Gina Maglanoc

I forgot to share this, but during one of our classes someone shared that they decided to walk to Trader Joes with a friend instead of driving, and this inspired me to do the same!

I texted a friend I haven't seen in a while, and asked her if she wanted to walk to Trader Joes with me. I was surprised that she was super happy to come along, even though we both have cars. We were talking and having so much fun that we made it to Trader Joes in what seemed like no time at all. It was also really nice to not stress about driving through the crazy overcrowded Westwood streets where cars are out to kill you and pedestrians seem to have no sense of danger. I loved not having to worry about parking too, because validating parking stresses me out for some reason. I don't know if this means I'm getting old or that my life is sad, but grocery shopping is really fun to me. Having my friend there was especially fun, since I usually go alone, and she we shared some of our favorite products and meal ideas with each other. She even brought me an insulated bag because I wanted to buy ice cream but was worried it would melt, (it didn't melt!) Though, I'll admit that I ended up buying way more than I intended to and that my bag was pretty heavy. Plus, the walk back up to my apartment was all uphill so I was huffing and puffing, but me and my friend were laughing about it and treating it like a workout! Overall, I had a great time catching up with her, plus I accomplished a chore of getting myself groceries, and I had a workout for free! All within the span of two hours. I didn't have to stress about driving, parking, or gas prices. It was really nice, and I would definitely do it again.

I was inspired by my last climate action event about sustainable fashion and I wanted to share one location on campus that is a perfect place to start! It's called Good Clothes Good People, and it's a sustainable nonprofit located in the basement of the Student Activities Center on campus (B54). They're open Monday-Friday 10am-5pm. It's funny because I go to the Student Activities Center almost everyday, and I pass by their door all the time. I'm upset that I haven't gone in sooner!

Their redistribution center is broken down into three categories: things to take, things to rent, and things to refill. Their items to take include used clothing items, which are all donated by the UCLA community! They even have shelves with sustainable hygiene products and school supplies, like reusable menstrual cups. And it's all free for UCLA students! Their items to rent are things like formal wear, umbrellas, crutches, and wheelchairs which can be rented for periods varying from 3 days to 3 weeks. You don't even have to talk to anyone, you just sign in on their iPad and check out any items you take. Lastly, they have their own refill station! If you bring your own containers, you can get free shampoo, body wash, conditioner, lotion, detergent, hand sanitizer, hand soap, and mouthwash. This is crazy to me, because refill stores are usually crazy expensive and thus inaccessible to college students. They also have an online service for students to request basic needs, which I think is amazing.

From taking this class, I've realized how awful mass production is, especially the fashion and plastic industry. However, as students, it can be difficult to make significant changes in our clothing or waste amounts that are not too costly. This is why I've started getting more into thrift stores and clothing exchanges like the one with Good Clothes Good People! I've personally found some amazing pieces at GoodWill and Tattered, and it makes indulging in my shopping desires much less guilt-inducing. I've also always loved the concept of refill stores for hygiene products, but they've always been too far away or too expensive. Now that I know there's one on campus, I'm super excited to try it out! Here is their website if anyone is interested! 

https://goodclothesgoodpeople.org/

When thinking of ways to repurpose random things you might have around the house, I realized that great places to draw attention to are wildlife centers!

I'm on the pre-vet track and I spent a lot of my time volunteering with wildlife, like the Wetlands and Wildlife Care center and the California Wildlife Center. During my time there, I realized just how far repurposed donations can go. Here are a few things that I definitely have laying around that are great to donate to wildlife centers:

1. Stuffed Animals! A lot of us unfortunately outgrow our beloved friends, but luckily they can find great homes with orphaned wildlife. I spent a lot of time in the nurseries with the orphaned squirrels and opossums, and the youngest babies are often given a stuffed animal so they feel like their mother is with them. It provides them with a little more security and warmth in a new environment! Plus, it's incredibly cute.

2. Blankets, T-shirts, Pillowcases, Towels and Newspapers! This one isn't limited to wildlife, in fact any animal care center religiously goes through blankets, T-shirts, and newspapers everyday. The common way to prepare a cage for animals is to lay down a layer of newspapers (makes it easier to clean) then a towel or blanket to give them something soft. For birds, it's a layer of newspaper then a pillowcase on top, so their feet don't get caught in the threads of a towel. Cages are cleaned at least twice a day if not more, so there is always a demand! Plus, donated towels are used to wipe down floors and counters as well. In a shelter setting, towels and blankets are used to swaddle very angry cats for vet procedures. In a wildlife setting, the towels and blankets are used to cover the face and body of every patient in order to calm them down, and pillowcases are used to get raptors out of their cages! (throwing a pillowcase over the head of a hawk helps them calm down once they can't see, and pillowcases are light enough to not weigh them down like a towel or blanket would). T-shirts are a popular choice for the opossoms, especially because they enjoy burrowing themselves under a pile of cloth and T-shirts have a lot of holes they can go in and out of. 

3. Used Mascara Wands! Certain wildlife centers accept used mascara wants - once washed and dried of course - to use to help clean wildlife. They're used specifically for the younger wildlife, like ducklings, opossums, and squirrels. The bristles of the wand are very fine and soft, making them perfect tools to get dirt, bugs, and their eggs off of these animals. I think this is a really cool way to repurpose old makeup, especially when we tend to throw everything out when we buy something new. One organization that accepts them is called Wands for Wildlife, here is their link if anyone is interested!
https://www.wandsforwildlife.org/about.html 

4. Jars and containers! Wildlife centers tend to make a lot of formulas, fluids, and other concoctions that require them to be kept in a container. I've seen tons of old baby food jars, pasta sauce jars, and food containers being used at the places I used to volunteer at.

5. Fruits and Vegetables! At a lot of these centers, the fresh produce fed to the wildlife is dependent on how much donations they receive from the public. So, if you happen to have produce that you know you aren't able to finish in time, or you happen to come across a lot of it, donate it to your local wildlife center!

*I would check with the wildlife center you're thinking of donating to if they accept the items before visiting them! 

I thought I would share one of my favorite vegan recipes: fried tofu!

Tofu is a staple in my apartment, because it's cheap and super easy to prepare. One block of tofu at Ralphs is about $3, and is even cheaper at asian grocery stores if you have one nearby. Compared to beef, tofu has more protein, less calories, less fat, and zero cholesterol. Also, organic and non-GMO tofu is usually the same price as normal tofu, meaning it won't break your bank either. Looking at the environmental benefits, going meatless for one day a week and swapping an animal protein for tofu can save 133 gallons of water for each meal and reduce your carbon footprint by 8 pounds. Let's get to the recipe!

Ingredients:
1.  Extra firm or firm tofu
2. Eggs (or Coconut Oil)
3. Panko Bread Crumbs
4. Favorite Seasonings (I use paprika, salt, garlic powder, and pepper)
4. Cornstarch

Steps:
1. Drain your tofu and place the block on a towel over a plate. Place another towel on top of the tofu and place a heavy, flat object on top of it. (I like to use a heavy baking pan or a glass container)
2. After around 30 minutes, Cut up your tofu however big you like. I like to make them bite-sized personally!
3. Set up a station of 3 bowls, one with cornstarch, one with the egg, and one with the panko
4. Add your favorite seasonings to the egg and whisk
5. Add your favorite seasonings to the panko and mix it up. Don't be shy with the seasonings at this step, this is where a lot of the good flavor comes from!
6. I like to use the wet-hand dry-hand method to coat every single piece of tofu. It takes longer this way, but it ensures that every piece of tofu will be crunchy and well-seasoned. To do this, I use my non-dominant hand for the wets (the egg or coconut oil) and my dominant hand for the drys (cornstarch and panko). Then, I cover the tofu piece in cornstarch, egg, then panko.
7. Once all your tofu pieces are covered, they're ready to fry! I've tried baking, deep frying, and air frying, and I love air frying the best. I would spray your airfryer with oil then spray the tofu pieces with a bit more of the oil. Airfry 400 for around 10 mins!
8. Enjoy! They go well with any sauce, but a few favorites are ranch, honey mustard, and sweet and sour.

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Hackett, J. (2019, September 27). How healthy is tofu? The Spruce Eats. Retrieved March 7, 2022, from https://www.thespruceeats.com/tofu-nutritional-value-information-3376923#:~:text=For%20each%20100%20calorie%20serving,firm%20tofu%20contains%2094%20calories. 

Meatless mondays: "Less meat, less heat!". Environmental Center. (2021, March 19). Retrieved March 7, 2022, from https://www.colorado.edu/ecenter/2021/03/18/meatless-mondays-less-meat-less-heat 

I've been thinking a lot more about sustainable fashion lately, and I came across something really cool: Piña!

Piña is a fabric made from pineapple fibers that is often hand woven in the Philippines. This pineapple fabric is traditionally used to make some of the most iconic pieces of Filipino, the Barong Tagalog! I thought this was especially cool, because I see Barongs around all the time (at performances, graduations, weddings etc). They're the traditional formal dress-shirt for men in the Philippines, and I had no idea they were made from pineapples. The fabric is off-white and is sheer and airy, making it perfect for the topical climate of the Philippines which is usually very warm and humid.

Something I found really interesting was that clothing from Piña is very environmentally friendly! The process of making the fabric doesn't usually involve chemicals or dyes, making it even better for the environment that traditional sources of fabric like cotton. The pineapples only take 18 months to harvest, and it's only the leaves that get used to make the fiber, the fruit itself is not even used! Another great thing about this particular pineapples is that the plants grow year-round without additional fertilizers, re-planting, land, or water, making it much easier to farm than cotton. A kilogram of leaves results in about 11 yards of piña, and it is a laborious process completely done by hand. This also means there is little waste or electrical energy required to produce this fabric.

I was completely unaware that a potential solution to unsustainable fashion lies in my very own cultural history. However, I do want to acknowledge that I was also unaware that the use of this fabric originated during Spanish colonization of the Philippines, where the Spaniards forced the indigenous populations to adhere to their standards of clothing in order to "civilize" them. Despite this history, I believe support towards using fabrics like Piña could be a step away from fast fashion, and could even bring positive attention and support towards indigenous communities in the Philippines.
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Pineapple fiber fabric. dbaTHIS.com. (n.d.). Retrieved March 7, 2022, from https://www.dbathis.com/textiles/pineapple-fiber-fabric

Stephanie Steele Tuesday. (2019, June 4). What is pineapple fibre and how do you make textiles from it? The Sustainable Fashion Collective. Retrieved March 7, 2022, from https://www.the-sustainable-fashion-collective.com/2019/06/04/what-is-pineapple-fibre-and-how-do-you-make-textiles-from-it 

I've been looking for small ways to reduce how much waste I produce, and I realized one product I use a lot are cotton rounds. I use them for makeup remover and nail-polish remover, which means I usually use and throw away at least one a day. I wanted to see how bad this was for the environment, so here are some disturbing facts I found after my research.

-Farming cotton requires a huge amount of water. One cotton t-shirt requires around 20,000 liters of water
-The chemicals used in cotton farming pollutes nearby rivers and causes health damage to local wildlife
-Cotton is the crop that is doused with the most pesticides globally, and these pesticides contaminate the surrounding environment
-Once thrown away, cotton balls are not biodegradable. They end up in landfills and microorganisms are unable to break them down
-When they end up in the environment, wildlife and pets can come into trouble consuming the cotton. It can cause intestinal blockages and end in their death.
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Rinkesh. (2021, July 3). Are cotton balls recyclable? (and are they biodegradable?). Conserve Energy Future. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/are-cotton-balls-recyclable.php#:~:text=The%20chemicals%20used%20in%20the,down%2C%20making%20them%20almost%20indestructible. 

The dark side of cotton pads. euronews. (2019, March 1). Retrieved February 21, 2022, from https://www.euronews.com/green/2018/11/19/the-dark-side-of-cotton-pads 

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I had no idea cotton was so bad, and researching this freaked me out. I looked into reusable cotton rounds on etsy, and I found a lot of them for a cheap price. Here is the link to the set I got: 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/874788781/set-of-16-organic-bamboo-cotton-facial?click_key=7dad4ad4a4917142ea4040783c4e2b8955eecce8%3A874788781&click_sum=6187383c&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=cotton+makeup+pads&ref=sr_gallery-1-1&organic_search_click=1&frs=1&bes=1

I got 16 large cotton rounds and a mesh bag to keep them in for $14 dollars. While they don't exactly feel as soft the normal disposable cotton rounds, they still work very smoothly. Unlike other makeup cloths I've used before, I don't have to scrub my face really hard to get the makeup off (Previous ones like the "magic makeup eraser" made my eyelashes fall out). They come with a laundry bag to put them in, so you can toss them with your laundry. These are also 100% biodegradable and apparently replace 16,000 disposable cotton rounds, which I thought was great. I would definitely recommend these!

I have an issue whenever I buy fresh produce; I buy a lot of it thinking I’ll eat it all, but it ends up going bad on me really fast and I have to throw a lot of it away. So, I wanted to research how to preserve fruits and veggies longer!

Strawberries 

Need:

-an airtight jar (like a mason jar, or spaghetti sauce/pickle jar)

-white distilled vinegar

-water

-kitchen cloth or paper towels

Cross, A., Cross, A. A., & Author: (2022, February 6). Strawberries in a jar - how to keep strawberries fresh for 3 weeks. The Cross Legacy. Retrieved February 20, 2022, from https://thecrosslegacy.com/strawberries-in-a-jar/ 

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Bananas

-banana hanger (available for cheap at daiso)

-beeswax food wraps or plastic wrap or foil

TodayShow. (2020, October 27). 6 easy hacks to keep bananas from ripening too fast. TODAY.com. Retrieved February 20, 2022, from https://www.today.com/food/best-tips-keep-bananas-turning-brown-ripening-t150266 

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Carrots

-a tall sealable jar

MasterClass. (2021, September 9). How to store carrots and keep them fresh - 2022. MasterClass. Retrieved February 20, 2022, from https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-store-carrots#how-to-store-carrots 

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Leafy Greens

-glass container or reusable ziplock bag

-paper towels or kitchen cloth

How to store leafy greens. Food Network. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2022, from https://www.foodnetwork.com/how-to/packages/help-around-the-kitchen/how-to-store-leafy-greens 

Mindfulness Walk:

After seeing all of our amazing class presentations today I was really inspired. With online classes, I've been struggling to get myself outside and active, as most of my days have been consisting of me moving from my desk chair to my bed. I've been unhappy about it, so I was thinking of going to one of the gyms once everything opened up again or getting a membership. But I remember Randy mentioning how he found it silly that people drove to gyms and paid to walk instead of walking places for free, and I realized he had a good point. Fast forward to today, I was sitting in front of my laptop today after about 7 hours of class and working on assignments, and my head was just about to explode from the fatigue. I was going to lay down on my bed and spend a half-hour on social media like I usually do for a break, but I thought about what I learned in class presentations. I saw that my friend posted a picture of herself going for a walk, and I decided to run down to join her, and we even got one other friend to join. I haven't seen the two of them in so long, and somehow our 40 minute walk went by so fast. It was so nice to to catch up with them, and by the time I got back to my apartment my fatigue from staring at the computer was completely gone. I even challenged myself to start taking "the longer way" when I went back up to my apartment, which basically means using the stairs instead of the elevator. I used to avoid the stairs because I live on the 3rd floor and I thought it was too much work, but honestly it wasn't bad at all. My body somehow feels much lighter and relaxed. It's been so long since I've enjoyed a walk, and I think I'll start to do it more. 

Reusable Water Bottle Recommendations

The best reusable water bottle I've found so far is under a company called Hydrapeak! They look similar to Hydroflask bottles, work just as well, and they are much cheaper. I got a 24 oz bottle that came with two lids (one to sip like a normal bottle and one to use as a straw), two straws, and a bottle boot for $17, whereas my hydroflask alone was closer to $60. I found this bottle at TJ Max and I love it.

Favorite Vegetarian Recipe!

I love using soyrizo (soy-based chorizo) because it tastes amazing and it is not expensive! Here is my recipe for a soyrizo breakfast bowl, and I’m sure the things I used can be substituted for vegan products as well. 

*the cheapest soyrizo I have found is $1.50 for a package at the 99cents store

Ingredients

-potatoes

-soyrizo

-eggs

-oil

-nonfat plain greek yogurt 

-your favorite spices

-optional cheese, hot sauce, ketchup 

Steps