Sophia Martinez

For one of my daily challenges this week, I chose to use a reusable mug. I chose this because I already use a reusable water bottle. While I drink coffee or tea every day, I never use a reusable cup for either. What surprised me about this challenge was the amount of money I saved because I mostly drank k-cup coffee this week compared to my regular lattes or ice coffees. I believe that there is nothing really stopping me in pursuing this life behavior change as there are only positives to be gained. However, I know that not all coffee shops accept reusable mugs, especially during the pandemic. Besides the added benefit to the environment and ultimately saving me money, I had no idea about another benefit. After reading “Coronavirus: Why We Should End the Pandemic Pan on Reusable Cups”, I learned that non-reusable cups can spread Coronavirus. There is an additional incentive for me to commit to the reusable mug lifestyle.

The second daily challenge I chose was to walk instead of drive. This challenge was relatively easy as I am a freshman and unable to have a car on campus.  Since I sometimes catch rides, I decided to limit this practice entirely. I also altered this daily challenge to add another layer to it. I decided to limit my orders from Door Dash, as this can be considered a form of transportation. I would like to walk as much as possible, but I can't walk everywhere. By listening to Jeff Speck's Ted Talk about the walkable city, I am inspired to try and shop in areas where I can get all my shopping done in one place. In his talk, he states suburban areas produce more C0₂ emissions because stores are not within walkable distance. Since I live in a suburban area that is not walkable, I believe that I must develop solutions to limit the amount of my driving.

One of the one-time challenges that I picked was learning about and practicing sustainable fashion. I decided this was a good challenge to choose after watching The Minimalist. After reading “The Environmental Cost of Fashion,” I also realize how unsustainable fashion truly is to include the profound human rights labor issues. I was inspired to do my part to minimize negative impacts. I didn't realize that there are so many ways to participate in sustainable fashion. One of these ways is reusing clothes. As I was home for the weekend, I chose some items from my closet and donated eight items to Goodwill. I hope to raise awareness of this issue and continue to donate and not buy as much clothing. I believe that as someone who loves clothes, this might be somewhat of a struggle. However, I would like to give it a try to the best of my ability. 

I picked to complete a personal waste audit for a day as my second one-time challenge. After reading, “How To Conduct A Household Waste Audit,” I realized I needed a scale. Since I didn't have access to one, I had to improvise. I separated my waste into categories. I learned that most of my waste falls into one of two categories: food/ drink related or packaging from Amazon. Luckily most of my waste is recyclable. However, I would like to reduce the number of packages I order, as it has both a waste aspect as well as a carbon footprint from traveling. I also believe that I can try and find food items that don't have as much excess packaging to lessen the impact to the environment. I believe that I learned a lot from my waste audit, and I would like to be more conscientious of my waste in the future.

For one of my daily challenges, I chose to turn off lights, electronics, and appliances when not using them. For the appliance part of this challenge, I found it extremely easy as I don't have that many appliances in my dorm room except for a fridge and microwave. Unfortunately, I'm forced to leave these appliances on as I don't want any food in the fridge to spoil. The larger struggle for me is remembering to turn off the lights. For fear of forgetting to turn off the lights, I noticed this week that I never turned them on except at night. I've also been more conscientious as I open my curtains to use a natural light source during the day.  I have also tried to turn out my roommate's lights when we are both out of the room and not using them. I found it interesting that I never really use my own lights. I usually just use one of my roommate’s lights as it is the brightest. The hardest part of this daily challenge is the electronic aspect. In preparation for the next day, I always leave my phone, computer, and apple watch charging overnight. However, this week, I've tried to stay awake until my devices are fully charged. Unfortunately, there have been a few instances where I accidentally left my apple watch or phone plugged in overnight. On the other hand, I've always remembered to unplug my computer. I consider this a significant improvement. The only real barriers to continue this challenge is the potential for my forgetfulness. I believe that I can totally make this a lifestyle change. While I do believe that there will be some instances of not being as conscientious of my energy use, I would like to mitigate this by using the resource Shrinking Your Dorm Print. One aspect I would like to implement is using mother nature more as I figure out one way to do so with daylight. I would like to also use it for heating and cooling. I also want to be more conscientious of buying LED bulbs and limiting my screen time to conserve energy and with the added benefit of giving my eyes a rest. 

I picked to brush my teeth without running water for my second daily challenge. I believe that this is an easy and non-life-changing behavior. However, I believe that I usually zone out when brushing my teeth and often forget. This happens more in the mornings as I’m tired and half asleep. I also often go on my phone when I brush my teeth, and I become distracted. However, this week I have had no slip-ups and have fully completed the challenge. I was surprised that I usually run the water after brushing my teeth to clean out the sink at home. However, the benefit of living in a dorm is this is something you don't have to do as custodians clean the sinks daily. I don't believe anything stands in my way of not using water running water when I brush my teeth. I would love to continue this after the Eco-challenge. After reading “ 6 Times You Can Turn Off the Tap to Save Water,” I hope to focus on water conservation.  I can accomplish this by taking more efficient showers and washing my hands while being more conscientious of my water use. 

I chose to wash my clothes in cold water for my one-time challenge. I did both loads of laundry this week in cold water. I believe that this is an easy switch, as I predominantly only use cold water when washing my clothes. I believe that I could make this a consistent switch. It is such a simple task. It saves me time as it takes less time to wash in cold water rather than hot water. I don't believe anything is standing in my way from making this a permanent change. I feel the resource “Cold Water Saves” has also incentivized me to wash in cold water. I found it interesting that if you switch 4 out 5 loads of laundry to use only cold water, you can eliminate 864 pounds of CO₂ emissions in a year, which is equivalent to planting .37 acres of U.S. Forest. It saves money, helps the environment, and benefits my clothes. Therefore, I don't really see a reason not to continue this challenge.

For one of my daily challenges, I chose to enjoy the sunrise and sunset each day. I really was not expecting to appreciate the sunrise and sunset to the degree that I did. After the first two days, it began to feel like a ritual that routinely began my day and concluded it. What really surprised me was that I watched two consecutive sunrises and sunsets. I am not a morning person, and I didn’t believe that I would ever watch a sunrise for this challenge. However, I’m glad that I got up early as an odd outcome to this challenge was that my sleep schedule became normalized. I also did not stay up as late. I now feel like there is not much standing in my way of consistently taking a moment to watch the sunset every day. However, I believe that being able to permanently wake up for every sunrise is more difficult as I tend to be more productive at night. To help me accomplish these goals, I will use the sunset and sunrise website provided as a resource. 

The second daily challenge that I chose was to log less screen time. I believe that this is a very important challenge to lead a healthier life. I experienced this in high school when I attended a wilderness semester school and did not have access to my phone. I believe that this practice increased my attention and quality of time with people. In 11 Things You Should Do Instead of Being On Your Phone, it is noted that having a face-to-face conversation is critical. I wish to carry this with me. This challenge was the hardest for me to accomplish as I heavily rely on my devices for homework, school, and to stay in touch. Obviously, I couldn’t cut back as much as I wanted to as I had to complete my assignments. However, I made a conscious effort to stay off my phone. I didn’t allow myself to check my phone when I was completing assignments or readings, and I believe this caused me to be more productive and complete my work more efficiently. I do believe that because I love to talk to my friends and family, I can only realistically limit my screen time by an hour a day. However, I do want to further reduce my screen time in the long term.

The one-time action I chose for the week was to write down my core values. I was not expecting this to profoundly affect my choices throughout the day. After reading Your Personal Values: What Are Values and How Do You Live Them? I wrote down one thing that does not align with each of my core values. I feel that this activity increased the positive effect on the way I go about my day. Since I was surprised by the outcome of this one-time action, I hope to permanently continue this. I feel that I do not routinely think about my core values. However, I believe that I can now better embody these core values after writing them down.