Dayane Da Silva

 

                 For my three new additional challenges this week I chose to host a viewing party where I showed five of my friends a film about an important environmental issue that I care about, going on a daily walk, and selecting Needs Vs. Wants. I believe this week I decided to break out of my comfort zone and truly do somethings that I wouldn’t normally do on a regular basis. Although these challenges were achievable and rewarding, I was surprised to see how difficult it was for me to do them especially the “need vs. want”. Before choosing this challenge, I didn’t realize just how much unnecessary things I purchased on a daily basis without actually needing these things. So, choosing this challenge forced me to really think about the things that I buy before I get it. For instance, I would often grab a snack or food at the bison on my way back to my room just in case I wanted throughout the day. Although I didn’t want it at the moment, I just wanted it to be accessible in my own room. However, as I kept doing this, I noticed a lot of food was being wasted because I didn’t wat all of it. So, ever since this challenge I have prevented myself from doing this. I haven’t purchased anything unless I was eating it at that very moment, and if I had left overs, I usually had it for dinner as well. That way it kept me from wasting food and accumulating unnecessary waste. Additionally, this was also important in my shopping habits. Yesterday I got an e-mail from my favorite clothing store that was having a huge sale! I got super excited and went on their website and started browsing for dresses. Soon, I realized that I didn’t need those dresses as I have plenty in my closet already. So, I exited the page. I realized the challenge really helped me think twice before I purchased those items and made me consider if I actually needed these things or if I just desired them. 

                    Additionally, I hosted a viewing party at the suite in my dorm this week. Since I live with several members of my sorority this was such a fun challenge! Not only did it educate myself and my friends about an environmental issue that I care about, it also gave us a chance to bond and talk about contemporary environmental challenges. We chose to watch the film “Life and Debt”, where we are able to observe the oppressive control and manipulation that organizations like the World Bank obtains over people of third world countries, and in this case particularly Jamaica. The film demonstrated how the market place and the World Bank prevents Jamaican farmer from selling their own locally produced goods, cutting from the country’s means of production and sustainability. Jamaican citizens are forced to purchase goods from other country and have to export these goods into their country. This is not only terrible for the country’s economic growth, but it is also terrible for the environment as it pollutes our air quality. Additionally, international private companies open factories in Jamaica for cheap labor in order to maximize wealth. They exploit their land, pollute their air, and exploit hundreds of marginalized individuals.

            Lastly, the challenge this week that I was the least excited about was going on a daily walk. Although I would normally love this, especially since we have such beautiful scenery here on campus, it was extremely cold this week! This didn’t make it easy for me to complete my challenge. However, this week and last week has been extremely stressful for me due to midterms. After reading my resources and discovering that walking is a great way to release stress, combat depression, and improve mental health, it motivated me and made me feel like I was helping myself release some of the stress from this exhausting week. Overall, I really enjoyed doing these challenges this week as it really forced me to go outside my comfort zone. I believe I would like to make these challenges permanent, especially the “need vs. wants” as I believe I really need some work in that department. I really enjoyed seeing what I am capable of doing if I just try to be more mindful of my actions. 

 

In the beginning of the Eco challenges our one-time challenge and the daily challenges seemed to be fairly easy since we had just begun, and they didn’t seem to be much of a challenge. Although it still hasn’t been extremely difficult, after doing them for a few weeks now it has defiantly been getting harder for me. I have chosen to stop and cut down on my plastic usage by using reusable water bottles, reusable bags, and skipping the straws. This was initially very simple, but I have recently been running through some trouble with my challenges. For instance, I was out on the weekend visiting new places and away from campus, and I failed to bring a water bottle with me. Since I was out for the whole day, I couldn’t completely go without drinking water, so I had to buy a bottle of water. This made me feel so guilty!!!!!!!! I felt like I broke my challenge that I had worked so hard for. So, to make things a bit better, I took that water bottle home with me and I have been refilling and since it is much lighter than my reusable water bottle when I go out it is easy for me to fit it in my purse. 

                  Additionally, I have also been brushing my teeth without running water and turning off the lights, electronics, and appliances when I am not using them. These have been fairly simple since I already used to do this for the most part in my room. However, now after starting this challenge I find myself doing it in other places. For instance, when I use the bathroom in my dorm, if I see that the shower lights are on when no one is in there showering I turn them off, and when the kitchen light are on when no one is in there, and I’ve been powering off the TV in our suite when no one is in there watching it. So, I have found myself making improvements not only in my personal living space, but also around my dorm every time I get a chance. Additionally, for my one-time challenge I chose to watch a Documentary about Food Sovereignty. I went on Netflix and started to browse movies about food, and one that instantly stood out to be was“What the Health”, ultimately because the title immediately captivated my attention. The film examined the link between our dietary consumption and diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, which are the leading causes of death today in America. The documentary uncovers the secret to preventing and even reversing chronic diseases by eliminating meat and dairy from the diet. I’ve always knew that meet and dairy was extremely bad for you, but before this documentary I didn’t know just how bad. Although I am not sure if I could eventually one day stop all meat and dairy consumption, after watching this documentary I will defiantly try to minimize my dairy and meat intake. 

                I think I was extremely shocked by my resources this week especially the ones located in the “Brush My Teeth Without Running Water” challenge. In one of the resources I read that an average person uses about 80 to 100 gallons of water per day, this number really shocked me because I didn’t expect it to be so high. However, I was even more shocked to find out that the largest use of household water is flushing the toilet, and after that, to take showers and baths. I was shocked to learn that flushing the toilet requires even more water then showers and bath, as I thought that it required a lot more water to shower than to flush a toilet. Ultimately, after continuing with my challenge and learning about my resources I am defiantlywilling to make these lifestyle changes permanent because I know that even though my “green” environmental contribution seems small, it defiantly outweighs me adding on towards pollution and water waste. 

 

For the most part I felt like the daily and one-time challenges started out pretty easy for me to complete. However, I do believe that after adding new challenges this week on top of my old ones was an adjudgment for me. Before, I was doing simple things like using a reusable water bottle and using reusable bags, and initially I thought it was a pretty easy task to do and I was handling very well. However, I was surprised to see that after doing it for two weeks and adding three additional challenges: skipping the straw, working out daily, and going paperless, I began to see the ways in which these challenges are forcing me out of my old habits and are becoming a bit more difficult and challenging for me to complete them at times. I believe the barrier that I am facing in make these lifestyle changes permanent is not having enough free time to complete them. I signed up for daily workouts, and I must say I overestimated the free time that I believed I would have to commit to these daily workouts. I absolutely love working out, so this challenge didn’t seem too bad for me. However, it’s been really hard for me to find time in my busy schedule and my heavy work load to work out every day. So, I believe my biggest barrier with this challenge right now is my busy student life schedule here at Bucknell. On the contrary, I believe skipping the straw and going paperless has become second nature for me. They are things that is very easy for me to complete, and since I go out to eat a lot here at school, I feel a lot better knowing that I am not wasting numerous straws every day. Additionally, although “going paperless” was my one time challenge I find myself choosing that option more and more often after starting the Eco Challenges. I’ve been carrying my computer more often with me so that I can avoid printing pieces of paper, I say no to useless receipts at stores, and I have selected the paperless billing option with my new subscriptions. Overall, after reading my resources and learning about the ways which exercising can help my mind, body, and health, and actually give me more energy and help me do better in classes, I actually became more motivated to work out more often. Additionally, although I normally chose to “skip the straw” options at restaurants anyway, after watching videos and reading about plastic pollution and seeing how it has become detrimental to marine life, it has motivated me to keep going and facing these challenges. After reading these resources I have learned that plastic pollution is one of our biggest problems, and especially “straws” which is“one of the most useless items made out of plastic, and destructive if they end up in our ocean” (plasticpollutioncoalition.org). Straws and plastic water bottles often end up in our ocean harming the animals and the ecological flow of our oceans. So, after learning that by skipping the straw, using a reusable water bottle, and using a reusable bag I am making a small difference in helping a big cause. It has defiantly motivated me to keep going and staying true to these challenges even after this course.

For this week’s experiment I chose to use a reusable water bottle and use reusable bags for my daily challenge and to try a new way to prep my meals for a one-time challenge. I would say that overall it was manageable to complete these daily and one-time challenges, and that they weren’t difficult tasks. These challenges just really forced me to break out of daily habits that I have been accustomed to doing every day of my life. I think what surprised me the most about these challenges was my ability to get used to doing them without much thought, or feelings of being forced or pressured. I think that it was something that I naturally became used to doing it on an everyday basis and each day it became easier for me to complete them. I believe that the barriers that I would have in making these lifestyle changes permanent, starting with the reusable water bottle, would be whenever I return home. I believe it will be difficult for me to keep from reaching into the fridge and getting a bottled water. In my family’s house, we often buy cases and cases of water due to their efficiency and accessibility. Since my family’s often very busy, we feel that it’s “easier” for us to reach in the fridge, get a water bottle, and then keep going with the rest of our days. So, I believe that the hardest part for me could be breaking out of a habit when everyone around me continues to do that on a daily basis. Additionally, with the “prep my meals” challenge it would be incredibly difficult here at the university, as I often don’t have time to cook my meals or meal prep. I believe that this is something I can easily do when I am back home, aren’t so busy with my school work, and have more access to a kitchen and my own cooking ingredients than here at school. Ultimately, these challenges were really eye opening for me because it showed me that it isn’t impossible for me to stop these bad habits of mine, no matter how challenging I might find them to be. Knowing what I now know, and after reading my resources and learning that I am aiding to the 50 billion plastic water bottles that are thrown away every year. And learning that the amount of water going into producing water bottles could be up to six or seven times more than what's inside the bottle, really forces me to think of the overall picture and how much environmental harm I am contributing to. With this new knowledge, I believe I will be willing to make these lifestyle changes permanent. Additionally, after reading my resources about the “food prep”, I have learned that it isn’t difficult tasks and that it wouldn’t require me going out of my way to do anything extra. It is as easy as “freezing” left over meals, “infusing”, “donating”, and “fermenting”. Things that would actually help me save a lot of money, keep me from contributing to extra food waste, and help me fully utilize the products that I buy.