MICHAEL NGUYEN

Hi Michael! It's great to see that you enjoyed the electric bike enough to purchase one. It really is important to make the little changes that we can afford to in reducing our impact on the climate crisis. Reducing your own carbon footprint is a great start. We need to make the effort because even just setting an example on how to take tangible actions can help encourage others into following your footsteps. It's fair that you plan to reserve your bike use to shorter trips because it definitely isn't suited for that long of a commute. 

I took a similar action in which I chose not to fly in a plane for an upcoming trip. After graduation, my friends and I plan on visiting somewhere in norCal, likely San Francisco, and while taking a flight would be faster and easier, we are going to drive instead. By doing so, we reduce the carbon emissions that would have resulted in that trip. Again, taking small actions like this are important too, because not only do they add up eventually for each individual, together we can make a profound impact. 

Not only did I find myself a lot more water, which is a lot better than juice and soda, I also completely halted my plastic use of water bottles. Granted, I always recycled my plastic bottles but it was a great feeling to completely stop seeing these bottles all over my garage. 

In addition to reducing my plastic bottle usage, I also found solutions in straws. As a boba-enthusiast, I find myself drinking this delicious milk tea drink once or twice every week. Along with each of these drinks, is a long plastic straw that is used to consume both the milk tea and the black tapioca balls. The only thing is that most people do not throw away their drinks into the recycling bin but rather regular trash cans. A lot of the stores are responsible for this since they only offer regular trash cans to throw away your drink but this is also a consumer issue as we constantly use new straws when drinking items such as starbucks or boba. In order to combat this, I purchased a metal straw that can be reused by simply washing it with water and soap. Not only did I find myself reducing my plastic straw waste but I also found it to be a lot cleaner than using plastic since I was able to wash it on my own. 

These are just two simple ways that I changed up my daily routine but these will have meaningful impacts that will build upon as I go throughout my life. You have the ability to make huge changes. 

We were able to control our utility costs a lot better once we installed the nest controllers in our house as well! The older thermostat that we had installed before was very loose with its equilibrium temperature triggers and calculations, meaning that the house was under the target temperature set but the A/C was still going due to the inaccuracy. Just changing to the nest controller alone saved that aspect of wastage, as well as its learning algorithms to see when we leave the house and when we come back and what times we sleep on the app to adjust accordingly. It was a good purchase for the environment and for our wallets!

Hi Michael! First, I want to applaud you for raising $100 for such a great cause! That is such a generous donation and I can tell you put a lot into it by getting your family members and friends to help you with the donation. I think this topic of equal access to education for girls is a really important one because it is a topic that is often overlooked in today’s society. Education is such an important part of reducing climate change and global greenhouse gas emissions in line with that. Lack of access to education and information is a huge barrier to improvement not only in terms of climate change but in general as knowledge is power. In some places, systems are set up specifically to keep people in the dark in terms of access to proper education on important things that have the potential to improve their health. As you mentioned those in low-income communities and women are definitely impacted the most by worsening ecological conditions while people who are more educated aren’t impacted as much yet are contributing the most to the worsening conditions we are seeing. This is definitely systemic and ties into the fact that there are inequities not only between the rich and poor but between men and women. Neha, I also recently read an article on women being more vulnerable and also more affected by climate change. As with the information in Michael’s post this took me by surprise to know how much gender plays a role in things in our world. In my research I learned that the rich contribute the most to climate change yet are the least affected by it while the poor contribute the least to it and are affected the most. After reading your post, I made a similar connection that men generally contribute more to climate change as there are more men with money and power than women while women contribute less yet are more likely to be affected by climate change. This type of inequity in terms of risk and lack of access to education is one that starts at a much higher level such as the governmental level. Thus, action must be taken to put pressure on the systems that are set up to put women at a disadvantage and advocate for gender equity on a national or even global level.

Hello Michael,

WOW! Great job raising $100. That's truly amazing. I completely agree that it is very important for women and girls to have equal access to education because not only will this contribute to gender equality but it will also every climate change! Educated women are a force to be reckoned will and will greatly benefit our society. In addition to what you mentioned about the workforce, educated women will also be able to make more informed decisions in their lives and thus make less rash decisions. It may be for this reason that there is a negative correlation seen between education and whether women have kids.  With more education, women have fewer kids and thus, our population growth will be stunted. There will be fewer carbon emissions just because there are fewer people in the world performing actions that exacerbate climate change.  There is less use of transportation, foods, goods, and electricity etc. Likewise for my eco-challenge, I raised awareness and raised funds for malalafund which is an organization that tried to alleviate the education disparity for women around the world. I feel really bad for these women as education for me here was something I never really thought about. I took it for granted and didn't think about how difficult life would be without this education. That is why is really important that you and I are spreading awareness. I wonder why there is not as much representation and the spreading of awareness for things like this.  We need to continue to do this and possibly contact schools to spread the word as well. This disparity needs to be more readily apparent. I think we can also email state government elected officials as well to spread awareness regarding this issue. It is time to take action. The closer we get to gender equality, the closer we get to saving our earth! 

Hi Michael!

Congrats on fundraising for the Asian Pacific Fund! That’s really cool! I really enjoyed reading your post because I was unaware of the relationship between education access and worsening ecological conditions. I had previously known about how increasing access to education could lead to better health outcomes for women, but did not realize that this also relates to the climate crisis. Reading the farming example was incredibly disheartening. I can’t believe that even though the farming industry is predominantly female, they have access to fewer resources than men. It’s so frustrating! By providing equal access, companies would be able to produce more food as well as reduce emissions. I can’t wrap my head around why people would still choose not to do this. 

I recently read an article that said that women are more likely to be affected by climate change and represent 80% of people displaced due to climate change. However, women in the western world on average use 22% less energy than men. Women are more likely to make changes to their daily life in order to save energy compared to men. For instance, a women’s mosque in Uttar Pradesh, India installed solar panels in order to help improve the air quality and raise awareness about renewable energy sources. The article goes on to discuss how improving women’s representation in environmental governance can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Women continue to be underrepresented in positions of power. At the 2015 Paris Summit, only 38% of national delegates were women. The top most positions were all held by men. Thus, we need to push for gender equality within environmental governance. Given how women will be most affected by climate change, they should have more of a say in developing policies that fight it. Currently, organizations like the European Institute of Gender Equality and UN Women are pushing for gender equality. Some social groups are also pushing for quotas in environmental governance to ensure that women are included in discussions about climate change.  Active steps must be taken in order to increase women’s representation and I hope that we will be able to witness this in our lifetimes. I would love to see more women at important climate change conventions! As RBG once said, “women belong in all places where decisions are being made.”

Hi Michael! That is incredible that you were able to raise and donate $100! I did not realize how gender equity and climate change were interconnected until doing an ecochallenge from this category as well. I didn't realize that women were hit hardest by ecological issues until watching a TedTalk by Katharine Wilkinson. A trend with education is also marrying later and having fewer children. Wilkinson argues that a big part in reducing climate change could be to close the gender gap in education and to provide women with more reproductive freedoms. 

Hi Michael,

Firstly, I think it’s wonderful that you were able to extend the conversation surrounding transportation and climate change to your girlfriend. Although I do not live in Orange, California, I was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, so I can also say that the public transportation systems here are quite fragmented and “inconvenient” given the required walking distances in between transit stops. I will admit that in the past, any destination that required me to walk for more than 15 minutes would discourage me, ultimately leaving me inclined to drive my own car to certain places. However, I have pledged to challenge myself to drive as little as possible – especially for the rest of my time living in Westwood. Since my apartment in Westwood is about a 15-minute walk from Westwood Village, I have committed myself to walking (and not driving) whenever I need to make any necessary grocery or shopping trips. If there are instances where I need to purchase groceries in bulk and where walking with many heavy bags will be an obstacle, I try to coordinate my grocery trips with other roommates so that we can all drive in one car at the same time and minimize any unnecessary car trips. 

I was a bit amused when you described your girlfriend and the rest of her household as “carnivores” because that’s exactly how I jokingly refer to my own boyfriend sometimes. My boyfriend is Peruvian, and many of his favorite Peruvian dishes contain some sort of beef or other red meat. For instance, one of his favorite Peruvian dishes is called “lomo saltado,”and it contains strips of sirloin beef that are perfectly marinated and served with French fries, onions, and tomatoes. It is so tasty that it is hard to blame him for eating it so often. We went to buy lunch together this past weekend, and he once again ordered another dish with beef. I know that my boyfriend is well aware of the impacts red meat consumption has on cardiovascular health, so I asked him if he sees himself potentially eliminating red meat from his diet in the future. He responded that he will drastically cut down on his red meat consumption when he is older and that he is only trying to enjoy eating red meat while he is still “young and healthy.” In other words, his good physical health at the current moment provides him that “cushion of comfort” to still feel relaxed about eating red meat consistently. While I’m glad that he understands the health repercussions of consuming lots of red meat, I still encouraged him to cut down his current levels of consumption because it will have tremendous benefits on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. I believe the best way to have these types of conversations with loved ones is by ensuring that you highlight the benefits of making such transitions. For me, it was really important to make sure that I did not sound condescending or critical of his cultural food traditions. Instead of outright making derogatory claims that his dietary habits were bad, I applauded him for the actions he already has taken to change his diet, and I pointed out future directions he can follow to continue helping the environment through his dietary choices. I have encouraged him to join me in the challenge of eating no meat on Mondays. I personally believe that having a partner or buddy that you can complete these challenges with makes the tasks seem much less daunting. If my boyfriend and I want to go on outings where the destinations are not too far from us, I will suggest that we walk to those places instead of driving there. We are both trying to be more active, and walking to more places will definitely help us with our fitness goals! I am going to reach out to my boyfriend later and ask him to calculate his carbon footprint with me. I am very curious to see how both of our daily habits contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. As was the case with your girlfriend, I am also hoping that calculating our carbon footprints will show us how even the smallest changes in our transportation and diet choices can mitigate climate change progression. 

Overall, I applaud you for spreading this awareness to your girlfriend and her friends!

Hey Michael, 
I completely agree with what you said about the troubles it comes with, to not own a car in certain areas, as the closest bus stop to me is about 15-20 mins away, and although thats obviously doable, it does become a hassle. To compensate for this however I tend to travel with other people/peers alot more, especially recently since my car is a little run down, I decided to stop using it. So like when heading to the gym or stores I usually carpool with my girlfriend or my family and that definitely lowered my carbon footprint a good amount, with having one less family member driving a car. Also my family is also a very big carnivore eater and we eat little to no vegetables and thats definitely something we need to work and actually is in the progress of changing. 

Hi Michael, taking public transportation instead of driving can definitely be a difficult decision when there is extreme inconvenience involved. Even though we all know that traveling by car greatly increases our carbon footprint, it is very hard to change that if there are no convenient alternatives available. My research paper happens to focus on sustainable transportation so I've been able to do some research on this topic. One finding that I thought was interesting was that electricity was found to be the most efficient and feasible renewable energy source. It would be interesting to see how transportation infrastructure changes in areas like Orange County where public transportation is not readily available. Developing a comprehensive, electric public transportation system would allow for many more people to live in a more sustainable fashion by not driving personal cars around so often. 

Hi Michael,

I agree that commuting greatly increases our carbon footprint. It is difficult to avoid when public transportation is not very accessible. I think that public transportation in Los Angeles has huge potential to be improved. Installing a system similar to BART would even make a huge difference--it would reduce commute time, reduce traffic on the 405, and make public transportation more popular in general. In other cities, it is extremely common for workers to go to and from work on public transportation, but I feel like in Los Angeles people are afraid to use public transportation. Installing a public transportation system that is centered around people who have to commute to work would greatly help our climate crisis. 

My boyfriend also commutes forty-five minutes to work each day. He lives in the Bay Area and has to drive to San Francisco for work. I think it is difficult for him to use public transportation or take the ferry to work because he leaves his house around 6:00 AM each day to go to work. I am not sure if transportation is running at that time or if the ferry is open during the pandemic. While he must be in person for his job, we were discussing this weekend how we hope that many jobs that can be remote stay remote to reduce carbon emissions from people commuting. 

When I asked my boyfriend to use the carbon calculator to calculate his carbon footprint, I was surprised that the calculator did not even ask if he commuted. I expected the calculator to ask for more information about his lifestyle. 

It is interesting that you bring up how your girlfriend's family eats a lot of meat. Even dedicating one day per week as a "vegetarian day" would probably make a huge difference in reducing her family's carbon footprint. I would like to encourage my family to have tofu one night per week instead of chicken or fish. There are so many new meat alternatives that I am sure both my family and hers would enjoying having once per week. It is also healthier for us to have less meat in our diets, so that is an additional reason to reduce our meat consumption. 

Hi Michael, you bring up an interesting point about the local community being affected with travel, as the habitat damage and emissions from travelers need to be cleaned up by the locals. Although I did not change my travel plans like you did, I also carpooled somewhere I could have flown for less money, and it was a rewarding experience overall. I'm sure your trip was the same, but there were very neat unintended consequences to the road trip we did instead of the flight we took. I will heed your advice and look for places that I can vacation to that I could drive to instead of places where I need to fly. 

Hi Michael! That’s amazing that you installed a low- flow showerhead in your home. I also recently changed the showerhead in my bathroom from a high to low pressure head. I found that my water bill is also a lot less now, which is an added plus! Moreover, like you, I also spent a lot of time relaxing and reflecting on my day in the shower previously. I now try to do that elsewhere and keep my showers quite short. I have a waterproof speaker in my shower and try to limit my showers to 2 or 3 songs. This helps me keep track of how long I’m spending in the shower. 

I also have an electronic sprinkler system at my house and highly recommend it! It keeps track of how dry the soil is and adjusts the sprinkler schedule accordingly. This is especially useful because the sprinkler does not run when it rains for example. The sprinkler system is also designed to waste as little water as possible. I think it’s a great investment in the long run. 

Charlotte, I really liked how mentioned that leading a more sustainable lifestyle does require us to make some sacrifices. However, I’d like to think of these less as sacrifices and more like positive changes that I’m making to my life to do my part in the fight against climate change. As you said, a slight change in water pressure is not enough of a reason to not switch to a low pressure shower head. I agree that we are so used to certain things (like water pressure) that it may seem strange when we change them. However, given the gravity of the current climate crises, it’s imperative that we all do our part in this fight. We don’t have an infinite amount of time to fix the climate crises, it’s already all around us. Thinking about this really inspires me to make my own lifestyle more sustainable. This class has really inspired me to rethink some of my current practices. I find myself constantly thinking about how I can reduce my plastic use each day and save electricity or water. It can seem overwhelming to tackle all of these issues at once, but I hope that I can find ways to be more sustainable each day, one step at a time. 

Wow, thanks for bringing this to my attention.
When I first moved into my apartment, my mom changed our showerhead to a more higher-pressure showerhead. I didn't realize that something as seemingly insignificant as a showerhead will have so much impact on sustainability and water usage. 
Now, I'm thinking of ways to change our shower head back into a low-flow showerhead. I think this is a good example of how small sacrifices (though I would barely call lower water pressure a sacrifice) can really contribute to big differences. 
Sometimes sustainability DOES require us to make some sacrifices about the unnecessary comforts that we've grown accustomed to. But when I weigh the costs of climate damage VS the water pressure on my back, I can see quite clearly what is more important.