Ecochallenge.org

Campus Ecochallenge

Jake Wortman

ENST 246: Spring 2022

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
1,050 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

7.0

conversations

with people
UP TO

2.0

documentaries

watched
UP TO

667

gallons of water

have been saved
UP TO

46

miles

not traveled by car
UP TO

237

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

270

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

237

minutes

spent outdoors
UP TO

169

minutes

being mindful
UP TO

22

people

helped
UP TO

160

plastic bottles

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

3.7

pounds

food waste prevented
UP TO

258

pounds of CO2

have been saved

Jake's actions

Health

Reduce refined sugar

I will keep track and reduce my consumption of refined sugars, including sweetened beverages, candy, and processed foods.

COMPLETED 12
DAILY ACTIONS

Transportation

Drive Less

I will cut my car trip mileage by only taking necessary trips.

COMPLETED 18
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Weekly Meal Planning

I will reduce food waste and save money by planning a weekly menu, only buying the ingredients I need.

COMPLETED 12
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Watch a Documentary about Food Sovereignty

I will watch 2 documentary(ies) about food sovereignty: the right of local peoples to control their own food systems including markets, ecological resources, food cultures and production methods.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health

Support Pollution Reduction

I will spend at least 15 minutes learning about water and air quality issues in my area, how they are impacting human and environmental health, and how I can help.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Nature

Go for a Daily Walk

I will take a 10-minute walk outside each day.

COMPLETED 31
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Support Native Communities

I will use the resource links provided below and spend 20 minutes learning about the native populations that lived in my area prior to colonization, and what I can do to support those that still exist.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Talk To My Friends and Classmates

I will decide which social or environmental issue in my community is most important to me and tell 1 friends and/or classmates each day about the issue.

COMPLETED 7
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Help Others

I will offer to help 3 person(s) who are in need each day.

COMPLETED 7
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Research Restorative Justice

I will spend 15 minutes learning about restorative justice and conflict resolution opportunities in my own community or state.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Learn About & Practice Sustainable Fashion

I will learn about sustainable fashion and begin trying to practice it in my own life.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

5-Minute Showers

I will save up to 20 gallons (75 L) of water each day by taking 5-minute showers.

COMPLETED 24
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Use a Reusable Water Bottle

I will keep 6 disposable plastic bottle(s) from entering the waste stream by using a reusable water bottle.

COMPLETED 19
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

RESEARCH LOCAL WASTE SITES

I will spend 20 minutes finding out where landfills and/or toxic waste sites are situated in my region and which communities are most impacted by these sites.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Energy

Switch to Cold Water

I will switch to washing my clothes in cold water, saving up to 133 lbs of CO2 a month and 1,600 lbs of CO2 over the course of the next year.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Energy

Power Down the Computer

I will power down my computer and monitor when not using it for more than 2 hours, saving up to (1.1) lbs of CO2 each day that I do this.

COMPLETED 24
DAILY ACTIONS

Simplicity

Meditate

I will meditate or create a moment of silence for 5 minute(s) each day to reflect on things important to me.

COMPLETED 31
DAILY ACTIONS

Simplicity

Core Values

We may find more meaning and joy in life when our actions are aligned with our personal values. I will determine what my top 3-5 core values are so that I can better align my actions with them.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Participant Feed

Reflection, encouragement, and relationship building are all important aspects of getting a new habit to stick.
Share thoughts, encourage others, and reinforce positive new habits on the Feed.

To get started, share “your why.” Why did you join the challenge and choose the actions you did?

Jake Wortman 2/20/2022 7:59 PM

This week the daily and one-time challenges were a little tougher. I had to take a trip to Charleston for baseball this weekend so it was difficult trying to keep my challenges in mind and stay up to date with them. I believe the more that we travel it will be a little bit easier each time to implement the daily challenges into the road trips to ensure they are done more efficiently. It was surprising to see how the change of routine really impacted my ability to keep up with the daily challenges and do them when on the road we are constantly doing one thing after another and do not have much a lot of time for downtime to focus on schoolwork or mental health. The new daily challenges I began this week were to drive less and only when necessary and also to use a reusable water bottle. It was pretty easy to use a reusable water bottle in the beginning of the week but once we got to Charleston is was harder since I did not bring a reusable bottle and we only had plastic bottles to drink from. So, I had to improvise and use one plastic bottle and then just kept filling it up to prevent from using seven or eight plastic bottles a day. It was generally pretty easy to only drive when necessary and drive less. I limited myself to just driving to the field and back everyday and only going to get groceries once this week instead of going two or three times when I felt that I needed something.
The barriers that I am facing and especially this past week was getting into a travel routine and being able to implement these daily challenges while traveling. I felt that it was a lot tougher trying to do these daily challenges when traveling and it made it difficult to keep up and remind myself to do them. Traveling definitely took a toll and after a game it was hard to keep up with some of the challenges since my family was in town and all I wanted to do was relax and prepare for the next day.
From my experience this week with driving less and only, when necessary, I am willing to make this lifestyle change permanent. In the article “Reimagining Our Streets as Places: From Transit Routes to Community Roots”, the author states “…increased vehicle emissions have degraded air quality and contributed to the greenhouse gases causing climate change; and a lack of transportation options for many communities has caused uneven access to jobs, social services, healthy food option, and community interaction”, so I believe that it is important for me to reduce the amount that I drive so I can feel that I am helping the environment even though one less car on the road a day probably does not have much of an impact, but I will be able to influence others to do the same (https://www.pps.org/article/reimagining-our-streets-as-places-from-transit-routes-to-community-roots). If I can show people that I can drive less and use public transportation I will be able to make a greater impact in the community. I am also willing to make the change from single use plastic bottles to using a reusable water bottle. It was a relatively easy fix and next time I will remember to bring a reusable water bottle with me when I travel.

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- Jacqueline Rounsavill 2/24/2022 8:28 AM
  
  Jake,
  
  I think you did a great job navigating the difficulties that come with travel. It was great to hear that even though you forgot to bring a refillable water bottle on your trip, you were able to improvise and only use one plastic water bottle. I definitely understand the challenges that come with traveling and a disrupted schedule. This weekend, I will be traveling for an away swim meet, and I have already thought about how I may struggle to implement my daily challenges as well. One of my daily challenges is to limit the use of single-use plastics. I think this will be the hardest to achieve this weekend because of the availability of snacks provided by the team that are in disposable containers and plastic packaging. It would be interesting to see sports teams come up with more sustainable initiatives, but I do not think this is typically their primary focus. You mentioned that you just wanted to spend time with your family and prepare for the next day, which is common among athletes. As a result, I don’t think that environmental-consciousness is on the forefront of athletes’ minds, but maybe we can change that.
  
  I also tried to drive less this week, which was challenging. The quote that you included to show the impacts of increased carbon dioxide from transportation was helpful, as it reminded me of just how important this practice is. Initially, I thought that reducing the amount that I drive would mean walking more, but this can also take the form of carpooling. Maybe carpooling would be an easier option for you as well.
  
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- Andrew Stuhl 2/22/2022 1:36 PM
  
  Appreciate this journal, Jake! Can definitely resonate that disrupting our normal routines makes these challenges -- and an overall eco-friendly life -- much harder. After hearing from a few students in the class who set up "rides only" group chats, I wonder if that could be a solution for getting to/fro practice? Would save gas money and also give time to connect/chat with friends on the team?
  
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Jake Wortman 2/13/2022 12:32 PM

Doing the daily and one-time challenges this week felt a lot easier and more routine for me this week than last week. I am now getting comfortable with my daily challenges and doing one-time challenges that I feel are prevalent in my daily life. Taking five minute showers was tough to begin because in the mornings I wake up and it is freezing in my room so its hard not to let the hot water run and take longer than necessary showers. I was able to quickly adjust and be under five minutes in the shower and this also freed up my morning routine because I had a couple more minutes than usual to relax and get ready to start my day. The daily challenges from last week are starting to become more and more routine. I find that I am enjoying going for walks and meditating for 5-10 minutes each day. I feel more connected with nature when I take my walks and it is enjoying to get out of my room and off of my phone. The meditation is making me feel more in the moment than when my mind races always thinking about what I need to do next. It has been relaxing and rewarding to meditate. Also, an easy fix was shutting down my computer at night. I usually never shut down my computer fully I am always just closing it and opening it. I never realized you could save up to one pound of carbon dioxide by simply just shutting it off before I go to sleep at night.
One of my barriers still is just pure laziness. Either forgetting to turn of my computer or not wanting to get up and go outside for a walk. Another barrier I noticed with the five minute showers is coming in after practice especially with how cold it has been outside and taking a long hot shower so my body can warm up. It is a simple fix to just get in and get out of the shower but coming inside from the cold weather it has been hard to stick to only five minutes. These are two barriers that I am facing in making these lifestyle changes permanent.
In the article Will Turning Off My Monitor Save Energy? they say that powering off your computer and using sleep mode “…can bring your yearly energy bill savings up to $50” (https://sciencing.com/turning-off-monitor-save-energy-2847.html). I am a pretty cheap person and any reason to save money seems like a good idea to me. I know that this will not help me currently but, in the future, when I am paying my own bills, I know I can save some money just buy shutting down my computer or using sleep mode. I am willing to make this permanent in my lifestyle so that in the future I can save money on energy bills. Also, this is a good habit to get into so that I am saving CO2 and also saving the energy in my computer and hopefully making it last longer. Similar to this I know I can make permanent unplugging the charger or shutting off my power strip to also save energy.

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- Brock Hoehn 2/18/2022 9:50 AM
  
  I can really resonate with the challenges you are having with 5-minute showers. I have been doing the same challenge, and it has been the most difficult one for me. In the morning, you want to move slowly and get ready. However, the 5-minute shower forces you to jump right into your day. Much like you, I have also felt more connected to nature through taking walks which is something really special. In some sense, it has made me more committed to the more difficult challenges because of that strengthened connection with nature. Additionally, I rarely shut off my computer. Just from reading your response, I will begin to shut it off at night because I didn’t know that it saves one pound of carbon dioxide. That’s a massive impact for just taking the time before bed to shut it off. Further than that, you said that powering off your laptop can save you up to 50 dollars a year in energy. Obviously, 50 dollars a year isn’t a huge savings, but it adds up with the many devices we have. Just your phone and laptop make it 100 dollars a year, and I bet we all have at least a couple additional devices. Plus, it is better for the battery in your device, so it will save you a new battery and electronic waste production to just shut it off. I also really felt it when you were talking about the cold making some of your challenges more difficult. The major barrier to my daily walk would be that I have to face the cold to do it.
  
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- Andrew Stuhl 2/15/2022 10:04 AM
  
  Yes! Frugality / saving money makes some of these options a no-brainer. Great work Jake!
  
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Jake Wortman 2/06/2022 12:44 PM

My campus eco-challenge has been off to kind of a bumpy start so far. While I enjoy the daily actions that I am doing such as walking without a distraction for ten minutes a day and also meditating for 5 minutes a day, some days it is hard to keep up with my daily actions. Some days it comes naturally and it feels like a routine to do my daily actions while other days it almost feels like a chore or homework and I have to do it later at night to make sure that I keep up with it. I am still working on trying to implement these daily actions so it becomes routine and "natural" to do. In case I have forgotten to do it I have set a daily reminder on my phone to make sure I do the daily actions. However, I have really enjoyed doing the daily actions and I feel that they are really beneficial and making a small but noticeable impact on my life mentally. The challenges I am doing now have kept me in the moment and also help when I am stressed out or thinking too much. I am looking forward to adding a new challenge and keeping up throughout the semester!

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- Andrew Stuhl 2/06/2022 5:02 PM
  
  Jake, thanks for this. There are some good thoughts here but I don't think you've fully responded to the prompt for this Journal. Review the Guide for Unit 2 -- and notice you nee to refer to some of the 'resources' that you have been reading, those that are attached to your daily challenges. If you can edit your post, do that; otherwise, revise and send to me by email.
  
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