Keith Langkan

ENST 246: Fall 2020

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
655 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

11

locally sourced meals

consumed
UP TO

1.0

community event

hosted or attended
UP TO

110

minutes

being mindful
UP TO

1.0

documentary

watched
UP TO

120

minutes

spent outdoors
UP TO

140

pounds of CO2

have been saved
UP TO

89

miles

not traveled by car
UP TO

90

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

8.0

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

240

gallons of water

have been saved

Keith's actions

Waste

Skip the Straw

Plastic bags and small plastic pieces like straws are most likely to get swept into our waterways. I will keep 1 plastic straw(s) out of the landfill and ocean each day by refusing straws or using my own glass/metal straw.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Water

Brush My Teeth Without Running Water

I will save up to 8 gallons (30 L) of water each day by turning it off while brushing my teeth.

COMPLETED 30
DAILY ACTIONS

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 30
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

Food

Buy From a Farmers Market

I will purchase produce and meat from a local farmers market or food co-op.

COMPLETED 11
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 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Simplicity

De-Clutter My Home or Dorm Room

I will de-clutter, clean, and donate or recycle unneeded items in my home or dorm room.

COMPLETED 21
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Go get a check up

I will make an appointment for my annual physical.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Drive Less

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

COMPLETED 16
DAILY ACTIONS

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 17
DAILY ACTIONS

Action Track: Justice for the Whole Community

Host A Watch Party

I will host a watch party to screen a documentary about an issue that matters to me.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

SIGN UP TO VOTE

I will make sure I’m registered to vote. While I’m at it, I’ll sign up to help others register too!

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Justice for the Whole Community

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.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Justice for the Whole Community

Support a Sharing Economy

I will create or support a sharing economy with family, friends, neighbors or classmates.

COMPLETED 9
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Reduce Animal Products

I will enjoy 1 meatless meal(s) and/or 1 vegan meal(s) each day this week.

COMPLETED 8
DAILY ACTIONS

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?

Keith Langkan 9/21/2020 11:45 PM

One challenge from this week was just keeping track of all the various tasks to make sure I accomplish. I find that the tasks which involve consuming less or consuming differently are more simple than active goals, although they tend to be much more fulfilling. For example every time I brush my teeth or use a computer I remember my respective tasks. I also try to practice meditation intermittently. It’s hard to keep up with some of these tasks with certain Covid restrictions as well. Some are difficult to quantify, such as how many miles I haven’t driven. Well, it’s hard to intentionally think about miles I made sure not to drive, although I do keep in mind to keep errands for all one trip.

One barrier that I didn’t expect was sourcing meals from my local farmers market, which is what keeps me from completing all my tasks every day. I get my meal plan through bucknell so I don’t find myself getting food from the farmer’s market, and it conflicts with my goal of driving less. In another challenge, I figured I would attempt to intentionally cut some meat out of my diet. I didn’t have any moral objections to eating meat before this challenge, but I did know of its impact on the environment. The problem is that I really enjoy eating meat, and it’s going to be a lifestyle change to remove that from my meals intentionally. I have been thinking a lot about meat consumption lately, and I really wish there was an alternative to the most common way of farming it.

Although it isn’t a specific goal from this project, I’ve been consuming less every time I get food. I reuse the same plastic bag keeping this challenge in mind. I make sure to only get servings that I know I’ll eat and reduce the number of containers I request. I feel like it’s in the spirit of the challenge to do things like this. Other challenges I feel like I will have an easier time working into my life, like registering to vote and now I know how easy it is to set up my annual health check up.

One thing that seems to be difficult at least lately is connecting to my community. I’d like to find a way to organize with my community. Especially with environmental and social events coming to the forefront of public attention, I’d like to bring together people who can support each other and have a common goal. The pandemic has left people feeling pretty alone and isolated, and I think that environmental concerns have also been pushed to the wayside because of it unfortunately. I think a united front is the way forward. Taking a look at a lot of the community challenges, they aren’t as easy as they seem. Being aware of the changes needed to make a difference can also weigh heavy on the mind. I think many people subconsciously trust that science or some leader will save everyone, but as long as everyone is thinking that I feel like people won’t take environmental issues seriously.

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- Molly Paine 9/28/2020 4:33 PM
  
  Hey Keith! I really enjoyed reading your journal entry this week. There were several things that I related to that I wanted to mention to you. I too have been trying to source more of my meals from the local farmer’s market and have found it to be a challenge of sorts. It’s always tough to fit time into your day to actually go and I have struggled with this a bit. I have also, like you, tried to cut back on my diving time and have found that it conflicts with the concept of going to the farmer’s market. One thing that I have found that works for me is to walk to the farmer’s market (it is about a mile and a half down the rail trail and then take a right), and then have someone pick me up or catch a ride home with a friend that is already there once I have my groceries. That way you are only driving one way and you are carpooling. Although it’s not cutting out driving all together, it’s a step in the right direction which is always a good thing in my opinion. I also related to what you said about connecting with your community during this global pandemic. I too have felt alone and isolated at many points during the pandemic and I think that it has definitely made it difficult to motivate myself to focus on environmental issues. I agree that some people feel as though the responsibility of saving the planet falls to the scientists and I think that this is a really dangerous mindset for people to have. It is up to the people to put pressure on politicians who are counting on our vote and ask them to implement policies that will benefit and help clean up our planet. It’s always easier said than done but hopefully going forward we are able to gather more in person which will make it harder for politicians to ignore.
  
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- Andrew Stuhl 9/25/2020 8:20 AM
  
  Agree! There are so many pressing needs / issues in American society / public discourse going on simultaneously, and somehow climate crisis has dropped a bit off the 'front page' so to speak. There are lots of great environmental groups working actively in our community and on campus! I know you've heard of GND Lewisburg -- have you heard of Climate Reality Project as well?
  
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Keith Langkan 9/10/2020 2:37 AM

Meditation was one of the challenges that I thought would be difficult to find a time for during my schedule, but it is as easy as thinking whether or not the next five minutes are actually all that busy for myself or not. Just considering that even puts in perspective how much of my time is actually productive or not. I spent the time before decluttering my room before meditating as part of my other task, which was also good to spend time doing. I have such a long to-do list that I sometimes neglect to organize my room a little bit. I’ve seen a video talking about how important it is for the mind to make your bed in the morning, and I’ve always been doing so now that I’ve got a busy day. I think that de-cluttering the room is a proxy for the mind. This is something that I think will become a part of my normal routine after making my bed.

Meditation is something that I’ve dabbled with before but never intentionally tried to make a habit before this challenge. It’s a bit tricky and not always intuitive before starting out. I think that some people might have a thing similar to meditation where they go on a walk or take a rest. Meditation to me is a couple things, not exactly what the challenge describes. To me meditation is about mindfulness and emptying the clutter in the mind. It’s helped me get to sleep when I’ve been anxious or put me at ease when I’ve been very busy. I think this habit is something I’d like to make a part of my daily routine. The challenge specifies that the mediation is about considering what I am grateful for. I thought about my friends and family more than I thought. I thought about my material goods for a little bit but I thought about how I didn’t enjoy much without other people. This thought actually brought me some joy, and I thought about how I would keep my friends for life.

My one time challenge was to visit a farmer’s market, which I plan to do tonight. I’ve never actually been to one but I’ve heard people give them high praise. I can’t think of any produce I need but I’ll have to be intentional because I do already make sure not to waste much food. That’s been something I’ve been trying to keep in mind with the current meal plan, to only get exactly what I need. I’m probably going to grab some fresh tomatoes or any produce that stands out in my mind. Reading through the resources tab made me think about how farmer’s markets made so much sense. They just make infinitely more sense to get fresh food delivered nearby and while supporting local businesses. It’s ridiculous to me to think that our economy has determined by supply and demand and convenience, that transporting food from California and processing wherever to Pennsylvania was the most efficient way to go about things. Just doesn’t make sense to me. I’ve also heard that the prices are cheaper, which throws a wrench in the whole idea of convenience and low cost that justifies mass farming.

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Keith Langkan 9/09/2020 5:38 PM

When I went to brush my teeth lately, I turned on a faucet to fill up my water bottle so that I wouldn’t waste water but I could see how much water would normally get wasted by leaving the faucet running. Almost a liter of water filled up my bottle, and I actually had to hurry with brushing before it overflowed. Thinking about how many people could be taking the half second to think about shutting off pointlessly running water, I can imagine that there is an immense amount of needless waste, even just at the personal level. It wasn’t that difficult to do, either. Shutting down my laptop after use was not my habit but apparently computers utilize a whole lot more power than I thought they normally would. Some of the other challenges seemed to be a bit more difficult to try on the first week, so I chose these which I could at least do consistently. My one time challenge was good too, I went to visit a local nature area which was a trail nearby that I had no idea existed! That experience really made me want to get out more and find natural places nearby, so I’m taking a small club I work with to go stargazing in a state park nearby for next week. I don’t think I’ll have any problem with incorporating these changes into my life.
The learn more tab showed how much energy and water were being wasted by not paying attention to some menial tasks, but on the grand scale the little things really added up. One thing that was a justification for the exposure to a nature area was to improve mental health. I’ve always found myself a lot more a peace when in the woods either by my house or on a hike. I grew up running around and playing in the woods so it feels a bit like home to me in some ways. One thing that is a barrier to making time for nature is that you need to intentionally plan a trip or set aside time to travel to where nature is. For me I had to overlap a picnic with my girlfriend to justify going out to see nature, and I’m not sure most people would have the time to do so. I think that I might want to set aside one day per month to go out and explore my surroundings at least. I hate living far from green. I definitely need nature for my mental health. I usually get a little bit when I go on runs by my house, but the trails here mostly go through farmlands. It feels wrong to have to travel to see nature. Most parks in cities feel too small for me, or littered and not natural. I really think that people in cities suffer a lot from not being exposed to ground beneath the concrete there.

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- Andrew Stuhl 9/16/2020 6:22 AM
  
  Thanks Keith! I loved hearing about your picnic -- I think it is TOTALLY fine to overlap other goals with the goals of the Eco Challenge. In fact, I encourage it. I think it is a wonderful way to get more out of your life!
  
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