This week marks the beginning of Lent, a time in various Christian traditions for fasting and abstinence from certain foods for a six-week period. A common habit is for people to give up something they really enjoy, such as chocolate or — if you’re as addicted as I am — burritos.

I got the idea from Grist, but I think no matter what religion you may or may not practice, six weeks is the perfect amount of time to try something new. Wouldn’t it be great if people would try green living for six weeks — even if it isn’t a complete overhaul, but just trying to cut out certain habits that are detrimental to the environment? I think it would be.

So for the next six weeks, I challenge you to abstain from a life of mass consumption. I challenge you to make an effort to live a greener life and see what kind of results you get. If your destination is less than a mile, commit to walking instead of driving. If it’s too hot or too cold, open a window or put on an extra layer of clothing, respectively. Take a look at what you throw into the trash and see what can be reused or recycled instead of merely thinking with the cans, glass bottles and newspaper categorization method. If you are going to throw away items that could be reused, donate them instead — someone can use them.

What’s that? You want even more tips? OK! Conserve water by taking shorter showers and not letting water run when it’s not being used. Don’t buy bottled water; use tap water or a water purifier instead. Keep your lights off or electronics off when they don’t absolutely need to be used. Look at what you buy and decide if it’s a necessity to buy it at all, and, more so, if it is a necessity to buy it new. Could what you need be borrowed from someone else? And what I absolutely hate seeing is countless empty beer cans littered across the street or in garbage bags — set aside a bag for people to put these cans so they can be recycled.

I’m not asking for a life-long commitment. I would be supremely happy if that happened, but this is just a trial run. Think of it as trying a new diet for six weeks — eating as instructed and avoiding foods as instructed for a short amount of time just to see the results. Maybe after the diet, you decide you enjoy feeling healthier. Maybe you have more energy and spend less money on fast food or at the grocery store. Maybe you lose some weight and like the way you look.

Just like a diet, however, if you like the results, you have to commit to it for more than six weeks. Making a commitment to abstain from excessively consuming goods and energy is something that eventually requires a lifestyle change to be truly effective, much like a diet eventually needs to become a permanent change and not a temporary one to have lasting effects.

I would hope after six weeks that you could see the difference between a life of consuming what you need and consuming what you want. I’m doing the same thing right now — I’m not perfect, but I’m making an effort to take out my trash as little as possible. Not because I am filthy and just let it pile in my room, but because I don’t waste enough to merit filling a trash can each week.

Chris Jordan is an artist who does a really great job of putting mass consumption in perspective with his artwork at his Web site, www.chrisjordan.com. He uses consumables as the object of his art, and visually counts out each one to portray an exact portrait of what that much waste looks like. If you ever wanted to know what two million plastic bottles looks like, take a gander. Sometimes, seeing things visually and not just reading about them paints a clearer picture of the impact that consumption has on our planet.

There is my challenge. I would be ecstatic if some of you took on this challenge (I’d be overjoyed if all of you did), and shoot me an e-mail in a few weeks to let me know what you think about it (skeptics especially encouraged). My hope is that, much like the successful diet, you will enjoy the results of this trial run and decide to make it a more concrete way of living. And — bonus — you can still eat carbs! Cathy Wilson is a junior journalism major. Send her an e-mail at cw224805@ohiou.edu.