By KALEY CONNER

kconner@dailynews.net

Her freshman year of college, Janie Chen signed up for an environmental studies course at the University of Kansas, intending to get a few general education credits out of the way.

Little did she know that class would take her down a new, environmentally friendly career path.

"I guess it just kind of fell in my lap like that," said Chen, who grew up in the Kansas City area and now is majoring in environmental studies at KU.

As part of her ongoing efforts to incorporate the strategies into her lifestyle, she's launched an online blog portraying her efforts to help an "all-American" boy go green. And her boyfriend, Hays native Austin Hartman, is her test subject.

The blog, greenmyguy.wordpress.com, is a class project that gives a weekly account of Chen's efforts to convert Hartman to environmental conservation.

He and his roommates now are faithful recyclers, and Hartman, a junior majoring in ecology and evolutionary biology, has become more conscientious of the food he eats.

"I neglected to think about where it came from or what was put into it," he said.

He paused.

"But I won't give up meat," Hartman added. "I won't become a vegetarian because of this project."

He did, however, endure one "meatless Monday," and when the couple returned to Hays last week during fall break, they intended to grill up some veggie burgers for his parents.

Chen -- who also enjoys the occasional steak -- took advantage of the vacation to study the effect road trips have on the environment, an issue she examines in this week's blog post.

But they've also learned to take things in stride and implement green practices a little bit at a time. There was one week when the project became overwhelming, Chen said, noting they hurried to a fast-food restaurant as a reprieve.

"I'm not going to pretend to be some totally environmental person," she said. "I'm still trying to figure it out for myself as well. It's fun to have a partner in crime who kind of figures it out with me."

The purpose of her blog, she said, is to start a conversation so everyone involved can learn from each other. The 15-week long project is about halfway finished, but Hartman said some of the lessons he's learned just might stick with him.

"I realized the more I got involved, the more I actually started to appreciate this lifestyle," he said. "I'm really getting into it, and I like helping her out."