I will eat all of my meals without distractions, e.g., phone, computer, TV, or newspaper.
COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use
Reduce Animal Products
Plant-Rich Diets
I will enjoy 5 meatless or vegan meal(s) each day of the challenge.
COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS
Electricity
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
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?
I went to volunteer at Nourish LA this past sunday. It has been a great opportunity to help out the LA community, a place which I started to value a lot more my senior year after visiting all parts of the city. All the volunteers were so friendly and everyone seemed to have a great time. After moving so much produce, I realized the amount of food waste that was coming out of grocery stores was immense. This made me much more aware about my own food waste. I found myself hoarding a lot of vegetables in the fridge that I eventually throw away after a week or two. I started planning my exact meals every week so I can buy just the right amount of groceries. I also started to take all my excess groceries and using them to cook makeshift breakfast meals (I don't usually eat breakfast).
My electricity bill has used to be a massive problem for my apartment. I attached a picture of my electricity usage ever since I moved into my apartment last year. At my peak usage, it costs us just over 300 dollars for two months. Me and my roommates then decided to make some significant changes in the way we consume electricity. First of all, we decided to minimize the use of our central ac unit. We used to have the AC constantly on, even when no one was in the apartment. Instead, we decided to buy small tower fans to cool our rooms down. It is a lot more efficient, both cooling and energy wise. Secondly, we stopped using the dishwasher. We also managed our refrigerator space so that it wouldn't be as packed and require more energy to cool the food on the inside. Lastly, one of the most obvious issues was constantly keeping the lights on. We now turn the lights off after we leave every room, we keep our living room in the dark during the day as we are mainly in our rooms anyway. As you can see in the trend, we decreased our electricity greatly from October to February (we don't count august because that was during the peak summer heat).
Hi Kevin! It's so cool that you were able to see a change in your electricity usage based on the changes you and your roommates made. In my apartment, we were also guilty of leaving the AC running for longer than necessary and having lights on constantly. Some of the changes you all implemented, we have implemented as well, and it has shown on our electricity bills. Using fans, natural lighting, and turning off any lights not in use have all become habits in the apartment, and it's nice to see how these small changes can add up. Since these changes are also relevant in everyday situations at the apartment, they are much easier to implement into your lifestyle, so its important to be mindful of them and our overall electricity consumption.
Yesterday, me and my friends wanted to go to sawtelle to eat some ramen. First, the uber prices extremely expensive (the cost of a ramen per person). After I talked to them about the small things that we can do to reduce our carbon footprint, we decided to not take our own car as well. We looked at google maps and saw that the walk was only 2 miles. We didn't have anything busy to do, so we decided to actually walk to sawtelle. It took around 40minutes, and I would highly encourage others to try it as well. It was great to unwind, slow down, and take the time to talk and relax. After that, I persuaded my roommate to start walking to his scribing job at a clinic around 30minutes away. I also started walking to the Veterans hospital for my volunteering shift instead of taking an uber. Now that classes aren't still fully in person, walking around westwood and nearby locations is a great way to stay in shape and breathe some fresh air.
I recently got two baby turtles and I couldn't stop thinking about the lasting impacts that climate change will have on turtles, especially sea turtles. One issue is that sea turtles imprint their nesting grounds location where they hatch, so they can return later to lay eggs in the same location. However, with the rising sea levels. Some beaches are slowly starting to disappear, therefore greatly affecting the reproductive success of the species. Further, one interesting fact that surprised me was that sea turtle gender is decided by the temperature of the sand. If the egg is in a cool area, then a male is hatched, while if the egg is in a warmer area, then a female is hatched. With the rising temperatures, eventually there will be a greater amount of female turtles, affecting both the diversity of the species but also the reproductive outcome as well. Lastly, with the disappearance of the coral reefs, sea turtles are having a harder time finding food sources. Save the turtles!
After calculating my carbon footprint for the past year, I got 11.67 metric tons of CO2. Compared to the average american footprint of 15.24 metric tons, my footprint is slighty lower. However, compared to the world average of 4.8 metric tons, my footprint is 2.5 larger. Three of my largest contributors to my footprint were flights, food/drink, and computer/IT with values of 4.21, 2.05, and 2.05 metric tons respectively. Because I'm from the east coast, once I'm back to the east coast after graduation, my flight footprint would be significantly reduced to around 0.5 metric tons. For food and drink, I can greatly reduced my meat intake as well as restaurant visits. Lastly for my computer footprint, I just purchased a new laptop so as long as I maintain my current equipment, I should be able to reduce my carbon.
Food, Agriculture, and Land UseReduce Animal Products
Why do people in richer countries eat more meat than people in other places? How does eating more meat affect our bodies, our planet, and other people?
People in richer countries consume more meat because they are able to afford the higher prices associated with meat. Meat is commonly more expensive than vegetables, with the price of ground beef being 4-5x more per pound. Eating red meat is a solid source of protein and vitamin B12. However, the production of red meat is extremely detrimental to our planet. Raising cattle produces enormous amounts of methane, which is a potent greenhouse gas much stronger than carbon dioxide. Further, poorly managed animal waste can lead to surface and groundwater contamination and affect the local community living nearby.
Hey guys! Just wanted to share a really easy and delicious vegetarian recipe I made recently, miso ramen with mushroom and spinach. The whole recipe took me around 15min!
Ingredients for one serving:
2 large eggs
1oz tamari soy sauce
1oz miso paste
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2.5oz baby spinach
6oz somen wheat noodles
1/4lb baby mushrooms
2 scallions
1) Boil water and cook large eggsfor 6 minutes (soft boiled), cool in ice water 2) Wash all veggies, thinly slice scallions and mushroom caps 3) Boil water and add noodles, cook for 4-6 minutes. Drain noodles and rinse under warm water 4) While noodles are cooking, add a tablespoon of olive oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and scallions, cook, for 4-6 minutes. 5) Add 3 cups of water and miso paste into the pot, bring to a boil, then let simmer for 5 min 6) Add tamari soy sauce and spinach to pot, stir until spinach is wilted. 7) Prepare bowl with noodles, broth with veggies, and soft boiled egg
I forgot to take a picture, but here's what it's supposed to look like haha.
Hi guys, I have just started to try to ease into a vegetarian diet. This decision mainly stemmed from me reading a paper, link if you're interested: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34140290/, on how red meat plays a significant role in the development of colorectal cancer. Also, I watched some documentaries on how a lot of top athletes have found a plant-based diet to greatly boost their energy and performance.
Throughout quarantine, I found myself door dashing a lot of fast food. Not only was I spending a lot of money, but I was feeling extremely tired during the middle of the day (often napped too). That's when, I decided to give a plant-based diet a try. This class has encouraged me to continue my new diet that started during the new year. I eat vegetarian meals about 5 days of the week, and found myself less tired and able to focus a lot better. Hopefully, I'm able to keep this up (my roommates don't make it easy for me) and maybe I'll share recipes I like on here in the future!
Hi Kevin! I've also tried to ease into a vegetarian diet over the past few months. The paper you shared was very interesting and eye-opening as well. In my classes, I remember reading multiple papers that discussed how much diet can affect your gut microbiome and, in turn, all aspects of your health. As research increases on the subject of diet, hopefully more and more people are encouraged to try more plant-based foods and eat red meat less often. It seems that, along with helping the fight against climate change, a plant-based diet can also have positive effects on your overall health and well-being.
As I've made the switch to eat less and less meat, I've also noticed an increase in energy levels and productivity. My body feels a lot better after these meals and it's a great peace of mind knowing that this decision is helping reduce my impact on the climate crisis. Although it hasn't been the easiest experience avoiding steaks and other forms of meat, I've found that it helps to look at recipes that are quick, easy, and cheap. I've also found that switching to a more plant-based diet makes food look much more appealing, with many more colors on your plate!
If you want to try cooking meals with less meat but don't know where to start I highly recommend Dinnerly! It's a grocery box service that I use which has really good budget friendly vegetarian meals, such as chickpea bowls or butternut squash ravioli.
