sophie Langa
POINTS TOTAL
- 0 TODAY
- 0 THIS WEEK
- 1,068 TOTAL
participant impact
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UP TO1.0community eventhosted or attended
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UP TO576minutesbeing mindful
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UP TO800minutesof additional sleep
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UP TO1.0waste auditconducted
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UP TO19whole food mealsconsumed
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UP TO47plastic strawsnot sent to the landfill
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UP TO1.0documentarywatched
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UP TO681minutesspent outdoors
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UP TO203pounds of CO2have been saved
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UP TO40disposable cupsnot sent to the landfill
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UP TO74milesnot traveled by car
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UP TO140minutesspent learning
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UP TO15peoplehelped
sophie's actions
Simplicity
Eat Mindfully
I will eat all of my meals without distractions, e.g., phone, computer, TV, or newspaper.
Transportation
Drive Less
I will cut my car trip mileage by only taking necessary trips.
Community
Support A Sharing Economy
I will create or support a sharing economy with family, friends, neighbors, or classmates.
Community
Host A Watch Party
I will host a watch party to screen a documentary about an issue that matters to me.
Community
LEARN ABOUT TRANS, FEMME, AND NONBINARY EXPERIENCES
I will spend 60 minutes learning about the experiences of trans, femme, and/or nonbinary people.
Energy
Adjust the Thermostat
I will adjust my thermostat down 2 degrees from usual when I use the heat, and up 2 degrees when I use air conditioning.
Water
Say No to Plastic Straws
An estimated 71% of seabirds and 30% of turtles have been found with plastics in their stomachs. When they ingest plastic, marine life has a 50% mortality rate. By asking for no straw when placing a drink order, I will keep 1 plastic straw(s) of out of the ocean each day.
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.
Waste
Use a Reusable Mug
I will avoid sending 2 disposable cup(s) to the landfill each day by using a reusable mug.
Waste
Personal Waste Audit
I will collect all of my unrecyclable, non-compostable trash to raise my awareness of how much I send to the landfill.
Transportation
Car Share
I will sign up for a car-sharing service or organize car sharing with my neighbors or classmates to cut down on the number of vehicles on the road.
Food
Whole Food Lifestyle
I will enjoy 2 meal(s) each day free of processed foods.
Food
Watch a Documentary about Food Sovereignty
I will watch 1 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.
Health
Go get a check up
I will make an appointment for my annual physical.
Health
Healthy Sleep
Effectively working for sustainability requires self care! I will commit to getting 60 more minute(s) of sleep each night to achieve at least 7 hours per night.
Community
Help Others
I will offer to help 2 person(s) who are in need each day.
Nature
Practice Gratitude for Earth
I will spend 10 minute(s) per day outside, practicing gratitude (prayer, meditation, journaling, etc.) for Earth and my natural surroundings.
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.
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?
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sophie Langa 2/20/2022 7:59 PMThis week the two challenges I chose for waste and transportation were to use a reusable mug and to drive less. I personally thought that using a reusable mug was going to be a lot easier than it actually was. I found that when I was out I tended to forget to bring a reusable mug with me so when I wanted to stop in the library for coffee I could not. There were a few times that I did end up buying coffee in the library because I really needed it but if I was not conscious of using fewer cups I would have bought a lot more coffee this week than making it at home. For my second daily challenge, which was to drive less, I found it actually fun. Instead of running out to do errands whenever I needed something, I made an effort to use my car a lot less or if I had to use it I would bring friends along who also needed something. Piling up my errands to do them only once or twice this week instead of daily was really interesting because it also made me more conscious of how much I was spending at that time. For the instances when I did need to finally go run errands I would bring friends along and this act made the process of running errands more exciting and meaningful. It gave me time to be with my friends where we were more concentrated on being together and achieving something together rather than hanging out while doing our own thing. Now my last challenge for the week, which was a one-time action, was to collect my trash for a certain time period. I choose to do this over the course of two days with the exception of trash that would start to smell or be disgusting if I were to leave it out. Through the process, I realized I tend to throw out the same things every day and even though there was not a huge quantity, the majority of it was plastic. If someone had asked me before this challenge how much plastic I threw out every day I would have confidently said I did not use that much, but now I see that I do use a lot of plastic. Even the little amounts of plastic add up throughout the day and the pile of it at the end of this challenge was really eye-opening. In the end, I feel as though I do not see any major barriers for me to consistently keep doing these challenges other than the fact that sometimes convenience and productivity of my everyday life sometimes need to come first.When I was collecting my trash over the course of a few days the images of the apocalyptic future and ecological body kept coming to my mind. These images in my mind were repeated with the quote in the reading by Neiburger who warned, "All civilization... will pass away, not from a sudden cataclysm like a nuclear war, but from gradual suffocation in its own waste” (Page 74) I was thinking about the mother and child in gas masks and was relating it to our world being covered in plastics in the future. I was thinking that there might come a point in human history where we are literally buried in the trash just trying to breathe. This image is haunting and really did make me second guess if my trash was even absolutely necessary or in other words if I really needed the thing I was just about to throw the container away for.-
Genyss Duncan 3/05/2022 9:40 AMHi Sophia! Thank you for sharing about your struggles with remembering to use a reusable mug. When things like getting coffee from the library cafe are so much more convenient than making coffee at home before we leave, it makes it more difficult for us to make individual changes to our lifestyles. I think that this connects to the idea that systems constrain individual actions, as it would be much easier to avoid disposable coffee cups if they were not made available in the first place. I also found your reaction to your driving less challenge interesting, as you used the challenge as an opportunity to spend more time with your friends and get all of your errands done at once. I wonder whether getting your errands done all at once meant that you took less time to get them all done. I also liked how getting your friends involved made something mundane, like running errands, into something that you actually found enjoyable. For your one-time challenge, I found it interesting how your awareness of what you tend to throw out changed as a result of the challenge. I think that this speaks to the extent to which we have been conditioned to throw things out without considering where they came from, or what happens to them after we toss them in the dumpster. I also liked how you connected your experience with collecting your trash to some of the readings that we did for class. I hope that this experience sticks with you, and that you continue to be aware of the waste we produce on a daily basis. -
Andrew Stuhl 2/22/2022 1:41 PMNicely done Sophie! I'm so curious about the plastic you are throwing away / using -- mostly because I notice this too in my trash audits. Things like little plastic wrappers or plastic that wraps around a drink cap -- useless packaging really. It's a bummer this is part of a lot of our products -- I wish the designers / manufacturers would come up with better solutions. I get that plastic is lighter, easier to ship and therefore 'cheaper' to producers but what is the cost of waste and living with plastic -- especially for the future, as you describe?
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sophie Langa 2/13/2022 11:37 AMFor this past week, I thought that my daily challenges and one-time challenges did make me more conscious of my impact because I had to actively think about my actions. During this time period, in addition to my prior challenges, I signed up for limiting thermostat use, using fewer straws, and washing my clothes in cold water. It was surprising to me how quickly I adapted to these changes in my life and now am finding myself subconsciously participating in these practices.
For the time being, I feel as though there are no major barriers in my way to completing these challenges, yet I could see some in the future. In the case of the straws, I feel as though it would be hard in a restaurant to avoid using a straw. In one sense half the time in a restaurant or bar they put a straw in your drink before they serve you. Or they will place straws on the table for you to use. In these times I know that they are going to throw away the straws even if I do not use them so it would feel wasteful to not use them. I feel like the best course of action would be to ask them to not bring out or use straws in the drinks. Secondly, I feel as though the other most challenging practice would be to use cold water for washing my clothes. I have noticed here at Bucknell all of the machines are automatically on warm or hot water so you have to remember to turn it to cold water. So in a rush or absence of mind, I might forget that I have to turn the water to a different temperature than its normal setting.
In reference to the “Debating Conservation” reading from this week I feel as though my water and straw usage is the most applicable. The resources needed to make simple plastic straws are expansive and take up a huge carbon footprint on top of the ecological effects they have after use. The straws challenge also kind of plays into the beautification problem we were talking about. When straws are used, most of the time they go into landfills that look ‘ugly’ in a landscape. Therefore the land used is usually in neighborhoods or locations where wealthy people do not live. So these landfills take up precious space in areas that lower-class people inhabit, proving that beautification is really only for the rich. Secondly, our use or overuse of water, in general, is having a similar effect. The way in which our society uses water is not ecologically friendly at all. We take water from waterways and use it like there is an endless supply when in reality this endless supply of water is really only for those that can afford it. Even when the water is flushed down the toilet and transferred to a waste plant this is all done in neighborhoods or areas that are not affluent. Therefore those who are in the lower half of the economic status will have to be near waste treatment plants or downriver from them. So in the end the whole side of beautification and being ecologically efficient is really for the wealthy because those who have the availability of wastewater and heat are those who can afford it.-
Andrew Stuhl 2/15/2022 10:03 AMYay! I love to see the peer comments! -
Joelle Kim 2/14/2022 7:40 PMHello Sophie,
Thank you so much for sharing! I am so glad to hear that you have been able to successfully adapt to challenges you've chosen. I also think that the concerns you've shared are completely valid! I did not even aware that we automatically take plastic straw at the restaurants because I was only thinking about getting a drink at a cafe. This reminded and embarrassed me that I used plastic straw when I was grabbing brunch with at Grams. I am so glad that you brought this up so that I can be more aware when I ask for drinks at the restaurants. I was right there with you when you mentioned how Bucknell's automatic setting for the laundry is at mid-temperature. I thought maybe we can bring this up to school as a class to suggest lowering the automatic setting for the whole campus as this might save a lot of energy as a lot of students do not pay closer attention to the settings as much. Your story was really inspiring me to be more conscious of my actions as I have not been able to demonstrate successfully.
I am also glad that you brought up a topic of how beautification comes into play with manufacturing plastic straw. It reminded me of a recent article that I read on how medical waste are deluging in areas (and i believe the waste is probably thrown out in area where lower economic status people live). https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/03/world/medical-waste-environment-covid.html
It is heartbreaking to see how trashes that we all generated are affecting a specific group of people more directly. Thank you for bringing this up as I was not aware of this issue.
I hope your this week's eco-challenge will go as well Sophie:)
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sophie Langa 2/06/2022 7:49 PMFor the challenges this week I was surprised to see how quickly I formed these habits. My two daily challenges were to walk outside more and to eat meals without distraction. Walking to class I would leave earlier so I could spend more time outside and walk slowly and enjoy my time on the way to class. I already got used to doing this in a week and found myself subconsciously leaving earlier even if I hadn't remembered it was for a challenge. Then for my meals these practices have already started to rub off on my roommates. Instead of us eating at separate times or all eating around the TV we are more engaged with each other and look forward to cooking and eating together.For now, I feel as though there are no barriers for me to make these challenges into new lifestyle habits. They both were slightly enacted before the challenge, but now they are more emphasized. I feel as though when the semester moves on though it will be hard to find the time to set aside for a longer meal with friends or even to leave earlier for class. When we all become busier I do think it will be harder but not impossible. Therefore the barrier really isn't a barrier, it is more like a small bump in the road.As of now with the challenges I have selected, I find no reason to make these lifestyle changes not permanent. They can nicely mesh into my life and schedule which makes it easier and they don't really have any major barriers in the way. Yet, if my challenges were to, for example, not use straws, I could see it being hard to keep that up at all times. Sometimes it is hard to remember that we should not be using plastic straws because they are so convenient and easy. Also, it is hard when you go out to eat and there are already straws in drinks or straws on the table waiting for you. I feel as though in those moments it would be the hardest because I know that no matter if I use the straw or not it is going to be thrown out and really it will make no difference if I choose to not use it. Going along with Thoreau's idea of living simply and making more personal connections I feel as though my challenges really encompass this. Making my life less crowded helped even with my stress in ways I didn't think it would. For example, walking slowly to class gave me a nice chunk of time to de-stress and mentally prepare for the next class to come. Then going off his whole journey to Walden pond, I found that this time made me step back and observe what other people were doing. He talked about how to be a full citizen you have to remove yourself so you can see. Through my walks, I removed myself from my own view that blinded me from others’ experiences and I really noticed how everyone is so in their world. Everyone is looking down, not engaging in others, and trying to just get through the day instead of enjoying the day. It is a social problem that I myself was involved in and now stepping back out if I can see how much of a problem it is.-
Andrew Stuhl 2/15/2022 9:57 AMSophie, this is a very thoughtful reflection. Glad to see you tie it to Thoreau! But I also notice - I don't think you referred to any of the 'resources' you read for this week in this Journal entry. You'll need to revise and resubmit it by email to me. Happy to talk this thru!
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