Kyleigh Follis
POINTS TOTAL
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Kyleigh's actions
Action Track: Healing & Renewal
Eat Mindfully
I will eat all of my meals without distractions, e.g., phone, computer, TV, or newspaper.
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?
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Kyleigh Follis 3/09/2022 6:36 PMI never really gave much thought to this, but I rarely use paper anymore. I bought an ipad sophomore year of college because a lot of my friends recommended it. Best purchase ever. I basically use my ipad more than my computer. I can't remember the last time I took notes on an actual piece of paper. I don't even know where I keep pencils these days. With the ipad, I can take notes directly on lecture slides with other added benefits. I still apply the study technique of writing things out as opposed to typing them, but the ipad has more versatility. Before college I remember throwing away pounds and pounds of paper when the school year was over. I tried to recycle it if I could but honestly who knows if the paper was actually reused or ended up in the landfill. According the Environmental Protection Agency, the decomposition of paper is one of the largest contributors to methane emissions coming from landfills. It feels good to know that I've made a small impact by limiting the amount of paper I use. Another thing I do is using online textbooks when I can. Not only are these usually cheaper and more convenient than lugging a textbook around, but you greatly reduce the amount of paper that will end up in the landfill. Textbooks are almost like single use plastics. You use the textbook for one quarter and then you don't need it anymore. You can try to resell it or donate it to someone else but most often the textbook will just sit around and then you'll eventually throw it away. Online textbooks are a less wasteful option for students.
Another thing I have switched to is paperless billing. My family has stacks of bills just lying around the house. I have been unsuccessful to convince my parents to switch to paperless billing and I don't think it will ever happen but I will continue to go paperless for myself. Honestly I don't really want to get mailed a bunch of paper that I already got an email for or could just access online. It's a waste that is gonna go straight to the trash without being opened. I think that companies have done a good job encouraging the paperless option and most younger people choose this option.
Currently, I still generate a lot of paper waste because of toilet paper. I should look into a more environmentally clean option such as bamboo toilet paper or that made from recycled fibers.-
Shivangi Goswami 3/10/2022 8:59 PMHi Daisy!
Thank you for bringing up reusable menstrual products! I think one thing to be talked about is just access to menstrual products in general, and how their cost can really add up over the months. People spend around $13.25 on period products on average per month. I also found that period products result in more than 200,000 tonnes of waste per year, and they all contain plastic. In fact, pads are around 90% plastic. this was really surprising to me because I thought most period products were made out of natural cotton, but in fact, they are largely plastic and contain a lot of chemicals that aren't the best for our bodies. So one month ago, I decided to make the switch to a reusable menstrual disc, and it's been one of the best switches I've made! It holds a lot more fluid than any other product (5-7 tampons worth) so I don't have to change it basically all day which has made my periods a lot simpler, especially between classes. At first, it was a hard purchase to make because it was a lot more expensive ($24) than just a pack of disposable tampons. But now that I have this, I can use it for years to come and in the long run, have saved a lot of money, and made a healthier switch for myself and the planet. I'm attaching an image of the one I got, they also donate to reproductive health justice efforts!
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Shivangi Goswami 3/10/2022 8:48 PMHi Kyleigh,
It's interesting that toilet paper is such a significant source of waste. My family has bidets installed on all our home toilets, which aren't super fancy or anything (they were around $30 each). But they use a stream of water to do all the cleaning, so at my family home we rarely ever go through toilet paper rolls or have to buy very many. I'm always surprised at how fast we go through toilet paper in my apartment in Westwood. Also, personally I think using the bidet feels a lot cleaner! But it is something that takes some adjusting and getting used to. I wonder if it'd make a big impact if we started normalizing using bidets more -
Daisy Lookinland 3/10/2022 11:47 AMHi Kyleigh,
I loved reading this post because it made me realize that I've also been helping the environment by reducing my paper use in ways that I didn't really realize before! I was always very adamant about taking notes by hand, and would also end up having tons of notebooks at the end of the school year to either throw away or keep in a box somewhere never to look at again. I hated typing my notes because I didn't feel like I would retain information as well, but I actually ended up getting carpal tunnel syndrome in my hand from writing so much, and needed to have surgery. My physical therapist recommended getting an iPad to take notes on because it doesn't require as much force to write on by hand. I love my iPad for the reason that I can write by hand without getting carpal tunnel symptoms, but now also because I realize how much paper I've saved since switching to it!
You mentioned that toilet paper is still a big source of paper waste, and I don't think this is something that's talked about enough! One thing that I think could really help is for people with periods to switch to more eco-friendly, reusable menstrual products rather than those that need to be thrown away. I highly recommend this product for anyone interested. It not only reduces waste and saves money, but the company also donates one of their products to a girl in need whenever one is purchased, which I think is really awesome.
https://dotforall.com/empower
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Kyleigh Follis 3/06/2022 7:04 PMHey everyone, my friend just started a pilot program on campus called Cook This Kit. It works in collaboration with the UCLA farmers market and UCLA's Semel Healthy Campus Initiative Center. The program just launched last week but essentially the idea is to create cooking kits where students will be guided through cooking meals. The kits contain everything you need to make the meal: pre-measured ingredients and a link to a recipe card with easy to follow instructions. The meals consist of fresh produce sourced from local farmers, and the meals are all vegetarian. I like to think of it as a more sustainable version of meal prep services such as Hello Fresh. You can check it out on instagram @cookthiskit
