HRIPSIME DUMANYAN

"I'm Hripsime, and I love being outside. I love flowers and trees, and I currently care for around 15 different plants. Every day I drive to school, but I want to use alternate forms of transportation to cut down on that (like the bus). I believe that each of us should play a part in ensuring the safety of our livelihoods, by doing something small that helps reduce our carbon footprint. "

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
148 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

10

miles

not traveled by car
UP TO

2.0

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

0.0

pounds of CO2

have been saved
UP TO

60

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

10

miles

traveled by bus

HRIPSIME's actions

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Reduce Animal Products

Plant-Rich Diets

I will enjoy 2 meatless or vegan meal(s) each day of the challenge.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Action Track: Healing & Renewal

Plant Trees

Temperate Forest Restoration

I will plant 2 tree(s) in my community, public parks, or backyard.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Use Public Transit

Public Transit

I will use public transit 10 mile(s) per day and avoid sending up to (___) lbs of CO2 into Earth's atmosphere.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Health and Education

Learn about the Need for Family Planning

Health and Education

I will spend at least 60 minutes learning more about the need for family planning globally.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Participant Feed

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?

HRIPSIME DUMANYAN 2/10/2023 1:50 PM
Being a vegetarian or vegan has never occurred to me because my family has had a barbecue business my entire life. Even though I love fruits and vegetables and consume meat and plants in equal amounts, I have never imagined a life without meat. However, I have discovered that by eating less meat, I feel less full and bloated. I've made the decision to consume less meat, so instead of eating it three times per week like I used to, I now only do so sometimes. By doing this, I am training myself to consume less meat and diversifying my diet to include meals without meat, which is much better for my health. However, finding meals on the UCLA campus that are filling and don't contain meat has been a difficulty for me. Due to the fact that I commute and have to spend the entire day on campus, I frequently eat at the restaurants. Therefore, if anyone knows of any good vegetarian dining options on campus, please let me know.

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- shirleya williams 2/11/2023 12:59 PM
  Hi! I definitely agree that it is harder to find places to eat on campus that are vegetarian and vegan friendly. However, one of my favorite places to eat on campus is Veggie Grill. It is a plant-based restaurant in Ackerman Union. There's a wide variety of meals that are made plant-based, and are really good. They even have plant-based dessert. There is also a place out in Westwood called Native Foods. This is a completely vegan restaurant, It also has really good meatless alternatives.
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Transportation

How has your access to various kinds of transportation throughout your life influenced your current attitudes about transportation and your transportation behavior?
HRIPSIME DUMANYAN 2/06/2023 2:36 PM
In a previous post, I mentioned that I commute and use my car for around four hours a day. I took the bus one day, leaving my house at 6 am to make it to my 10 am class. To go to UCLA, I had to change three buses. Although this was inconvenient, I enjoyed getting up four hours early to take the bus to class since I could get a lot of work done. I was anxious about how the experience would turn out. Although LA needs a stronger transit system, we must also make do with what we have. The bus sometimes runs at different times, and the bus timings listed online are sometimes not true. Thus, I had to wait 40 minutes on top of the two hours it took to change buses to get home. Getting around LA by bus is not convenient for me, but it is a better alternative if it does not run late.

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- Ciena Alipio 2/06/2023 10:03 PM
  Wow! A two hour and forty minute commute to get from campus to home does not seem like the ideal situation. However, I know that the bus system here in LA could use some work. I personally have only used the bus here in LA once, and that was to get around with my parents, but I have used several other modes of public transportation in other major cities around the country. In other cities, like Boston, their public transportation system is reliable and affordable. I think that being able to implement a similar system here in LA would be a great solution, but doing your part to take the bus does help with our fuel emissions. However, it is cool to hear that the commute was a great time to get more work done and that you were able to utilize that time you would have spent driving, doing something that made the day less stressful and made you feel productive.
  
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- Chloe Reese 2/06/2023 8:29 PM
  In high school, I had to walk home from school which was not too far only about 2 miles. Buses were not the best option for me because the ones that ran in my hometown were not reliable and the timings listed were always off. I never saw taking buses as a feasible option as walking allowed me to cut through neighborhoods and I was able to get back home in a more direct manner. How I grew up thinking about buses made me hesitant to use the buses at UCLA and around Westwood. My friends were the ones that pushed me to use the buses at UCLA as none of us had cars so if we wanted to run errands or explore LA we relied on buses. My attitude towards transportation has definitely changed based on what was offered to me and what worked best for me at that time in my life.
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Health and Education

What did you learn about the need for family planning? How do the needs of different people in different places compare to each other?
HRIPSIME DUMANYAN 2/01/2023 7:30 PM
I'd like to think that we're all privileged. The privilege comes into play when we consider the opportunity for us to have the education we have now, the opportunity to be on the giving end rather than the receiving end, and the opportunity to write posts about bettering our planet. This ultimately boils down to universal education, which some women are denied. They are denied the opportunity to obtain an education, and to learn about the various topics we learn, including some we do not want to learn. Women's education empowers them to take charge of their lives, plan their families, and marry at an acceptable age.

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HRIPSIME DUMANYAN 1/31/2023 8:35 AM
I now prefer to use reusable water bottles than plastic ones. Because plastic water bottles were more convenient for my family to use, we would always buy them and keep them in the refrigerator. A few months ago, I switched to using reusable water bottles because I thought they were more efficient. Also Randy was talking about water in class, and he said that tap water is far healthier than water from plastic bottles, which I had suspicions of, but had never really bothered to look for myself. Recently, I've been trying to persuade my family and friends to follow the same path. I think using less plastic is more practical and beneficial. Also, who doesn't love a cute reusable water bottle?

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- Shengze Xu 2/11/2023 11:43 AM
  Hi Hripsime, I like how you bring up the fact that reusable bottles are better than plastic ones, I would not hesitate to use them as well. They are just better. I have been purchasing plastic water bottles before, I though they are convenient to use. But as soon as I found out animals are suffering from plastic pollution, I stopped sharply. I tried to avoid them at all costs. I think it is also beneficial to convince people around us to do the same thing, but at least I am determined to do so.
  
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- Norah Gidanian 1/31/2023 10:54 PM
  I also grew up in a household where plastic water bottles were used more than reusable water bottles but since moving to college, I have been using my reusable water bottle for 3 years and I love it! I didnt know that the tap water was healthier than plastic water bottles, but just another reason to use a reusable water bottle! I also think a fun way to make people excited about using reusable water bottles is to add stickers and decorate them with things you like. I have a bunch of stickers on my water bottle that make it a lot more colorful and fun.
  
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HRIPSIME DUMANYAN 1/18/2023 10:59 PM
I commute to campus every single day, and I am there 8 am - 9 pm. Though this is my second year at UCLA, I have never really explored the campus. I decided instead of sitting down in the library reading a book, I would instead use that time to walk and explore the campus. These past two days have been amazing --- I went to the Botanical Gardens, and it is just breathtaking there, dare I say it is better than the library? 😳. I realized that because my schedule is hectic, and me always looking for the faster route and the easier way around the campus, I lose track of how truly beautiful the campus really is, and often we as students being focused on our classes fail to see that and are deprived of truly exploring our campus.

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- Nicole Muzsnai 1/20/2023 6:44 PM
  Hi Hripsime!
  
  I loved reading your post and related to many of the experiences you mentioned because I am also a commuter student! Although we spend so much time on campus, we rarely get a chance to explore new areas because of assignments and studying! I am so glad you were able to tour the botanical gardens – I have been there a few times and find it to be one of the most tranquil places on campus. I've discovered that being surrounded by nature can be very grounding and beneficial for my mental health. When attempting to make more environmentally sustainable changes in our lives, I think it's essential for us to interact purposely with nature more often. Acknowledging the beauty of nature can help ignite a stronger desire to preserve that beauty through our actions!
  
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- Norah Gidanian 1/19/2023 12:38 PM
  I resonate with this post because a lot of the times I just rush through campus because I am running late or have other things to get to. Ive actually never visited the Botanical Gardens but like you said, I have heard its amazing. I want to take a trip there this week to see it for myself. I think rushing through campus also causes me to forget that we go to one of the most beautiful universities and I look forward to making sure I appreciate that.
  
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