Sydney Dyer

Hi Sydney! I've also never heard of the term "silvopasture" before so it was interesting to see how silvopasture practice could be advantageous in making livestock practices more sustainable. I found some research that showed that pastures with trees sequester 5-10x as much carbon in biomass and in the soil as same-size operations that have no trees offering additional evidence on the importance of silvopasture.

Hi Sydney! I have also not heard of the term "silvopasture" before seeing your post, so it's interesting to learn that it helps reduce heat stress in livestock. I looked into it a little more and I found this source that expanded my understanding of this topic (https://drawdown.org/solutions/silvopasture). According to Project Drawdown, silvopasture "integrates trees, pasture, and forage into a single system," which promotes land health and carbon sequestration. Some of the drawbacks of this solution is that it is costly and takes longer to implement.

Hi Sydney, I totally agree with this. Food waste is a huge issue in highly developed countries like the U.S. where overconsumption is already a massive problem in general. Getting smaller portions of food is a good way to reduce your waste, but it also makes you take longer to eat if you choose to go pick up a second plate, which can help you listen to your body's needs better.

Hi Sydney! My mom just bought an electric car as well and she loves her car and loves not having to stop and pay for gas anymore and enjoys being more environmentally conscious by driving an electric car. I would love to be able to buy an electric car in the future or even a hybrid car. It has been crazy to me to see how many companies have started to make their own electric cars as well and this gives me a lot of hope for the future.

Hi Sydney! This was the first EcoChallenge I chose to try and I've also noticed a better overall eating experience. It seemed like such a simple change, but it's really improved how I feel after eating. I've inadvertently ended up eating less and I'm now focused on adding smaller portions to my plate. I eat at my sorority house most days, buffet-style. So it's easy for me to choose smaller portions. I can always go back for more, but I don't want to end up throwing out food if I'm too full to finish. I think eating mindfully has opened up my eyes to the portion sizes provided by restaurants and dining halls on campus. I see people throwing out perfectly good food on a daily basis, because they're full or don't have time to finish their meals. If people were able to use to-go boxes at dining halls, maybe we could eliminate some of the food waste on campus on a daily basis. People could take whatever's left on their plate to-go and save it as a snack for later, rather than just throwing it away before leaving the dining hall. If the food will be thrown out regardless, it seems to make more sense to give students the option to take their leftovers to-go. It would also be beneficial for UCLA to partner with local shelters for unhoused people. Then, the food that is thrown away at dining halls could be repurposed and sent to these shelters. While "all-you-can-eat" dining halls don't enforce portion sizes and people are free to take as much or as little as they want, they still accumulate massive amounts of waste on a daily basis. Directing even a portion of this waste to be sent to shelters or soup kitchens would make a positive impact on reducing waste and sequestering resources for those who are in need. I've started to notice all of the waste I see on campus on a daily basis, but with some changes to the structure of dining halls and the rules enforced, I believe we could start to reduce the level of food waste here at UCLA.