Natalie Manzo-Silva

I recently gave up my car in Westwood and not only has it been cheaper for me but its also been a way in which I can say I am helping the environment. Having a car super accessible to me the past 2 years has been a really big financial problem as I spent a lot of the weekends escaping Westwood and driving a lot which meant a lot of gas and repair costs from the car accidents I had been in. Once I realized how much money I was spending monthly on insurance and gas I made the decision to drive my car back home and leave it there. Originally I was really scared for what this would mean for my mental heath as I used my car as a coping mechanism to escape whatever was going on and just driving but it turned out that giving up my car turned out to give me many more benefits than disadvantages. I spent a lot more time enjoying Westwood itself and taking a lot more walks which helped relieve stress and it also lead me to spend more time with my roomate and sisters as I started carpooling with them to places instead of all individually driving. Overall I have really enjoyed this new change and the benefits that have come with it aside from helping out the climate.

Recently I started being more aware of the daily products I use and ways in which they impact the environment. I started paying more attention to how many disposable products I used on a daily basis and realized that I was using an insane amount of paper towels and grocery bags. So I did some research and found out that there were reusable alternatives for both. As a broke college student there is some limits as to what I can opt in for but I went to ROSS and found cheap alternatives of both. I picked up some reusable paper towels that can be used for wiping down surfaces and cleaning up messes that were only $7 and came in a pack of 5 and then I also found reusable produce bags that I was able to add to my collection as I already tote bags for grocery shopping but none for produce. I also saw some reusable zip blog bags that can be used for storing produce or snacks which I ended up picking up as well. It felt good being able to make small changes to my daily life style and knowing that even if its little i'm still making an impact and helping the Earth, also its cheaper in the long run so that was a plus!

One of the things that I have been working on ever since starting my research on my essay on the impacts that livestock has on the climate crisis has been reducing the amount of meat and dairy I am consuming. I had already made the change from regular dairy to alternatives like oat milk, vegan ice cream, and cutting out cheese from my diet entirely. However, I was still eating a significant amount of beef in my diet. I went from eating beef roughly 10 times a week to 3. I did this mainly by reaching out to some of my sisters who are vegans and having them recommend alternative meals and products that they have found to enjoy. Some of the things they have recommended have been products like tofu, impossible beef, and meals full of grains and veggies. While some of the meals they recommended were not my favorite, my roommate and I made it our goal to eat out at a vegan restaurant or try a vegan meal at least twice a week instead of our usuals and one of the restaurants that I have really enjoyed has been Thai Vegan and their Pad thai dish. Making these changes have been relatively easy as I already enjoy trying new foods and it makes me feel good knowing I am making an impact on the climate crisis in the best way I can.

This month I went on vacation to Hawaii. Usually when I travel to new places or go on vacation we rent a car or take ubers to get around. However this time I encouraged my friend to take a more sustainable option so we ended up walking to most places and biking to all the other parts of the island that we were not walking distance from. I absolutely loved this and after the trip she admitted to enjoying our trip a lot more because she felt like she could enjoy the scenery so much more and take in all the beautiful parts of the island. I felt exactly the same and even found to enjoy the exercise. Throughout our entire trip we only took one uber to visit the other side of the island and opted to take public transportation back to our airbnb afterwards which was an adventure in itself. Overall, I really enjoyed all the walking, biking, and memories we made on the bus and would highly recommend it especially if you are in an area like Hawaii that makes it relatively easy to take these alternatives.

One of the things I've always struggled with has been time management. I felt like I'm always in a rush or running behind. I found myself taking an unnecessary amount of bird scooters every day just so I can be on time to class or events. I realized that this was leading to me not enjoying the present moment and always living in a state of anxiety as whether or not I was on time depended on me finding a bird. It was also a waste of money as I was spending far too much every week on them. So one thing I started doing was committing myself to plan ahead and have enough time in the day to walk everywhere I needed to for at least one day out of the week. This has been such an enjoyable and fulfilling change as I am someone who loves the outdoors and these walks have helped me appreciate my surroundings so much more. It has helped my mental and physical health and I've even noticed that on the days where I have enough time to walk I get to reflect more on whatever is going on in the present rather than rushing through everything. The walks have also started making me drive my car far less than I used to which has been another bonus.