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Northwestern University Earth Month 2020 Feed

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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?


  • Deborah Shoola's avatar
    Deborah Shoola 5/01/2020 10:24 AM
    Thank you to Sustain NU for putting together this challenge!
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Waste Learn About & Practice Sustainable Fashion
    How can you express your personality, creativity, and values in ways that don't require fast fashion or buying more clothes and accessories?

    Lucy London's avatar
    Lucy London 4/30/2020 7:57 PM
    THRRRRIFTING is the best and makes me so incredibly happy. I love all the weird clothes in thrift and consignment stores--it's really how I express myself. I don't like to follow the crowd, so I really don't shop at department stores or malls. I also like to wear hand-me-downs because I have some awesome older friends that give me clothes:))
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Simplicity Eat Mindfully
    Mindful eating is healthier for us than eating with distractions. How do your eating experiences differ when practicing mindfulness?

    Lucy London's avatar
    Lucy London 4/30/2020 7:55 PM
    I can taste food more! I can enjoy the smell and look of it, as well as the knowledge of where it came from, how it came to be on my plate. It's really an amazing, joyous experience that I get to have every single day. I am so grateful to the universe for giving me good food!
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Health Exercise Daily
    How can you incorporate other personal values (like quality time with friends or spending time in nature) into your exercise routine?

    Lucy London's avatar
    Lucy London 4/30/2020 7:53 PM
    I've started biking for exercise, and it's really amazing. I live in a beautiful place where I can ride out country roads and see all the marvelous hills and farmland and cows. Sometimes I ride with friends, which is a great way to connect with them and with nature and with my body all at once. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Nature Go for a Daily Walk
    How do you experience your neighborhood or city differently when walking instead of driving?

    Lucy London's avatar
    Lucy London 4/30/2020 7:52 PM
    There's so many wonderful things to perceive! All my senses come alive--not only sight, but smell, and hearing, and even feeling fun plants or the wind. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Health Support Pollution Reduction
    What environmental factors affect human health in your region, and how do they affect it?

    Lucy London's avatar
    Lucy London 4/30/2020 7:50 PM
    The California wildfires were and are a huge factor in the health of my community. The first major time they hit in 2017, my school was cancelled for a week due to the poor air quality, and many of my friends were evacuated. The sun was red and I couldn't breathe. As someone with asthma, these fires, worsened by climate change, affect me and my community directly. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Energy Power Down the Computer
    What are other easy things you could do to save energy and reduce your environmental footprint?

    Lucy London's avatar
    Lucy London 4/30/2020 7:48 PM
    Turn off lights, take shorter showers, drive electric vehicles, fly less, eat less meat, etc. 

    ~and~

    Restore our sense of awe & humility
    Widening our paradigm from individual to encompass all life
    Remembering our meaning as stewards of the Earth
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Energy Heat and Cool Naturally
    What are other ways you could use the power of the sun to reduce your own environmental footprint?

    Lucy London's avatar
    Lucy London 4/30/2020 7:45 PM
    Heating, rooftop solar panels, smaller solar panels to power devices, and enjoying the sun as it makes us happier, which in turn aids sustainability!
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Food Reduce Animal Products
    Why do people in richer countries eat more meat than people in other places? How does eating more meat affect our planet and other people?

    Lucy London's avatar
    Lucy London 4/30/2020 7:41 PM
    Richer countries colonize land. They pay for forests to be deforested to expand farmland for agricultural production to feed the capitalistic system and our greedy carnivorous society. Not only is most meat production unjust for animals, but it is also a huge contributor to greenhouse gas emissions because of land burned and logged for the purposes of farming, and the unsustainable farming practices that capitalism demands. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Energy Learn About Renewable Energy
    What inspires you to act on sustainable energy and other energy issues?

    Lucy London's avatar
    Lucy London 4/30/2020 7:34 PM
    Energy is a gift--it's such a miracle. To think we've come so far as to create electricity and stuff that powers cars and planes and boats and trains! It's incredible. Now, we have to be humble about it. Our current energy is not clean--not sustainable. Therefore, in order to sustain the Earth so that humans and millions of other species continue to survive, we must make a just transition to clean and renewable energy.