Both systemic and personal sustainability are important! I will develop a plan with my medical professionals to achieve my best health and live my life to the fullest.
UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Food
Weekly Meal Planning
I will reduce food waste and save money by planning a weekly menu, only buying the ingredients I need.
COMPLETED 4
DAILY ACTIONS
Waste
Carry my Trash
I will carry all of my unrecyclable, non-compostable trash with me to raise my awareness of how much I send to the landfill.
COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS
Nature
Spend Time Outside
I will replace 30 minute(s) each day typically spent inside (computer time, watching television, etc.) with quality time outside.
COMPLETED 2
DAILY ACTIONS
Waste
Reduce Single-Use Disposables
Cheap, single-use items and disposable packaging end up blowing around as litter more often in poor and POC-majority neighborhoods. I will find out how I can limit single-use items and do my best to limit the waste I generate.
COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS
Water
5-Minute Showers
I will save up to 20 gallons (75 L) of water each day by taking 5-minute showers.
COMPLETED 2
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 2
DAILY ACTIONS
Nature
Leave No Trace
I will practice the seven principles of Leave No Trace when doing nature activities alone or with family and friends.
COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS
Simplicity
Buy Used Clothes
I will spend 20 minutes learning about the perils of fast fashion and will buy my clothes at second-hand stores when I shop.
COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS
Create Your Own Action
Forage for My Food
I will use the resources below to find where I can forage for my own food locally.
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?
Rachel Carson said that we need the beauty and mysteries of the natural world for our spiritual and emotional development. Does that ring true for you? What are the implications for a culture that spends most of its time indoors?
Name some of the human activities impacting the health of water systems, both locally (your watershed) and globally (freshwater and oceans). What can you do to improve the health of water systems?
After carrying my trash around for a day I actively noticed when I was going to use something with waste and shifted my behavior. I also noticed how much candy I eat! I think I'll continue this for the rest of the challenge!
People are motivated to forage for many different reasons: as a source for food, a means of income, to connect with nature, to participate in cultural tradition, transmitting specific ecological knowledge, or as a means of stewarding local and native plant populations are just a few examples. What is your chief motivation for foraging?
My chief motivation is transmitting "local ecological knowledge, and a means for stewarding local and native plant populations" because as an environmental science major I'm eager to learn more about nature and native plants so I can share that information and protect them.
An average American throws out about 240 lbs of food per year. The average family of four in the US spends $1,500 a year on food that they throw out. Does this surprise you? Where would you rather use this money?
These numbers certainly seem quite large, however I've definitely witnessed a lot of food waste in my family. I'd rather put that money toward a family vacation!
