Gibran Hassan

Hi Gibran!
I have had roommates in the past and, at first, found it a bit difficult to talk to everyone about our expensive utility bill. Of course, this issue didn't improve until we met one night and discussed how we planned to reduce our water and electricity usage. Some of us forgot to turn the lights off when we left for class in the morning, so it would stay on the whole day when it wasn't necessary. Others would leave the sink running while they were cooking. After discussing these problems and finding ways to limit our usage, we also had a cheaper utility bill. It's essential to have such conversations with roommates and set up times when everyone can meet because we should all want to pay less for our utilities and help our environment while doing so.

Hi Gibran, I really like your post as I can relate to the big LADWP bill as well. This year, my roomates and I have made an effort to hold off on wasting electricity, but I think having a save jar is a great way to hold us more accountable. Additionally, we almost never use the heater or AC, as it is costly and not neccessary since we live in California. We often find other ways to stay warm or cool off rather than using energy. I hope to introduce the save jar in my apartment and maybe go to topgolf as well!

Hi Gibran! Your initiative of creating a compost bin is really impressive, and sounds like you all made the process easy to implement.
I do live with some roommates in an apartment in Westwood, so it isn't feasible for us to directly compost our food waste. However, we do segregate waste into recyclable and compostable waste, and the compostable ones are disposed of separate from the recyclable box.
Here are a few additional things that help me reduce the amount of food waste I throw into the trash:
1. I try not to buy more food than I need, so I always check my fridge and cabinets before I head out for grocery shopping, and make sure I'm only buying things that I don't have already and would need. This also prevents food from getting expired and spoiled.
2. I reuse some food containers; for instance, I stored almonds and pistachios in a couple of used olive bottles (which were cleaned beforehand); this way, those glass bottles find some extra use before being thrown into the recyclable waste.
3. I try to buy more whole foods such as fruits and vegetables whenever possible, since they usually don't come in any form of plastic packaging.

It is so good to be prepared and ready for a fire disaster! Living in a high risk fire area, it's so important to mitigate any potential wildfires. My community did a similar thing a few years ago after a 2019 fire and it has made all the difference! We have organized brush clean ups in our local parks/hiking trails. It's so awesome you and your dad were able to do this together!