I practiced this at work, because that is where I interact with people the most. I found that I learned a lot about my coworkers that I didn't know before and that I felt overall more connected to the people around me. I think that putting active listening into practice during these conversations also lead to more genuine responses from the people I talked to I felt like they were listening to me more as well as paying more attention.

I have actually been doing my best to practice sustainable fashion for many years now. I donate any clothing or accessories that are still wearable when I don't want them anymore, only throwing away that which cannot be worn. I also have only shopped for second-hand and homemade goods when it comes to clothing for at least the last six years. When I decide to throw away a piece of clothing, I often will store it instead of tossing it in order to use the fabric for something else. This is how I have obtained a lot of my bags and some clothing that I wear. I also enjoy using the materials that I find around my house to make jewelry and other accessories.

To start out with this challenge, I try to limit my food waste as much as I can by meal-prepping, only cooking as much as I will eat, and saving my organic food scraps for my pet snails. I noticed that I don't actually throw away very much food. I am keeping a small amount of my waste aside for composting that I will most likely use for my potted plants when it is ready.

In putting together content for our class, I learned a lot about how water rights are tied to so many other interests especially in the West. Even something as simple as owning land is affected by water since our aquifers are shared. This is an example of the commons and how figuring out ways to manage interest of the common good is vital. 

This wasn't very challenging. I found that I already do this but didn't realize it. 

Drought is the most prominent concern here, so I do container gardening with a worm-composting tower so that I can minimize the water I have to use. I also use organic soils and feeds. Today I planted 5 tomatoes and some mint and basil. 

I love that we can do collective impact by all of us doing the same thing. I don't use straws often but I LOVE my cold coffee drinks out of straws, so I said no today and actually will find the reusable metal straw I have to carry with me so that I can still drink my tasty cold beverages from a straw without adding plastic to the environment. 

I saw this image on my walk the other day. The beauty of plastic . . .

Water for me helps me from mindlessly eating when I am bored. It also keeps me energized as I work and exercise. I usually use a bag water bottle that is reusable (it's so good for travel because it folds up) but it got a hole in it a month ago, so I've been using and reusing a large Arrowhead water bottle. I intend to use it until it is not good to put water in. And then I will go through the many reusable water bottles I already have and start using one of those.