Stephen Durfee

I used this tool (found on the EcoChallenge website) to unsubscribe from junk mail: I have noticed a difference in just a few weeks!: https://dmachoice.thedma.org/

We have the same plan for our car! I can't wait to drive an EV car, though -- have you ever been behind the wheel on one? And interesting news about the EV infrastructure and cords out windows! 

As one of my daily challenges, I also tried to adopt a lifestyle of eating food more sustainably. I don’t have a family that I buy food for, but for my personal choices I have tried to be more mindful about buying food. Trying to buy healthier food options has definitely dipped into the prices of the food that I buy. However, I think the prices of the healthy food options are more eco-friendly then processed foods. It’s easy to pick up numerous bags of chips and snacks for a low price, but the energy exerted in creating the food is of high volume. I also tried to give up eating beef because I was disturbed by the amount of emissions the beef industry creates. I have opted to eating one vegetarian meal a day, which has been easy to incorporate into my life. Also, when I do eat meat, it’s usually chicken. The feasbility of this daily challenge has left me with believing that I can complete it even after the eco-challenge is over. Although their are health benefits to eating beef, too much of it has proven to be unhealthy. I think that there are plenty of other healthy food options to maintain daily protein levels that don’t have to revolve around beef consumption. If people are open to making changes in their diets (which can be difficult) then there can be less of an impact on the energy wasted in the beef industry. Lastly, I have looked into completing the one-time challenge of food sovereignty, and your review of the documentary that you watched has made me excited to learn about it. I hope that you continue to have positive interactions with your daily and one-time challenges as we approach the last week!

Hello Stephen, I really enjoyed reading your journal and learning about the ways in which you are tackling your challenges and the difficulties in which you are able to overcome. I found it very relatable the difficulties in changing up your eating habits after you have had them for so long. Life yourself, my family is also very “meat-based” so I can relate to how this change can be extremely challenging for you and hard to complete at times especially when you have a family. However, I did enjoy reading about your healthier alternatives such as stocking your fridge with fruits so that you don’t have to waste money on meat-based food and can avoid all the extra plastic containers. It is also extremely interesting to hear that this can be a life-long choice that you adopt and incorporate in your daily life. It is very commendable that you would be willing to stop eating beef after reading about the harms they do to our environment and how terrible we treat them. However, I could imagine that this change would be extremely difficult for you and will defiantly take some time in order to adapt to it. I also found your third challenge on food sovereignty very interesting, especially because that is one of my challenges this week. It was good to hear about your take on Haiti’s agriculture and food export and I can imagine there are a lot of problems tied with that. Last semester I also watched a movie on food sovereignty in Jamaica and how we weren’t allowing the local individuals to sell or commerce any of their own local grown food and their only option was to get food exported into their country which seems terrible not only for their economy but also for the environment. Overall, I really enjoyed your post and keep up the good work with your challenges! J

Appreciate this -- I feel like you are doing some truth-telling about the conflicts between your work schedule, your time with family, your recommendations from your Dr, and the time it takes to eat in a healthy, enviro friendly way. I just commented on Nina's journal about the important reflection on why it is that the most convenient (and often cheapest) calories are often bad for us? It has always boggled my mind that hamburger off the 'dollar menu' at Burger King (where I eat occasionally, remember) costs something like 1 dollar....when the costs to our environment and our bodies so much higher. The answer takes you deep into things like agricultural subsidies and the Farm Bill; i.e. it is not actually cheap, taxpayers are paying for it in other ways. But, still, I think there are some assists out there. Do you meal plan for the week? My wife and I started this when our second child was born and it has really helped. We dedicate weekend time to grocery shopping for the week and cooking 2-3 big meals that are both dinners and leftovers. We also stock an incredible amount of produce on hand for all of us. Our monthly grocery bills are usually between 450 and 600 bucks. We shop at both Wenger's and Giant. Also, some great snacks that are tasty and healthy -- besides fruit and veggies -- almonds! Lupini beans (look it up!)! Skyr (icelandic yogurt)! And, make sure you are hydrating! I find a lot of my 'hunger' is a surface level signal of boredom, and if I drink some water, the 'hunger' dissipates. How I learned that lesson....that's a different story that I'll tell you later (it involved a 10 day fast).

I find it really interesting that you are experiencing what we are experiencing today with phones and distractions at your age (not trying to be rude). However, I do completely understand the fact you are having a really hard time trying to stay away from the phone while you are eating. I did this challenge as well, and I found myself resisting the urge to take the phone out my pocket as I soon as I sit down to eat while trying to complete this challenge. I’m sure it is even harder for you to complete this challenge, since I simply take out my phone while eating to entertain myself with social media, but you actually have to try to multi-task while eating because you have bigger responsibilities that is work. I know you mentioned this in class and I completely understood when you mentioned that you try to make use of whatever time you have to check emails or fulfill your much bigger responsibilities (compared to those of mine, which is just to entertain myself). I respect the fact you chose this challenge, which is hard for you, to clear out your mind for at least a part of your day like eating, and stay away from stress and distractions work brings to you. I also appreciate that you brought up the fact that people today depend heavily on phones and much of our communications with people are through texts and calls. I do believe that, because you are more mature and experienced than I am, you find communicating with people personally rather than through texting and calling more valuable. I hope to value that more as I grow up as well. I have just started to find talking to my parents in person rather than calling and texting more valuable as well. I think the advice to not make phones more important than more important things in life is the best advice to me. I hope to fully achieve this in the near future. 

I am glad that you are pushing yourself to enforce healthier habits upon yourself during week 1! It is interesting to hear your story, given that you are at a different stage in life compared to all of us under 21-year-olds in the class (not a bad thing at all!). When you say that you know there will be times where you cannot put away your phone, I completely agree with that because we are all only human. Yes, making these changes and turning them into a regular pattern is a good step forward. However, know that even on times when you find yourself looking at your phone during a meal, don’t beat yourself up as long as 90% of the time you aren’t doing this. Throughout your journal, I can tell that not only are you trying these challenges out, but you are also learning from them. I enjoyed seeing the two things that stood out to you the most within the references because I just learned something after reading it as well. Taking the basic parts of your day for granted and looking at your phone instead of the beauty of life itself is something I do as well, and only through practice can I break this habit alongside with you. It made me think of the beliefs that Thoreau holds in a sense that we need to separate ourselves and be present in the moment. It could be interesting to see how many people you end up talking to or how much extra work you get done during lunch. Alternatively, even if lunch is now a time for you to enjoy silence by yourself. I’m excited for the rest of your journey!

I think your struggles this week are very relatable. While you are in a very different place in life than many of our classmates (myself included), I’m interested in the fact that you still feel limited by time. As I’ve responded to other journals, I’ve noticed the shared motif of feeling limited by time. As students, we’re bogged down by class and extracurriculars and clubs and social obligations and other matters. In some ways, I think this will be the case until we retire. We’re always going to have work, we’re always going to be busy. Which, perhaps, is why it’s so empowering that anyone manages to change their lifestyles or to enact positive changes in the communities that support them. I agree with you that time is the major barrier to change. But I also think that’s representative of our priorities being off. I think if we spent an extra minute talking to someone instead of multitasking, we could see true results in some part of our lives. 

I also really like how you compare phones to guns. I’m curious, though. Are you requiring your family to follow the same lifestyle changes you are? It could be an interesting experiment, if you’re not already. In my family, we have a simple rule about meal times (we schedule about one or two shared meals a week when we’re all in the same state). If we’re eating at a restaurant, who ever takes their phone out first pays for the meal. If we’re home, whoever takes their phone out first cleans the kitchen. It’s simple, but it’s been very effective for us.