Amrita Bhullar

With my research project topic being food waste and composting, I certainly felt guilty last week when I took a study break to eat my orange and discard the peel in the trash. I've mentioned to several classmates that my apartment building has been advertising the addition of a compost bin for a while now, but I had yet to see it. Well, it finally happened. I almost missed it because it's pretty small compared to the extremely large garbage that sits outside, but the compost bin is now there. I was pretty excited and made sure to grab some small compost bin bags yesterday when I went to Ralph's. Composting is really new for me, as I never grew up placing my food waste in a separate bin. But after reading about (and seeing firsthand) the initiative that's being taken in LA, I'm really encouraged to start the process. I know this will be a long-term change that I will continue everywhere I live in the future.

One time last year when I was going to some store just down Westwood Blvd, I decided to take my car. I remember thinking how great it was that I'd be there in less than 5 minutes. I was quite upset to realize that, even though I got there very quickly, I absolutely could not find parking. Anywhere. In fact, after driving around for an extra 10 minutes, I realized the closest parking I could find was back at my apartment. I share this experience as a comical story to explain to people outside of LA how terrible it is to find parking here. I remind myself of this experience often, and try to motivate myself to walk places as much as possible. I also realize how lucky I am to live so close to Target, Trader Joe's, and numerous restaurants/stores unique to Westwood. I need to take advantage of this while I'm here. I've really been making the effort to walk more (even if I don't always feel like it) because I know I'll feel better after getting some exercise and knowing I'm reducing my carbon footprint at least a little.

Last quarter I started using a meal prep service that delivers to my apartment once a week. Each box contains ingredients for two recipes, both of which are enough to cover four whole meals for me. I initially considered using this service as a convenience for making dinner during a busy week, but I was also happy to learn more about the climate actions taken by this company. Firstly, I love that I can make these recipes with essentially zero food waste: they send all the ingredients in the exact portions I need and I make sure to finish all leftovers during the week. If I tried to make these recipes on my own, I would buy an excess of ingredients from the store and the rest that I don't use would just go bad in my fridge (as has happened before). I enjoy knowing that everything I receive in my box is being used. I also noticed that this company partners with a carbon offset program that initiates projects to offset the carbon emissions produced by shipping recipe boxes. This is definitely an imperfect system, as ideally there would minimal emissions that need to be offset; maybe in the future, this service can expand to develop local stations wherein boxes are shipped locally/customers can pick up their boxes nearby. But I do appreciate that the company acknowledges their carbon emissions and takes a clear initiative. Lastly, I mentioned on my first post that I wanted to start eating meat less. I love that I can incorporate that goal into this food service: I'm able to pick recipes that are vegetarian, giving me the chance to explore meatless options and enjoy some new, really delicious meals.

With my solution topic being composting, I recently watched the documentary Kiss the Ground on Netflix. I was talking with classmates today about how insightful it was, and how I want to advertise it to others. The activists featured in the documentary discuss the various benefits of soil, the biggest one being its role in sequestering carbon. It was perfectly structured to include various stories from people who work to maintain the healthiest soil. It really opened my eyes to how we can not just focus on reducing our carbon footprint - we need to implement solutions that will address the damage that has already been done. There is so much importance in maintaining good soil, and we can help enormously by contributing to the composting movement. It was a truly well-done documentary and I'm really inspired to watch others about other climate change topics. Definitely check it out!

I grew up always eating meat and really only knew people who gave up meat for religious purposes. More recently, I've been hearing more about the environmental impact of eating less meat and it sparked my curiosity to explore meal options that are vegetarian. I've actually found that I really enjoy meatless meals; there are so many ways to cook with tofu and I love adding chickpeas or beans for extra protein. While I do still eat meat, I'm hoping to continue on this trend and cut it out of my meals as much as possible.