Kyle Harvey

I learned a lot in just under an hour about how we waste so much energy in our daily lives just through unconscious things done around the house. Some of the most common energy wasting habits include leaving the lights on, leaving electronics plugged in, running the dishwasher half full or the laundry machine with warm water, browsing the refrigerator, and not replacing HVAC filters. Leaving the lights off was the first thing that came to my mind, and even inspired me to begin this action of researching this topic when I noticed that I unconsciously turn off the lights when I leave a room because my dad had engraved it into my habits as a kid to lower the power bill. This researched made me realize that plugged in appliances use energy even when they are off and that 90% of the laundry washer's power usage comes from heating up water for warm cycles. 90% just seems crazy to me. I also laughed because I found that every year each person spends about 10 hours browsing their refrigerator, and simply reducing this can save about 10% of the fridge's energy consumption. Lastly, as HVAC filters become clogged overtime, they begin using much more energy to pull air through the clogged filters. Replacing the filters can help address this issue.

I learned tips on how I can help reduce my own energy consumption related to those habits above. Turning lights off when leaving a room is the simplest task to begin with. Additionally, plugging appliances into power strips where they can be unplugged from easily when not in use and not charging my phone and other devices above 100% over night are good steps towards reducing passive appliance energy consumption. Running the dishwasher only when completely full and the laundry washer with cold water are major conservation steps as well. Some sources say that. making small changes to our daily lives such as these could help reduce our individual energy consumption by 25%. Not only would that be beneficial from a reducing standpoint, but this would also save money on power bills, making renewable energy sources much more feasible and cheaper. As I research more on Net-Zero cities for our writing project I learn more on how this solution is so much more dependent on the individual actions of daily citizens than it is in just reforming policies, transportation, and our energy sources.

I have attached a picture of the article below that made me aware of the habits I mentioned above.

I recently went on a trip through a non-profit organization called Global Medical Training (GMT). While I completed this action about a month ago, I felt it was extremely relevant to share as a part of this ecochallenge. I went to the Dominican Republic to help provide medical care, supplies, and advice to underfunded and disadvantaged communities. This trip was one of the most eye-opening experiences I have ever had. I had been previously educated on how access to reproductive healthcare decreases when levels of education decrease as well. The difference was that I had never experienced it first hand until this trip. I offered care to teenagers who were either pregnant or just gave birth, and that was a cultural shock to me. Many of these babies were born with defects due to malnutrition of the mother during pregnancy or the mother not having the resources to take care of an infant at such a young age. Many of these pregnancies were unplanned, and all of these issues stemmed from inequality of education, access to contraceptives, and access to affordable and productive health care. I am extremely humbled by how I was able to provide these people with resources and tips on how they can improve the conditions that they live in. These issues were prominent in the rural areas of the country, but the cities were more economically empowered and had lower fertility rates. While the experience of meeting welcoming people returning my service with smiles and "Thank You's" was very fulfilling, I think my biggest takeaway was recognizing the inequality that was present in those communities.

It is one thing to say that you acknowledge there are underrepresented communities, but to actually experience them changes the perspective completely. Much of the overuse and plowing of Earth's sustainability and resources is done by the developed communities, and it overshadows the inequalities created from it. I think it is important to go from here and what I have learned to research how our carbon footprint can be reduced while also contributing more resources to those communities that are already lacking in them. I believe that this first starts by moving towards clean energy production. Big cities and developed countries must make a large leap towards net zero efforts before giving back to under resourced communities can become effective. This is taken into consideration concerning the fact that many of these under resourced communities will be hit the hardest by the exploitative nature of these developed countries.

I have attached an image of me on my trip at one of the clinics.

I actually fixed or reported a couple leaky objects this week. First, my bathroom faucet had been leaky for the past couple days. The leak was small, but I did not realize how much water could be wasted overtime through these leaks. Luckily my roommates and I already had enough tools, due to my previous experience in construction, in order to tighten the piping with teflon tape underneath the sink. The task was quite simple and honestly pretty rewarding. Not only did I fix that, but as someone who works in UCLA Athletics, we get equipment that breaks all of the time. The sports teams use 10 gallon jugs nearly everyday to keep themselves hydrated, and more often than not the nozzles on the jugs are very leaky. While they are not continuous water sources that are leaking, a lot of water can be wasted everyday just from leaking out of the jugs. I took it upon myself to try and fix as many jugs that were labeled "leaky jug" as possible at work this week. I was able to salvage 2 of the jugs just by opening them up, taking the nozzle apart, and readjusting the rubber seal before putting it back together. Most of the time the nozzle just gets loose, and it just needs some tightening. The Drawdown Ecochallenge made me more aware of the effects that even just a leaky faucet can have in an environment where California is currently in a drought.

In order to decrease my impact on the environment, I will be more conscious of other objects in my daily life that may be wasting water and think about what I could do to help address the issue. For example, I will look out for other leaks around my apartment, and either try to fix them or report them as soon as possible. I will also look into other ways of how I can conserve water. I will research whether it is more efficient to hand wash dishes, or if my dishwasher saves more water. Not only has this action made me more aware of how water is wasted in our daily lives, but it has also made me more aware of how lucky I am to have this accessibility to clean water. It made me think back to when I had volunteered in impoverished areas in other countries, and I was recommended to only drink bottled water or how each patient at the clinics we were running consistently took parasite treatment due to drinking their water supply. The inequality on clean water distribution is a major issue.

I also attached a picture of my fixed sink with the new teflon tape that I added!

I always drove to wherever I needed to go in order to complete my errands. I always felt that walking to different places made the trip feel much longer and more cumbersome. I recently timed myself on how long it took me to walk to the grocery store instead of driving, and I realized the difference in time was negligible. I never realized how much time I spent sitting at stoplights or looking for street parking. I have made it my goal to walk back and forth to the grocery store with my reusable shopping bags, which have always saved me money from buying the single use plastic ones. It is liberating to know that small changes such as these can have such a large impact over time, so I have also made it my goal to try and carpool to further destinations with my roommates in order to reduce overall carbon emissions from multiple trips in our cars. I am also planning on recording how much money I will save every month on gas through these efforts, which is a reward in and of itself. Now that I will be walking to more places in the future, I want to pay more attention to the details of the places I pass by that I would normally miss as I zoomed by in my car, and I want to take different routes to see if I can find any new stores or restaurants that I may be interested in trying with my friends. I am excited to see how these changes will reward me!