Ella Hirata

"Coming from the Pacific Northwest, I have been fortunate enough to grow up among green landscapes, fresh air, and clean water. This community has also always emphasized consciousness of one's actions and their impact. However, I know I can be doing much more and holding myself accountable. Currently, I actively compost and try to limit the amount that I have to drive. In the future, I hope to make a greater impact by switching to a vegetarian diet and volunteering with an organization that promotes sustainability and consciousness toward the environment. "

POINTS TOTAL

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127 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

50

minutes

spent learning

Ella's actions

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Eat Mindfully

I will eat all of my meals without distractions, e.g., phone, computer, TV, or newspaper.

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DAILY ACTIONS

Action Track: Healing & Renewal

Go for a Daily Walk

Walkable Cities

I will take a walk for 20 minutes each day and take note of the infrastructure that makes walking more or less enjoyable, accessible, and possible.

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DAILY ACTIONS

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates

Reduced Food Waste

I will spend at least 20 minutes learning how to differentiate between sell by, use by, and best by dates.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Industry

Calculate the carbon footprint of my household

I will calculate the carbon emissions associated with my household and consider how different lifestyle choices could reduce our carbon footprint and our impact on the environment.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Sinks

Forest-Friendly Foods 1

Tropical Forest Restoration

I will spend at least 30 minutes researching the impact of my diet to see how it contributes to deforestation.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Reduce Animal Products

Plant-Rich Diets

I will enjoy 2 meatless or vegan meal(s) each day of the challenge.

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DAILY ACTIONS

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Support Local Food Systems

Plant-Rich Diets

I will source 50 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.

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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

Mindful eating is healthier for us than eating with distractions. How does your eating experience differ when practicing mindfulness?
Ella Hirata 2/06/2023 9:46 AM
I must admit; mindful eating was a difficult habit to implement in my daily life. On days when I feel stressed out, often scrambling to finish an assignment last minute, I am not willing to sacrifice the precious time. However, I have made a conscious effort to take the time, at least once daily, to sit and enjoy a meal mindfully, even if it is my morning coffee before class. I value the time when I can take a step back from life and reflect: how was my day, what made me excited about my day, what was maybe not so great about my day, and just generally, what has been on my mind? Aside from granting me the time and space to take time for myself, I have also found a positive impact on my relationship with food. Sometimes I cannot tell the difference between being full or still hungry with distractions around. By reducing the number of distractions, I am more in tune with signs given by my body. Additionally, in one of the articles I read regarding food waste for my paper, I have also started to take smaller portions to start as you can always go back for more. Eating mindfully has been a beneficial addition to my life which I hope to continue and integrate further, making time for myself each day.

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- Gibran Hassan 3/13/2023 8:50 PM
  I really like how you took initiative to reduce stress and distractions to increase your productivity and health. I think as a college student especially it is really hard to stay on track with healthy eating, but one thing that I have found that is really helpful is meal prepping over the weekend. It helps me unwind and also really gets me to focus on eating healthy.
  
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- Aniket Saigal 2/13/2023 3:44 AM
  This was a great read! I personally relate to mindful eating quite a bit, and have been trying to practice it over the past 2 years. Similar to your experiences, I too forged a more meaningful connection with the food I eat, by setting aside distractions such as my phone or the television as I eat. I often find myself immersed better in my meal, enjoying it even more, and often finishing it earlier compared to when I used to waste time on electronic gadgets and get distracted during my meals. I hope I can keep up this change in my lifestyle :)
  
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- Sergio Garcia 2/06/2023 11:23 AM
  Practicing mindfulness and taking a step back from our fast paced everyday lives, we will make the small minutes of peace in our day worthwhile. I have felt exhausted as of late, battling extracurriculars and maintaining a work-life balance as a full time student. It feels as though my mind is always on one thing or another, or my eyes aren't given a chance to rest before I move on to something else. But recently, allowing myself to disconnect from all screens has really been a good use of my spare time. I feel as though my days last longer now, whether that be a good or bad thing varies day by day. I also feel as though my body feels better when I step away from screens when I don't need to be in front of one. Simply allowing myself to enjoy my breakfast with no distractions or reminders of any kind allow me a form of peace I previously wasn't attaining by immersing myself in a digital world. Eating food, for example, feels as though it does more for our body, fills us up for longer, and tastes better when we become mindful of what we put into our bodies. Now, rather than instantly jumping to a screen, I feel eating can serve as my time to rest my eyes, clear my mind, and permit food to be the only thing my body is consuming at one moment. It's a deviation from my usual pace for sure, but with that has come benefits that leave me ready and able to make the most of my days.
  
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Ella Hirata 2/06/2023 9:15 AM
Consequences are an impetus for people to avoid poor habits, ultimately holding people accountable to do better. Personally, my consequence was a $600 electric bill for my humble abode, a 4-bedroom apartment, in Westwood. Comparatively, my parents pay no more than $75-$200 to supply power to the entire house. After paying my portion of the bill, and committing myself to never having to pay that much money for power again, I started to brainstorm simple daily actions that I could implement to eliminate this from happening again. Embarrassingly, I find that most of my shortcomings to conserve power come from pure laziness. Most glaringly, I am extremely guilty of leaving all the lights on in my room and leaving for class, only to find them on 6-hours later when I return home. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for my roommates and I to turn on the air conditioning when it is no more than 70 degrees outside – horrible, I know. In looking at these faults, I realize that there are simple, quick, and easy actions that I can take (and have started to) to conserve power. First, when I leave for class, I will take the extra five seconds to turn off all the lights in my room. When I am not using my desk and chargers, I will switch off the surge protector. After making my morning coffee, I will unplug the Nespresso machine. Additionally, instead of unnecessarily turning on the air conditioning when it is cold outside, I will open my window and encourage my roommates to do the same too. These actions are simple but have potential to make a large impact in terms of conservation efforts. I plan to stay accountable, hopefully curbing the negative consequences with a reduction in the bill next month.

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- Gibran Hassan 3/13/2023 8:53 PM
  That's insane! I think the fact that you realized this fact and started to make a change is key. As resources become more scarce as the climate crisis worse, it is really key that well all continue to be more cautious with our energy use and also reduce our carbon footprint and energy usage is necessary. One thank that I did is to always leave my keys by my light switch and this was I always remember to turn off my lights when I leave the apartment and my room. Also, I try to be vigilant when I'm in my apartment and I unplug unnecessary appliances that arent being used at the time.
  
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- Vincent Tang 2/06/2023 2:33 PM
  Hi Ella!
  
  I think that those are some great steps for saving power and ultimately, decreasing that electricity bill. I also used to be someone who would waste energy by using the AC or heating unnecessarily. These days, I try more energy friendly options, such as just bundling up during the winter or opening up the windows during the summer.
  There are still a lot of other things that I do that waste a lot of energy. I still occasionally leave my computer on throughout the night, if I am planning on continuing some task the next day. Thinking about it now, I could just use the sleep or hibernate options on my computer to save some energy instead of just leaving it idle the entire night.
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Land Sinks

How is your diet currently impacting deforestation? What can you do to decrease your negative impact and increase your positive impact?
Ella Hirata 2/05/2023 10:27 PM
I watched a documentary once during high school about palm oil and deforestation. Subsequently, during my next grocery run, I started to look for added palm oil in foods; it is crazy how many foods are filled with this additive! To this day, I have continued to avoid the product to the best of my abilities, although I have not investigated the other main contributors. It was shocking to hear that other central contributors to deforestation are beef and soy due to their high demand. While I cannot remember the last time I ate beef or palm oil, I do frequently consume soy. I love tofu as a meat alternative, and among the large push for transitioning to plant-based products, this makes me question if this is a positive or negative shift; perhaps in terms of soy, a little bit of both. However, most shocking was learning that coffee, cocoa, and sugar are secondary contributors to deforestation -- pivotal parts of my diet! Although these are foods I consume daily, I cannot imagine living in a world comprised of desertified, barren land, a looming outcome of deforestation. Furthermore, deforestation of these crops, has also caused harm to endangered animals by destroying their natural habitats.

I started to research alternatives for these food groups central to my diet, hoping to decrease my alarming negative impact. In terms of sugar, I can switch to other alternatives such a honey and maple syrup, hoping to help with both deforestation and my sugar addiction. Although I do not think I can give up coffee during my last few quarters of college, I hope to try other alternatives, such as matcha. I already enjoy matcha, especially for the flavor and slow release of caffeine, but it is currently not a convenient option. As the quarters get busy, I find that my main priority centers around convenience and efficiency. After graduation, with more time on my hands, I hope to make this switch alongside eliminating these other harmful products.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

How does knowing the difference between use by, sell by, and best by dates empower you to make better decisions?
Ella Hirata 2/05/2023 8:06 PM
In my last post, I talked about ways with which I try to, and hope to continue, reduce my food waste. I distinctly remember my grandma, when I was in middle school, telling me not to throw away the two-day past due carton of 2%. Skeptically, I placed the carton back in the fridge as she expressed, “That date is just a suggestion!” Even the other day, I threw away a can of beans that were past due but was questioning to my roommates, “Do these smell bad?” So, when I saw this action, I knew I had to investigate more to truly understand the meaning behind these labels, granting me the knowledge and power to make educated choices regarding, so-called "expired," food labels. Launching my investigation, I learned that best-by signifies the date correlating to best quality/flavor, sell-by refers to store inventory/shelf-life display time, and use-by relates to the date with which the product should be used for highest quality. The commonality between them all? None of the phrases relate to the safety of the product, but rather a timeline for when the products will be of upmost quality. Initially, I was shocked! To this day, I have been disposing of products which I considered spoiled, solely based on the phrasing of the language. However, now equipped with this knowledge, I will start to shift my behavior and decisions. Instead of throwing out that carton of yogurt with a best-buy date one day past, I’ll evaluate the product and save it for a snack! I will also spread the knowledge to my numerous roommates, hopefully saving me a few trips down to the trash room. Knowing this now, I believe I can continue to make conscious food decisions and efforts that result in a net reduction and positive impact.

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- JIMMY TRAN 2/14/2023 2:05 AM
  Thank you for figuring out these facts for me Ella! Literally just tonight I threw away a pack of tortillas because it said "use by" on today's date. I could have consumed that pack and avoided food waste. The new pack of tortillas I bought could have been used by another person who needed it. I threw my "expired" pack in the trash meaning that is one less pack of food that could've been donated to somewhere else. I will keep this in mind when looking at my fridge.
  
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- Sergio Garcia 2/06/2023 11:29 AM
  Knowing how to read labels found on food can enable us to purchase food more mindfully and with greater efficiency. I feel strongly that food waste is a big problem in this country, and food allocation of resources are lackluster. Provided the knowledge of how to use food labels, we may be better able to plan our our meals based on the shelf life of the produce we get for ourselves. We may also be able to plan to following trip to the grocery store, and to only buy what can be fully consumed before needing to return to the store once again. Additionally, understanding at what point food should not be eaten is essential for maintaining a healthy diet in the household. Being able to distinguish between "use-by", "sell-by" and "best-by" dates also lets us know, regardless of the type of label, which food will last us the longest. This may prevent getting a gallon of milk that expires in five days rather than 8 days, and reducing waste as a result.
  
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Ella Hirata 1/17/2023 3:13 AM
Since moving off-campus, one of my favorite hobbies has been learning to cook. I appreciate cooking for bringing people together and providing an outlet to relax and step away from other responsibilities. Each weekend, I look forward to planning my weekly menu and preparing the items for an attempted seamless and prepared week. However, on the weeks when I have not allocated sufficient time to meal prepping, I end up wasting/throwing out much of the fresh produce I had bought the weekend before. I recognize the many implications of this issue and hope to start making a more conscious effort to prevent this unnecessary waste. One way that I hope to combat this practice is through finding innovative ways of using this produce. My one roommate introduced me to her kale pesto recipe which is so simple, yet delicious. The wonderful part of the recipe is that although the kale may not be usable in other recipes (too wilted, for instance), it can still be made into a wonderful sauce for pasta, toast, etc. It keeps for an entire week (sometimes even longer!) and the kale can be substituted for whatever ingredients may be on hand, such a spinach, or combined with herbs like basil and parsley. The recipe is extremely adaptable which makes it the perfect go-to when ingredients need to be used as soon as possible. In terms of future action, I plan to become a smarter shopper and freeze ingredients for later use when I know I may not get to them during the week.

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- Serena Bhakta 1/17/2023 12:11 PM
  I completely understand this struggle! To combat this issue in my own life I try to do a number of things. My roommates and I alternate buying products that we all use. This way, we don’t end up with excess waste! Furthermore, if we do end up having to get rid of food, we put it in our compost bin which we take to the farmer’s market each week. It’s a great “last ditch effort” to make use out of food that would have been wasted (it’s also really easy!). Thanks for your insight! I will definitely be trying out that kale pesto recipe to make use up my wilting greens!
  
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- Chloe Reese 1/17/2023 8:57 AM
  I struggle with this too! Meal prepping is a great way to reduce food waste. What has helped me make my produce last longer are simple tricks such as when fruits such as pineapple, mango, or avocado are ripe I put them in the fridge which makes them ripen slower. When fruits or vegetables are about to go bad I cut them up and put them into the freezer so that I can use them at a later time for smoothies.
  
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