I went on the Buck-I-Serv trip to Birmingham, Alabama over winter break. The entire trip lasted six days including the drive there and back. We volunteered for four days for about eight hours each day. I would say that we put in around 30+ hours of work over the week that we stayed in Birmingham. The trip was absolutely amazing. All of the people that went on the trip were awesome. I think one of my favorite parts of the trip was just staying up and hanging out with everyone before we went to sleep. Also I appreciated being able to learn some new carpentry and painting skills. The thing that made the trip so great was that everyone there wanted to be there. We all signed up for the trip because we wanted to help a community in need. That’s what made the trip so special.

I didn’t realize the impact that our group made on the community until the last day. Everyone was working on landscaping, tiling, carpentry, painting, etc. At the end of the day, I was asked to nail the address letters onto the house. After I put the letters up, I took a step back and looked at the house as a whole. For the first time, the house wasn’t just a building, it suddenly became a home in my head.

I am so happy and fortunate that I got to go on this trip. It was very rewarding, and I would highly suggest Buck-I-Serv to anyone that likes to meet people and do volunteer work.

For the rest of my experiences on the outdoor and recreation Columbus to-do list, I chose to go to the following parks/outdoor recreation areas: the Olentangy trail, the Topiary Park, Franklin Park Conservatory, and Goodale Park. The Olentangy Trail was a lot less formal than most of the other places that I visited. By that, I mean that it wasn’t necessarily a day in the parks like the other places seemed to be, but rather a stroll down a trail for some fresh air every once and a while. I have been on the Olentangy trail many times for running, walking, and even my Environmental and Natural Resources 1150 class. The trail is a nice calm, quiet area where you can appreciate nature and get the exercise that you need. As for the Topiary Park, I felt like this park was the typical picnic scene. There were couples lying on the grass next to the grassy sculptures, and children running around. The green statues were very elegant and beautiful, it almost like they were telling a story of their own. I also liked how behind the park was a nice grand high school that had an old feel to it, much like the park itself. Franklin Park Conservatory was probably my favorite outdoor recreation area that I visited. I loved all of the tulips (they are by far my favorite flower) and the funny/inquisitive names for the small plants by the conservatory. While, I never made it into the actual conservatory (because it was $10 for students and that was the same price as it was for regular adults, so I’m not really sure why there was a student price; I digress), the land around it was absolutely awesome. There was small gardens with paths of small stones and colorful flowers, along with an apiary with a few beehives to collect honey. The park was amazing and its surrounding neighborhood was amazing as well. Goodale Park was also one of my favorite parks that I visited. While it was a lot more busy than some of the past parks I discussed, it had an overwhelming family friendly vibe to it. There were tons of children playing (along with a children’s birthday party as well in the shelter house), dogs running around having fun, families on a walk, picnics, and people just observing the wonderful day. I would say that this park is a great place to relax, while some of the others were better for observing nature. Through seeing all of the different parks and outdoor recreation areas in Columbus, I was truly amazed at how great this city is. The city is not only conscious of conservation efforts, but also maintaining a relaxing, green environment for its residents. I would definitely recommend this to-do list for other people who like to observe nature and relax. Make sure you have adequate transportation methods (most easily would be a car), as some of the parks are not within walking distance of campus.

This week my challenge was to recycle everything humanely possible, or at least make a valiant effort to. This challenge went a lot more smoothly than the last two. Especially at my dorm and on my free time, I was able to recycle everything. It did get a little tedious however when I had to take the straws out of cups to recycle just the lid and actual cup. As for work, which seems to be the hardest area to accomplish my goals because of the convenience aspect, this challenge was a lot harder than you’d think. Not only did I have to wash milk jugs out and leave during a rush to put them in the recycle bin, but I also washed out mocha sauce bottles, and let me tell you, that is not an easy task by any means. Also, every time I or someone dropped a lid, I had to run and swipe it up and recycle it before someone threw it away. In addition to that, I would take milk jugs out of the garbage when people weren’t looking because I didn’t want them to feel bad about not recycling it. I think that it would have been easier had other people been educated on recycling and made efforts to recycle things. Also, it would be a lot easier if our recycle bin at work was closer to our work station like the trash is. I think next week will be harder as I am trying to cut out using Styrofoam and plastic disposable containers, especially when leaving work and grabbing food.

My challenge during the second week was to bring a reusable mug to work as to not waste paper/plastic cups on the multiple cups of coffee that I consume while working. This challenge was much harder than I thought it would be. In all honesty, after last week (carrying my reusable water bottle around with me), I thought this challenge would be easier; however, it is very hard to remember to grab a mug for coffee at 6:30 in the morning before you’ve even had coffee for the day. Also, after I leave my dorm in the morning, I don’t have time to return until after my shift at work. I think that I would have succeeded a little better if I would’ve made my first cup of coffee at my dorm and drank it on my way to work, but in the end, the coffee at my work is free and I have to pay for the coffee that I make in my dorm. Again, like the water bottle, I think that I would do better if I took time to actually think about remembering it. Something that I learned about myself this week was, again, that I do not have a good memory. Also, I tend to lose/forget my belongings a lot. I believe next week I will have more success than these past two weeks. My challenge next week is to recycle everything humanly possible. I already recycle a lot of things; however, when we are in a rush at work, I sometimes throw away lids and other recyclable items because of the convenience, since the recycle bin is out of reach in another room. Lets hope it works out next week!

My first challenge for this week was to use a reusable water bottle and bring it everywhere with me. The challenge was going just great; however, I lost my water bottle, so the challenge had to be put on hold for a few days until I could go out and get a new water bottle. I did not drink any water out of disposable plastic bottles, but I refrained from using my bottle a lot. Also, at work I used a disposable cup because I forgot about my water bottle. I think that if I were to actually focus and pay more attention to my challenge, I could do a much better job at accomplishing my goal. This week I learned that I am not so good at focusing on accomplishing my goals. If the reward or outcome is direct and tangible, I am usually very good at accomplishing what needs to be done; however, since I couldn’t see the direct results of reusing a water bottle, it easily slipped my mind. I also realized how little of water I consume daily, which can be very unhealthy. I think that an average person should be consuming at least eight cups of water each day; however, I was consuming far less than that. If I can start consciously thinking about my water intake, I think that I could become an overall healthier person as well. Considering that this weeks challenge was not the greatest, I plan to work especially hard at completing next week’s challenge.

Before I delve into my specific earth month challenges I would like to talk about what I plan to do in respect to Earth Month as a whole. A part from the challenges I hope to complete, I want to change my lifestyle a little. Even though its not one of my challenges, I am trying to take the stairs wherever I am going as often as possible. I also want to change my diet little by little. I am already a vegetarian, but being a vegetarian is more about what someone does eat, and less about what they don’t eat. My plan to take up more healthy options as an alternative to sugary or carb-loaded meals. I also plan on being more conscious of my water usage here on campus.

With some overall goals aside, I will now talk about my specific Earth Month Challenge. As you may know I chose to do the Waste and Toxicity challenge. My overall challenge is to decrease my total waste output in my regular. The following challenges are respectively my challenges for the next couple of weeks.

1. No usage of plastic bottles
   • The hardest part of this challenge for myself will be not being able to get lemonade. I don’t drink pop, but I still love to get bottles of lemonade and vitamin water when I am out on campus.
2. Bring a reusable mug to work for coffee
   • I work at some cafes located on campus, and free coffee and tea is permitted to employees. I definitely take advantage of this opportunity, especially when I wake up for my 7:00 a.m. shift. However, most of the time I end up wasting multiple paper cups on my shifts because I don’t bring my own mug. The hardest part of this challenge will be to remember to bring my mug, especially when there are no tangible consequences.
3. Recycle everything possible
   • I definitely recycle at my dorm: I recycle everything that I can. However, at my work it is hard to recycle items when we are in a rush due to the inconvenience of where the recycle bin is located. It is located in the back room, whereas a garbage can is located right under our work station. Also, some locations don’t even have recycle bins. The hardest part will be overcoming the inconvenience of walking to the back room, or starting a small basket that I can take out to the recycle bin after my shift.
4. No usage of plastic bags or Styrofoam
   • Plastic bags are not that good for our environment because they can’t be recycled most of the time. Also, Styrofoam is terrible for the environment because it takes thousands of years to decompose and it cannot be recycled. This will definitely be hard because I will have to remember to take Tupperware containers with me for leftovers and reusable bags when going to the store.

For my topic, I am focused on waste and toxicity. I think that a lot of times, people do basic things like recycle red solo cups and dumping things down a sewer instead of just littering it, but most of the population is not informed on what they can actually do to help the environment in the areas of waste and toxicity. Toxicity has become a huge issue in recent times when looking at the Flint, Michigan water crisis that has arisen. From simple things like changing the resource from which we take our water, toxicity can affect so many lives. A general education on such topics is needed for the American public to be affective in creating a more sustainable environment and nation.

Within my challenge area, a few things that people can do to help with our problems of waste and toxicity are as follows:

• Take an informative class/session on recycling
• Utilize a reusable water bottle to create less pollution
• Minimize water waste by taking shorter showers
• Minimize water waste by turning off the water while you brush your teeth
• Don’t litter, even if the item is biodegradable
• Start a compost pile to eliminate some waste
• Plant a garden to minimize waste of packaged food from grocery stores
• Buy locally grown/made food as to promote small business and prevent transportation pollution toxicity
• Cut down on transportation toxicity by taking public transportation, walking, or riding a bike
• Help volunteer to recycle at one of the OSU football games to cut down on waste
• While at a restaurant, eat all of your food or take home the leftovers to cut down on food waste
• Only buy enough expirables as you need (ie. Don’t buy a full gallon of milk if you throw away half of it at the end of the week)
• Cut down on Styrofoam use in all parts of your life as it takes thousands of years to decompose.
• Bring reusable bags to grocery stores so that you won’t be wasting the paper/plastic ones that they provide.
• Refrain from ordering takeout/delivery as they waste materials more storing food and the transportation costs on the environment as well

A few on campus resources that can help with waste and toxicity management are:

• The student life energy management and sustainability is a great resource for learning about sustainable measures that will decrease your personal waste
• Also, you can get involved with the OSU football clean-ups in which volunteers go around and collect recyclable materials from tailgaters around The Horseshoe
• In addition, the office of student life wellness center has a whole department dedicated to environmental wellness

In addition, here are some online sources that can help change little things to cut down on waste and toxicity in your life:

• http://greatist.com/health/how-to-ways-reduce-food-waste
  • Here is a list of ways to cut down on food waste
• http://www.rethinkrecycling.com/residents/reduce/top-10-ways-reduce-waste
  • Above is a general list of how to decrease your waste
• https://extension.illinois.edu/compost/process.cfm
  • Here is how to generate compost and apply it to a home garden
• http://www.epa.gov/recycle/how-do-i-recycle-common-recyclables
  • This is a link to help educate on recyclable materials