Norah Gidanian

"I am excited to be doing this because I feel like I havent been pushing myself enough to take action in my daily life to try to reduce my carbon footprint. I try to use recyclable bags when I go grocery shopping and my friends and I try to walk to as many places as we can whenever going out. I hope to broaden my impact by trying some of the new challenges that are listed and push myself to continue with this platform even after this course ends "

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
190 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

60

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

2.0

meatless or vegan meals

consumed

Norah's actions

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Reduce Animal Products

Plant-Rich Diets

I will enjoy 1 meatless or vegan meal(s) each day of the challenge.

COMPLETED 2
DAILY ACTIONS

Action Track: Healing & Renewal

Go for a Daily Walk

Walkable Cities

I will take a walk for 30 minutes each day and take note of the infrastructure that makes walking more or less enjoyable, accessible, and possible.

COMPLETED 2
DAILY ACTIONS

Electricity

Choose LED Bulbs

LED Lighting

I will replace 5 incandescent lightbulb(s) with Energy Star-certified LED bulbs, saving up to $14 per fixture per year.

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 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Support Local Food Systems

Plant-Rich Diets

I will source 30 percent of my food from local producers each day. This could include signing up for a local CSA, buying from a farmer's market, visiting a food co-op, foraging with a local group, or growing my own ingredients.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

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?

REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Dependable fresh food, supporting local farmers and building resilient communities are just a few benefits of local food systems. Which of these (or other) advantages inspire you the most?
Norah Gidanian 2/01/2023 10:51 AM
Last week I wanted to push myself to try something new in regards to my eating habits. My first essay focuses on the meat industry and its negative effects on the environment. After looking into all of my sources and learning more about animal agriculture, I knew that I wanted to start sourcing my produce locally and sustainably. One way to do this is to buy my foods from farmers markets. I was always aware that Westwood had a farmers market on Thursdays but never really stopped by to see what it was about. Last Thursday, I made it a point to go to the farmers market and buy some of my produce from there. To my surprise, I actually had a really great time. I got my roommates to come with me and we all bought some of our fruits and vegetables from there. All of the produce looked very fresh and it was a really fun experience to be able to walk around and look at all of the different stands. I ended up buying a ring from one of the stands as well. I really enjoyed going to the farmers market and buying my food from there will also help the environment so I hit two birds with one stone!

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- Ana Padurariu 2/01/2023 1:03 PM
  Hi Norah! I feel like there aren't too many local markets so having one in Westwood is really nice. I actually have never been to the farmer's market in Westwood either but my friend bought me some bagels from there once and they were really good. I have been to the one in Brentwood that is on Sundays and I've had some instances where I showed up near closing time and lots of vendors had their food on sale just so people would buy them so I'd recommend trying that out!
  
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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?
Norah Gidanian 1/31/2023 10:50 PM
This week I wanted to try something new and take the Bruin bus instead of Ubering to where I wanted to go. Growing up in the suburbs of New York, I always took the car or the bus to school. Whenever I got the chance to go into the city I would love walking around and getting fresh air. Going on walks is something I have made a point to do at least 4 times a week within the past couple of months. Since moving to Los Angeles, I haven't been able to walk to as many locations in comparison to New York City. I try my best to walk to locations that are nearby but unfortunately when I am going grocery shopping its not an option. Walking back with bags of groceries is something I dont look forward to doing. I recently learned about the Bruin Bus which makes multiple stops at the dorms and drives throughout Westwood. This week I took the bus to the Westwood drop off location, did my grocery shopping and took the bus back to one of the drop off locations near the dorms. Although it wasn't as convenient as getting dropped off right at my door, I was surprised to see that I actually enjoyed the bus ride and it did not take as long as I thought it would. I might start to take the bus more often!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Electricity

Changing lightbulbs is an excellent first step toward energy efficiency! What's next for you?
Norah Gidanian 1/23/2023 7:14 PM
This week I decided that I would change the lightbulbs in my apartment from incandescent into LED lightbulbs. I have been wanting to make this change for a while because it would save me money on my monthly utilities and I have been wanting to get LED lights installed because I like the lighting of it more. The color of the lighting makes the room appear brighter and has a white undertone to it making the room look cleaner. After reading about the benefits of using LED lights on the environment I sat down with my roommates and convinced them to make the switch. We ordered LED light strips on amazon and hung them all over the apartment and we no longer use the lights installed in the ceiling. Putting them up was very safe because I did not have to worry about it breaking or heating up. In addition, I like how it does not need any start up time and right as I turn it on, it is as bright as it gets. I am excited to see what other changes I can make to my apartment to contribute to making the planet a better place to live.

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- Sartaj Bal 1/23/2023 8:16 PM
  Hi Norah! This is really great to hear. Your example really shows that each conscious action can have a sustainable impact. You brought up a great point about the conversation with your roommates. All of us in this course have an interest in the subject matter and there is still so much we have to learn so for the average citizen, the learning curve must be even steeper. Communicating the benefits and accompanying information of interventions effectively is necessary for larger-scale change.
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Action Track: Healing & Renewal

What have you noticed on your daily walks? What have you enjoyed? What infrastructure changes could make your walks more enjoyable or possible?
Norah Gidanian 1/19/2023 12:30 PM
This week I decided that I wanted to take more walks around campus and try to transition from ubering to the grocery stores to walking there. I think walking is very therapeutic and I really enjoy being able to think freely and not be distracted by my phone or speaking to others. Instead of driving or ubering to the grocery store, I decided to walk back. On my walk to and from the grocery store noticed that Westwood village is actually very busy during the day and you can run into a lot of people who I would not have seen had I driven to the grocery store. I enjoyed being able to walk into different stores that I have never paid any attention to before. The freedom of being able to take a different route in order to get there and explore different areas of Westwood Village was very enjoyable to me. I noticed that the roads are very rocky and old near my apartment complex. I am very glad I took this action to take more walks and I will try to implement this in my daily life and walk to places that are within walking distance instead of ubering.

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- Nicole Muzsnai 1/20/2023 6:22 PM
  Hi Norah!
  
  I agree that walking can serve as a way to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life. I find walking therapeutic as well, and whenever I feel anxious or overwhelmed, I tend to take a walk to calm me down. It Is crazy to think about how overreliant we are on our cars and how we tend to resort to driving for convenience, like you mentioned when grocery shopping. Although it may be more physically demanding to carry heavy bags of groceries to our apartments, it is definitely worthwhile for both the environmental benefit and our well-being!
  
  I have also been making steps towards walking more everyday. For example, today I had to pick up a course reader from Westwood Village and instead of driving there, I walked. On my walk, I noticed how many cute small businesses and restaurants were around that I had never noticed before!
  
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Norah Gidanian 1/15/2023 9:43 PM
I was born into a Persian-American household where both of my parents immigrated to New York from Iran. Because of this, the Persian culture is very important to my family. One way we keep that culture alive in our household is through the Persian cuisine. More often than not, family dinner consists of a Persian dish which is largely dominated by meats and vegetables, forcing my diet to consist of many different meat dishes. In the Persian culture, it is deemed disrespectful to not eat the dishes made by your parents or to deviate from the culture which is why, growing up I consumed a large amount of meat. After moving to college, I have had more control over my diet and what I could and could not eat. Living in an apartment gives me autonomy over my food choices and I have since decreased my meat consumption and tried to be more conscious of my dietary choices. For example, this past week I have consciously made an effort to make more vegetarian meals and substituted meat for tofu. While shopping at trader joe's, I searched for vegan options and found myself enjoying the meals I made with the meat alternatives. I am excited to keep implementing this into my weekly grocery shopping habits and to continue to make meals that are more environmentally friendly. Looking back, I realize that I was consuming meat almost every night of the week, and I aim to decrease that number slowly until I can reach a point in my life where I can possibly become vegetarian.

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- CRISTIAN GONZALEZ 1/16/2023 4:04 PM
  Hi Norah! I can relate a lot to your post and I think it is awesome that you have been able to take more control over what foods you consume and that you are considering becoming vegetarian in the future. Both of my parents immigrated from Mexico and we basically eat red meat every day and a lot of our dishes contain meat. Have you tried making some of your cultural dishes into vegetarian versions? I, unfortunately, do not have a kitchen since I still live on the hill but I am looking forward to one day making vegetarian or vegan versions of Mexican dishes! Also, have you thought about how your decision to possibly become vegetarian will impact your relationship with your parents and relatives? I am struggling to figure out how to deny food from them without coming off as disrespectful or ungrateful.
  
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