Month: March 2016

Earth Month Challenge Week 1

I found the first Earth Month Challenge week to be pretty difficult. My first challenge of the month was to only purchase products with little to no packaging. I found myself trying to completely alter my daily routine so that I would be near a dining hall so I wouldn’t buy food that came in a disposable container. This was an easier feat to accomplish. However, there were many times that I would need a certain product that only comes in disposable plastic, which was very frustrating that there weren’t alternative products to buy with either reusable or recycled materials.

I think I could have done things differently if I had been more aware of how difficult changing what I buy would be. I researched a few products that are all natural and made of recycled materials, but almost none of them were made with reusable materials, such as glass bottles. I also learned that some of the products that I bought could be made from home, such as lotions. This includes a large amount of work but it would be worth not buying all of the plastic bottles. I also discovered that I need to reduce how much I eat at the cafes around campus and eat at the dining halls instead since the food comes in packaging in the cafes rather than being placed right onto my plate.

I anticipate the next week will go a little better since I now know what I need to change to reduce how much packaging I consume in my products and since I have a thermos to carry my coffee rather than the disposable cups. I did save quite a bit of money by prohibiting myself from buying excess products since most of them had too much packaging.

Columbus To Do List 2

For the Columbus To Do List Assignment, I chose the neighborhood list in order to broaden my knowledge of the Columbus area. I chose the German Village/Brewery neighborhood since it is one of the oldest parts of Columbus with a lot of interesting and historical places to offer.

I am most looking forward to exploring the older shops and roads in German Village, such as the Book Loft. Places such as this resonate with me because of all of their character and the personal touch invested in running such places. There are also many privately owned restaurants and cafes in the area, one of my favorite types of places to go out with friends. The small houses and brick roads also add a unique character that is hard to find anywhere else.

This semester I hope to make myself more aware of the Columbus area so that I no longer have the excuse of being “too bored” to do anything. This way, I’m aware of my numerous options of activities in the area so that I can continually explore.

 

      For my first trip from this list, I went to the Book Loft in German Village. The unique style of this little shop (which turned out to be not so little, but an endless maze on two floors) was so charming and it sucked me right into wanting to sit in the middle of the aisle with a pile of books around me like I did when I was little. I hoped to keep control over my wallet as I walked through the door but of course we all ended up leaving with a few small tokens from the trip. This has been one of my favorite finds in Columbus so far.

Earth Month Challenge Part 1

My area of focus for the Earth Month Challenge will be Waste and Toxicity. I was drawn to this area because I have always been interested in how humans impact the environment with our waste and how we could lessen this negative impact. I would like to use the Earth Month Challenge to investigate what products would be best to buy for a positive impact and lessen my waste or toxic products that are put in the environment due to the products that I am responsible for buying.

Some options that I can do for this area of focus would be reducing food waste by eating all of the food I buy or take rather than throwing it away, buying food with minimal packaging, buying products with no palm oil, buying products with no microbeads or other plastic pollutants, compost whenever possible, use reusable cups, water bottles, or plates to reduce trash, take shorter and colder showers, reuse containers, recycle all items that are recyclable, thrift for clothes rather than buy new ones, bring reusable bags to the grocery store rather than use the plastic ones, buy organic and locally grown products, use less aerosol products, eat a more vegetarian or vegan diet, or even avoid red meat.

Lucky’s market or Portia’s diner would help to reduce food waste and toxicity since Portia’s has smaller portions and is organic, which reduces toxins in the environment and Lucky’s promotes organic products. The Zero Waste club is also a great resource to learn how to reduce my waste around campus.

 

Helpful websites:

https://www.recyclenow.com/reduce/reduce-your-waste-5-easy-steps

 

This website shows the easiest and most efficient ways to recycle in different situations. It would be helpful especially around campus where recycling options are more scarce.

http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/

 

This is a great website for reducing waste and toxicity. It shows all of the products that are Rainforest Alliance Certified, which means it is humanely and environmentally produced. This means buying this products ensures that it is organic and lacks many of the main toxins from nonorganic foods.

https://www.amherstma.gov/720/Reduce-Waste-Toxicity

This website provides even more details about toxic substances in many common products.

 

http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/en/environmentwaste/rubbishrecycling/pages/wasteandyouroptions.aspx

This website provides more details about how to reduce waste and recycle more responsibly.

TEDx Talk Reflection

Greening the Ghetto by Majora Carter opened my eyes to many different ways of looking at sustainability. Her talk focused on the minority area of the South Bronx and how the citizens had greatly suffered from big business taking precedent over the well-being of the people who live there or the sustainability of the area. She emphasized the importance of investing in sustainability for the mutual benefit of humans, specifically minorities, and the environment. In her talk, she mentioned the inequality of the area and how environmental issues and economic and equality issues often go hand in hand.

Using Nature’s Genius in Architecture by Michael Pawlyn focused on the methods used in nature to make a strong, efficient world. He used examples such as a spider’s web, a fiber stronger than any ever manufactured by mankind. He also mentioned the complete sustainability of nature. Resources do not run out in such a fashion that the current way of life will suddenly cease to function in an environment because everything is recycled. Pawlyn emphasized the fact that in order for human civilizations to be successful, we must mimic nature, creating a world where what we use is not left to litter the Earth but to reused, in the same sort of way that the Earth reuses its own materials.

These two talks made me think about my own career and life styles quite a bit. I hope to go into conservation research so sustainability is not my main focus but it’s the other side of the same coin. Much of my lifestyle and interests are in sustainability and these types of factors, such as the effect on minorities and the wasteful attitude of many humans, have a large impact on my lifestyle and how I hope to live in the future. In my career, I hope I can help spread this idea of humans working like the planet for the benefit of us all.