Miranda Chang

I would say my ecochallenge of cutting back meat has been going pretty well. In the past few weeks, I went to restaurants and ordered vegetarian, and even vegan meals. Specifically, I went to a restaurant in Westwood where you can build your own rice bowl. While the place and cuisine are known for meat, I selected only non-meat items, and the bowl was absolutely delicious. I was so impressed that I even went back to the restaurant a second time and ordered a completely vegan bowl. This has also inspired me on what I can incorporate into my own diet should I want to cook at home. Tofu has also been my go-to, and I make it really delicious by crusting the tofu with flour, breadcrumbs, garlic powder, nutritional yeast, and salt, and then panfrying it. The only thing I think is challenging about this challenge is making sure I get the nutrition I need. While taste is probably the first thing on a lot of people’s minds, nutrition is still the most important. For example, I really like yogurt, and while yogurt doesn’t have meat in it of course, it’s a dairy product, and cows require a lot of land and water, which is not good for the environment. I found cashewmilk yogurt and while it tastes great, it doesn’t have the same amount of protein as a typical yogurt. I think soymilk yogurt would probably a good alternative for me to take up.

One of my ecochallenges has been to cut down the amount of waste I produce. I found another area where I could cut down even more. In the past, whenever I wanted to use toner to clean my face, I would have used a cotton round, which I had to dispose every time I applied the product. I did try switching to reusable makeup pads, but the pads would soak up a lot of the product. A good alternative I found was to simply place the product on my hands and then put it on my face. I do have to be careful in not spilling the product, but I found that as long as I control the motion, I can get the appropriate amount that I need without wasting any product. Plus, hands are free! I don’t need to purchase any more cotton rounds that will end up in the trash after one use. I also don’t really need to wash my hands as I need to with the makeup pads. Should I need to clean my hands, it’s a lot easier to do so than makeup pads (which requires more water to really clean them).

I wrote my climate change essay on finding more sustainable ways to harvest palm oil as that has been responsible for mass deforestation, biodiversity loss, and increased greenhouse gas emissions. In my essay, I had mentioned that peanut butter is formulated with palm oil. During my conference with Randy, he told me that he actually grinds up peanuts in a food processor to make his own peanut butter, and that's it. I didn't realize that making peanut butter was so simple, so I decided to try that at home. I didn't have a food processor, so I used a blender instead. I will say, I did have some difficulties grinding the peanuts because the blades kept getting stuck. I ended up getting very chunky peanut butter. I think I probably could have achieved a better result if I had a food processor. It tasted great though, and I think it would be better to call them peanut butter clusters. I could even see them as forming the base for a granola bar. Even though, I didn't get my intended result, this experience taught me that alternatives to store-bought may not be that hard to make, and it has encouraged to see what else I can replace in my pantry with things that are more sustainable.

I was running low on some disinfecting cleaner that I use to clean my stove and kitchen countertops. In the past, I would throw away the bottle and buy a whole new one. However, I decided to make a change and just buy the concentrates to make the cleaning solution. While there is still some waste with the packaging material for the concentrates, the waste I am producing in the case is much less compared to throwing the whole bottle away. In addition, this is cheaper than purchasing a whole new bottle. I paid $4 for two packs of concentrates (equivalent to two bottles) whereas I would have to pay $5 for just one bottle. In the long run, it all adds up. I hope to continue cutting down waste wherever I can.

One of my eco-challenges is walking for a given amount of a time a day. Today, I decided to take an extra walk through the botanical gardens. Even though I am a fourth year, I have never been there. In the end, I am glad that I got to explore the garden. I really appreciated all the beauty that nature offered throughout my walk. The walk through the botanical garden also gave me a visual example of what it means to be biodiverse. Some plants were very vibrant and quite eye-catching. I even saw turtles in the creek, which I didn’t even think of them to be there in the first place! With every twist and turn, I was amazed by what a beautiful picture nature formed in front of me. This experience has also encouraged me to really look at my surroundings. I also took note of how this might be something we can try to implement for actual walkways like sidewalks -- surround the place with more nature. I will try to take more nature walks like this to see what other nature I might encounter.

I recently met up with a friend for dinner at a small shop called Falafel Inc., here in Westwood. They sell vegan and vegetarian falafel dishes at a very affordable price. The food was very filling and incredibly delicious! When going more plant-based, you end up becoming exposed to a lot of different cuisines and ingredients as you seek alternatives. For Falafel Inc., one element of the sandwich that I enjoyed was called tatbili, which is a garlic jalapeno relish. Going plant-based can thus be very adventurous. In addition, when meeting up with my friend, we only talked to each other, face-to-face. There were no distractions like pulling out our phones. Enjoying the meal while having no distractions allows for an organic bond between people, and it makes me happy that we were able to have a meaningful conversation about our lives. Therefore, as a challenge, I want to go exploring and try cuisines I have never had before and see what kinds of foods they use that I can incorporate into my own diet. Furthermore, I also will try to not turn on electronics as often when eating and maybe even eat more with friends.

One thing I have been trying to do for a long time is to cut down on any solid waste where I can. It has been quite eye-opening to me ever since I have gotten a tablet. I am not saying that using a tablet is a perfect option, but I have noticed a substantial decrease in the amount of solid paper I have produced. Before I got a tablet, I would have so many stacks of paper lying around. It would often make my desk messy, and the amount of papers I carry takes up quite a bit of space in my backpack. I often thought to myself, “this is so wasteful.” Now that I have a tablet, I do not have that clutter anymore and have barely used any paper. What struck me the most is that this change happened to me right in front my eyes—I can see it on my desk.

Even in this last class, where we were assigned to annotate five articles, I did that all digitally. Doing this on my tablet allowed me to use different colors for highlighters, which I otherwise would not have been able to do if I had done on paper. This is not for everyone, but for me, this has been remarkable. As a challenge, I hope to continue going digital when doing schoolwork or homework.