bottles but he wont listen. He believes that the quality of water is different between bottled water and the faucet. Which I know after taking the environmental cluster that that is seriously not true. There is a bazillion dollar markup price for bottled water compared to tap for no difference in quality or taste.

On the subject of my roommate, I am trying to get him to turn off the lights when he leaves, any suggestions? It makes me cringe whenever I come back from class and the lights are on but no one is in the room. Ive had conversations with him regarding his practices and how much better it would be to be sustainable but he is not as receptive and says I'm only doing what i do cause of the class....NOT TRUE!

Don't get me wrong though I love my room mate hes a great guy but...

Why do people leave lights on? It benefits absolutely no one and it does not take very much effort at all to turn them off. I believe that it is because the electricity in the dorms are viewed as a commons. I asked my roommate why he doesn't just turn them off and he replied because he is already paying for them so why not just leave them/ the air conditioning on. It is this flawed mentality that since UCLA is already charging us a ridiculous amount of money, might as well take advantage of it or someone else will. This is a vicious cycle. If we all spent less energy we would pay less for utilities and maybe decrease the cost of housing. Also it is just morally responsible to preserve the Earth, she is our home.

Why do we call Earth a she anyway? that's sexist. just kidding shes motherly. and that's exactly the point, the Earth cares for us and we in turn should appreciate her.

So it is going to be my goal not only to reform myself but also my roommate!

Ahhh I wish everyone could take this class. Tonight I am going to Theta Xi's sustainability meeting to discuss the possible installation of solar panels onto our roof. Super excited for that. I am also going to be taking over the composting for Theta Xi and as good as that is...its SMELLY! haha