Bria Rice-Gomez

Today was the last day of the EcoChallenge and although most of my energy was focused towards water conservation and supporting businesses of color in the Portland metro area, I decided for the volunteer aspect of my challenge to assist a good friend of mine in her graduate studies lab at Portland State University. She currently studies the levels of microplastics that exists in local the local fishery that we buy at the supermarkets such as Safeway, Natural Grocers and other well known grocery stores. It was really cool to actually get hands on experience in a lab focusing on ecological awareness and improvement and from now on I will always confer with her as to where I should be buying fish because eating plastic is gross!

Oh! and I bought a fun art print from a business of color off of etsy today

Some of you know that I have thick curly hair and usually my wash days take about 40 minutes of shampooing, conditioning, detangling and styling all done in the shower. I do this twice a week. Today was a wash day and because I've been trying to be more water conscious I decided to do my styling out of the shower which cut my shower time in half. I don't know if I can commit to this for every washday because it makes the bathroom a huge mess and it's not as good for my hair but maybe I can try and shoot for every other wash day.

I have moved up to washing my face and brushing my teeth with minimal water usage. Tomorrow I'll try washing the dishes with a water conscious mindset.
As far as my search for more businesses of color I went on racistsandwhich.com to try and find a business of color that weren't fast food based but alas no luck

Went to the PSU farmers market today and sadly it was still really hard for me to find something to buy from a business of color that was not related to fast food or aesthetic household items which was unfortunate

I have really been wanting to support more businesses of color in my community but I've noticed it's really hard when I'm not buying fast food or quick drinks. I feel like I have to travel really far out of the way to find a grocery store or something like that that is owned by a person of color which is unfortunate. Maybe I'll have more luck at the PSU farmer's market tomorrow

Brushing my teeth without the water on has really made me noticed other spaces in my day to day life where I could be saving more water as well like when I wash my face or do the dishes!

I signed up for the volunteer event I can use during our Eco Challenge! It's the Woodland Lawn Park Ivy Pulling where we'll be restoring several overgrown areas at Woodlawn Park with native plants. 

I went to one of favorite Ramen spots Kizuki Ramen & Izakaya in Beaverton today after work. It was great!

Just added a reusable straw, coffee stirrer, and coffee thermos to my backpack so I can eliminate plastic waste while at the coffee shop