Ecochallenge.org

Campus Ecochallenge

Luke Grover

ENST 246 : Environmental Activism

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
628 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

605

minutes

being mindful
UP TO

720

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

51

plastic bottles

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

2.0

documentaries

watched
UP TO

270

minutes

spent outdoors
UP TO

648

pounds of CO2

have been saved
UP TO

65

conversations

with people
UP TO

350

minutes

not spent in front of a screen
UP TO

290

minutes

spent learning

Luke's actions

Simplicity

Meditate

I will meditate or create a moment of silence for 10 minute(s) each day to reflect on things important to me.

COMPLETED 29
DAILY ACTIONS

Nature

Explore My Area

I will explore at least one new hiking trail or nature walk in my area.

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 2 friends and/or classmates each day about the issue.

COMPLETED 29
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Go Paperless

I will reduce the amount of paper mail that I receive by 0.11lbs (0.05kg) a day or 3.3lbs (1.6kg) a month by opting into paperless billing, ending unwanted subscriptions and opting out of junk mail.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health

Happiness

I will write down three things every day that I am grateful for, or send one email every day thanking or praising someone.

COMPLETED 24
DAILY ACTIONS

Energy

Turn it off

I will keep lights, electronics, and appliances turned off when not using them.

COMPLETED 24
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Meet My Local Farmers

I will visit my nearest farm to find out who produces my food, and will learn about the quality of life of those around the world who produce my food in order to make better choices when I shop.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

Use Reusable Bottles

I will use a reusable bottle and stop purchasing bottled water, saving 3 disposable plastic bottle(s) a day.

COMPLETED 17
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Exercise Daily

Exercise is a great stress blaster! I will exercise for 45 minute(s) each day.

COMPLETED 16
DAILY ACTIONS

Simplicity

Eat Mindfully

I will eat all of my meals without distractions, e.g., phone, computer, TV, or newspaper.

COMPLETED 7
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

Nature

Enjoy the Sunrise/Sunset

I will enjoy the sunrise and/or sunset each day.

COMPLETED 7
DAILY ACTIONS

Transportation

Learn More and Advocate

Access to public transportation is a social justice issue! I will learn about the need for public transportation in my community and tell 1 friends or classmates each day about the issue.

COMPLETED 7
DAILY ACTIONS

Simplicity

Less Screen Time

I will replace 50 minute(s) of screen time each day with other activities.

COMPLETED 7
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Support Pollution Reduction

I will spend at least 100 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

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

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?

Luke Grover 3/07/2019 9:16 AM

Luke Grover
March 7, 2019
Mid-Journal Unit 2

This week was especially difficult. I feel and felt like I was overcome with things to do and exams to study for. Unfortunately this weeks Eco Challenge proved itself to be difficult. One new challenge included watching a couple documentaries in order to become more aware of the environment. This was useful because my Earth Day group was thinking about showing a documentary in order to combat student ambivalence towards environmental issues. This kind of challenge seemed to kill two birds with one stone. But, documentaries are long and spreading them out and watching over a week was difficult and not preferable with all the work given in other classes. Another activity I had difficulty with because of time constraints was to Exercise Daily. This was a real bummer because it really is something I try to do and enjoy doing. I was also slightly disappointed with my simplicity selection. I chose to replace screen time each day with other activities, but I felt this week I have been on my computer constantly doing work or studying.
What helped in some of these situations was to “Meditate”. I also tried out Headspace, which was brought up in class. Was different than what I had been doing, but I liked it better. Other successful challenged I accomplished this week were the “Turn it off” and “Use Reusable Bottles”. Again, I feel like I am at least trying to do my part which I may not have been accomplishing without the Eco Challenge. I have been able to remind my roommate to turn off the lights now along with a friend on my hall that seemed to never be in his room even when the lights were on. One of my favorite challenges so far has been the “Eat Mindfully” challenge. This went along with my less screen time but was more useful. I used this challenge to get my friends off their phones too since I do not want to sit alone with a bunch of people on their phones. I guess it could get annoying calling people out to put down their phones so we will see how much longer they deal with it. This does give me a chance to talk again about this class and therefore talk about pollution reduction and transportation on campus (other challenges of mine).
One of the challenges I was most excited about and did not get to enjoy as much as I would have liked was the “enjoy the sunrise/sunset”. I knew I was going to miss almost all of the sunrises because I am not an early bird, but I was disappointed in the missing of sunsets due to the losing track of time inside. Bucknell’s campus does truly have some great views especially around sunset and now after this week I would like to enjoy those views (with some warmer weather).
Finding new resources that related to my challenges and that I found interesting seemed to get harder to find. I picked “11 Things You Should Do Instead Of Being On Your Phone” and “How To Disconnect From Your Job And Leave Your Work at Work”. I thought it was interesting that writing down/journaling about stress to let it go came up. I felt this was the same tactic when writing down three things you are happy about in the Eco Challenge. Things to do instead of being on your phone seemed simple but are taken for granted or simple but will do the trick. Some were honestly cheesy like “have a dance party” and “look up”.

Read More
Luke Grover 2/28/2019 8:50 AM

Luke Grover
February 28, 2019
Mid Journal Unit 2

This week was a challenge to remember and complete all the activities for ecochallenge. With 2 midterms this week the ecochallenge was not the first thing on my mind. I still feel I accomplished the activities I signed up for, but they seemed more rushed and more of a chore than other weeks. I plan to get back on track and cross the activities off my list each day this next week coming. Because we are coming toward the end, I also plan to now sign up for activities I will find a little harder. Besides for the barrier of midterms and time I again found breakthroughs in the health challenges that include “meditate”, and “happiness” (the write down three things challenge). When I seem to have a lot on my mind, I go to sleep extremely late and these activities have a kind of a reflect and relax outcome.
The most demanding ones this week for me were to save plastic water bottles each day and exercise every day. These related to my resources quite directly this week. “7 incredible health benefits of walking 30 min a day” explained how exercise can improve someone’s day in a dramatic manor. This takes us back to earlier classes such as the minimalist video. People are constantly sitting and inactive in the world today. Due to the abundance of desk jobs the world and US especially are found to be unhealthy and, in many cases, unhappy. I have been trying to work out more this semester and the Eco challenge now enforces that. Even if time is an issue sometimes, getting up and being active just for a small time helped me.
The second resource I chose was “Floating trash collector has setback in Pacific Garbage Patch”. This resource was a good reminder that there is so much waste that may not be visible to those like us on campus but is definitely present. Reducing my use of plastic water bottles made me feel like I tried to help. It was an inconvenience at some points. Just these slight reminders to turn off my electronics, going paperless, and now not using plastic bottles just possess more reminders to myself and realizations about how many bottles are truly used each day.
I would again be willing to make these lifestyle changes permanent even if there are some slight inconveniences. I also have continued my “talk to my friends and classmates” challenge which I believe is somewhat making a difference. I think once the earth day activities start, the people I have talked to will see some of the actions I am taking. When Unit 3 starts and the work on Bucknell’s Farm begins I can see these activities started in the EcoChallenge continued and possibly reinforced. This next week will only pose more challenge and more time, but once these become lifestyle changes, I hope they will become less of a chore. I am excited for the busy week to come.

Read More
- Andrew Stuhl 3/01/2019 10:02 AM
  
  Great work Luke! Keep it up! Also, I have an overabundance of plastic reusable water bottles at home -- would you like one?
  
  Read More
Luke Grover 2/20/2019 10:55 PM

Luke Grover
February 21, 2019
EcoChallenge Journal #2

My daily and one-time challenges were a level up from last week. I think managing to accomplish this week’s and last week’s all in one day created a lot to do on the check list. It also keeps you constantly aware of things other people do. One of my challenges this week was the “Turn it off” which makes me realize how much is actually running at one time (all the time). In the past I keep my computer on at all times because it is quicker to open and immediately use, but the majority of the day it is “sleeping” in my back pack. This experiment was a slight inconvenience, but also stopped me from potentially going onto my computer while eating for instance. One of the resources I chose, “distracted eating may add to weight gain” was funny to think about not because I think I have been gaining weight in the past, but because of the unhealthy consequence of silly distractions in many people’s lives today. I did not have a problem turning off the lights or unplugging appliances. They are things that I don’t use enough to affect me anyway.
To reduce less waste, I chose the Go Paperless activity which I felt was very successful. I did my best and never had to print out or write on anything that was unnecessary. I found it a little difficult in my accounting class (which I had to make an exception for) because the examples had to be repeated multiple times. The second resource I read went over a lot of forest facts commonly known but was called “Protecting Forest Near and Far”. This week’s paperless challenge made me feel like I did my part for the forests and because of that I do not think it will be too difficult to continue this challenge.
Finally, and one of my favorite challenges, was the write down three things I am grateful for every day. This was again a light challenge but a reflective one. This activity like my last week’s meditation challenge continues to provide a good input on my life. I feel both allow a better connection with one’s surroundings in a physical bodily sense, but also a cultural and on campus sense. I also continued my conversation starter challenge and have not yet found it difficult to find new people or bring up the topic at all. Classes are a big conversation starter even with students that I do not know very well. So, this challenge continues to be a success and one that I will attempt to continue. Over all I feel the week may have been more successful than last and although I am not yet doing anything extremely dramatic, I still feel good.

Read More
- Allison Rhyu 2/28/2019 11:02 AM
  
  After reading your journal response, I also took a look at the “distracted eating may add to weight gain” resource that you referred to. I admit that when I’m stressed out and studying for an exam, or even watching the latest episode of my favorite television show, I partake in distracted eating without even consciously realizing it. While I would say I eat fairly healthily on a day-to-day basis, this is definitely a negative eating habit I have that I would like to curb. Even by growing more aware of the fact that I partake in it, along with the detrimental effects it has, I am fairly successful that I could do so. Additionally, I am also making the initiative to go paperless. As someone who always has my laptop on me, and has made a conscious effort to utilize PDF files and E-books for class readings, and avoid printing out papers unless it’s absolutely required, I did not include it to my personal EcoChallenge, but am simply making the effort to continue to do so. Especially upon seeing the negative impact excessive paper usage has on forests, I want to utilize as little paper as possible, as most resources are electronically available in this day. While there are detriments to having too heavy of a reliance on technology, I do think one of the biggest positive impacts of technological advances is that it is so easy for us to reduce our dependence on paper. If more and more people reduce their paper usage and utilize E-books and PDFs, we can really contribute to reducing waste and preventing forest destruction. (Word Count: 270)
  
  Read More
- Andrew Stuhl 2/21/2019 6:11 AM
  
  Luke, I appreciate you leveling up and sticking to the challenges -- esp when they present inconveniences. What you said about powering down your computer resonated with me, as I find that making choices like that help deter impulses to "check" email or social media (I usually log out of my accounts so it is harder to easily check them). I am going to ask you to revise this journal entry, for two reasons -- 1) I want you to be more explicit about what barriers you face with making these changes permanent and 2) I want to hear more about what you found in the resources you read for this week. Not sure if you can edit this entry; if you can't, you can just re-post. Happy to talk more on this.
  
  Read More
Luke Grover 2/14/2019 10:03 AM

Luke Grover
February 14, 2019
Experimenting with this ecoChallenge was an interesting first experience, but it was not a bad one this first week. I will be honest and say I picked challenges this week that I knew I would not have too much trouble with. I was surprised in how much I enjoyed these little conversations and meditations. I do not think it will be too difficult to continue these challenges in my life, but I can see how I might forget to meditate for instance. The environmental conversations with 2 people a day is not a hard task because I feel it comes naturally. I talk about school and class with many people a day. This Activism class is one of my more interesting classes and many are curious about it. I chose this challenge because it’s pretty much a social challenge. Of course, I have not run out of friends yet to talk to, but I am sure that in week 8 I will be broadening my conversations.
The resources that I read reinforced the importance of the EcoChallenge as a whole. Connect with nature, disconnect, and live a healthier/happier life were the main points. I read the resources “How Getting to Know Your Neighbors Helps” and “6 Tips For Better Work Life”. These resources were mainly about living with a balance. I know the stereotypical “hippy” is one who meditates and concentrates on a healthy life, but it truly does make a difference. I have woken up rested. After doing some research of my own, heart rate and breathing are some key factors that play into relaxing. Stress is practically a mental state in my eyes and can be balanced. This semester it was a challenge of my own to exercise more and this Challenge will now hold me responsible. In “6 Tips For Better Work Life” tip 3 was to exercise and meditate (very fitting). I also felt the Neighbors resource was fitting because of the informative challenge. It was more about health and supporting others. But I can see the way that informing others about their environment and standing up for the earth is also supporting humanity and “neighbors”. I can safely say that I would be willing to make these lifestyle changes permanent because I believe they have worked. I do not think that they should necessary be seen as challenges because then a number count is behind them. When looking at the Week 8 time zone it looks as though there would be too many to handle, but if one sees the challenges of Week 5 as permanent changes then they are only adding the challenges of that week. I would like to say going into Thursday that I am starting new and working on only 3 challenges instead of all 5. I can see how this ecoChallenge is going to be successful and although this starting week was easy in a way I am excited to pick up greater challenges that influence my life and potentially others in a larger way.

Read More
- Emily Fisher 2/18/2019 2:32 PM
  
  Luke, I am glad that you have had a positive experience so far with the challenges. I must admit, it is hard to get yourself to pick difficult daily and one time tasks that you need to do, and I respect your honesty in acknowledging that. Although they might seem easy to you, they probably are difficult for someone else. Making yourself aware of meditation, for example, might have been quick and easy, but it also has taught you a lot which is the crucial part. You mentioned how one of the main factors as to why it would be hard to implement this in your life is because of forgetting. Throughout reading many of our peer's journals, this is a constant theme amongst all the challenges! It is also great that you used your resources to see all the benefits that meditation holds; it is shocking how everyone doesn't use such an easy activity. Since I did this challenge as well, I know for a fact I feel better as a person and am feeling well rested in the evenings and mornings.
  Your thought process on feeling overwhelmed by multiple challenges in the upcoming weeks has reassured me that we can all do this. Yes, it might seem a lot right now, but these are daily challenges that can easily be incorporated into our daily lives. I can’t wait to see you pick challenges that you consider to be harder for you and hear about your journey throughout the weeks.
  
  Read More
- Cara O’Neill 2/17/2019 12:57 PM
  
  I definitely agree with a lot of your points and many of your claims are some I haven't put much thought into. I also chose my first week challenges based on convenience, which I actually think sets us up for success, because these most doable challenges are the ones we will have to keep up with for the entire unit. So I think it makes sense to do a progression of least difficult challenges the first week leading up to the most difficult challenges the last week. I am interested to see how the conversation challenge you selected will progress throughout the weeks as it may get harder and harder to keep up with this conversation topic. I definitely agree with you on the importance of meditation and the mental aspect of stress. I feel like it is so difficult to take even a few minutes to meditate and be mindful when there are a million other things on our mind most of the time. I am really excited to see how this challenge progresses for you throughout the unit/ if you think this will become a permanent aspect of your daily life. I agree with your point about informing others. I feel like a lot of the time when people neglect the environment and aren't conscious about how their actions impact the environment, including myself, it is due to a lack of knowledge about the subject. I often think about how people's views on the environment and the importance of taking care of it would change if there was more integration of environmental studies into our early childhood education.
  
  Read More
- Tyler Strobel 2/17/2019 9:31 AM
  
  As I’m responding to our classmates’ journals, I’m noticing the trend of convenience. You chose challenges for week one that you knew you could do. I did the same, choosing a daily challenge that I wouldn’t struggle with (using a reusable mug) and a one-time challenge of a new nature hike (which was straight-forward based on where we are in the world). I think that your observation of the strengths of this eco-challenge (“connect with nature, disconnect, and live a healthier/happier life”) is spot on, and I think they relate to this theme of convenience and comfort. Almost everyone I’d responded to so far started with the comfortable, the challenges that fail to address major aspects of our lives or habits or routines. Using a reusable mug or meditating or using less plastic… these are not major lifestyle changes. Instead, they’re small things that, like you said, can easily become habits if we’re willing to let them become permanent. For example, you started with talking to your friends because it was convenient or comfortable. But by the end of this? Maye you’ll pique someone’s interest and get them to change their lifestyle, or maybe you’ll broaden your social networks. In this way, I really appreciate your attitude of starting three challenges, instead of working on five. I think that is the right way to approach this unit. We’re here to build habits, to try new things, and to affect positive social and environmental change in the communities that support us. Who wouldn’t get behind something like that?
  
  Read More