Tony Nguyen

Blue and Gold Greenies

POINTS TOTAL

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0 THIS WEEK
151 TOTAL

Tony 's actions

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Reduce Animal Products

Plant-Rich Diets

I will enjoy 1 meatless or vegan meal(s) each day of the challenge.

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DAILY ACTIONS

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

More Fruits And Veggies

I will eat a heart healthy diet by adding 2 cups of fruits and vegetables each day to achieve at least 4 cups per day.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY 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

Electricity

Spread the Word about Energy Alternatives

All Electricity Solutions

I will research and tell 10 people each day about the benefits of alternative energy sources like wind turbines, solar energy, geothermal energy, and methane digesters.

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DAILY ACTIONS

Industry

Recycle Everything I Can

Recycling

Contamination prevents what is recyclable from being recycled. I will research and recycle all materials that are accepted by local haulers or drop stations in my community, making sure to not contaminate recyclables with non-recyclables.

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DAILY ACTIONS

Action Track: Building Resilience

Get Involved with a Food Waste Cause

I wanted to get involved with an organization called Nourish LA that tackles the issue of excess food waste in our local community by processing and redistributing it at no cost to anyone who wants it.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Buildings

Research Heat Pumps

High-Efficiency Heat Pumps

I will spend at least 120 minutes researching heat pumps to see if installing one makes sense for my home/building.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Healing & Renewal

Go for a Daily Walk

Walkable Cities

I will take a walk for 60 minutes each day and take note of the infrastructure that makes walking more or less enjoyable, accessible, and possible.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Transportation

Advocate For Greener Vehicles

Electric Cars, Hybrid Cars, Efficient Trucks

I will assess the vehicles used by my company or college and advocate for a purchasing policy focused on electric and fuel-efficient vehicles

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Express My Support For Walkable Cities

Walkable Cities

I will find out who in my city makes decisions that impact neighborhood walkability and express my support for better walking infrastructure.

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?

REFLECTION QUESTION
Transportation Express My Support For Walkable Cities

How could better walking infrastructure make your city both more enjoyable and more equitable?

Tony Nguyen 6/08/2023 3:04 AM

Walking around different cities across California has made me realize the stark differences in infrastructure that aid in creating a more enjoyable and safe experience. I'd like to compare 3 cities where I've noticed some interesting differences: Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and San Francisco. Of the 3, it is quite obvious to any Angeleno that their city is considerably worse of a place to walk in than most other cities. Following that, in my personal experience, is San Francisco which provides a better and safer experience, but is naturally offset by the hills that make it more challenging. Santa Barbara has been the best walking experience, where I've found myself wanting to just walk around their downtown areas unlike the other 2 cities. The city has done something interesting in the past few years, prioritizing the walker and ensuring that everyone has equal access to the streets, not just the cars. I've noticed that when cars are no where to be found in certain parts of the city, the community brightens up and everyone becomes much friendlier. I think we as Angelenos can learn from this and improve our infrastructure by creating posits throughout the city that walkers can enjoy without having to worry about being run over all the time.

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- Jonathan Tong 6/08/2023 4:29 AM
  
  Hi Tony, while I've spent most of my life in Southern California I've never really considered the differences in "walkability" between each city. I think I've always just considered all of them to be horrible for walking because of how spread out each place is. Now that I see you mention it though Los Angeles does seem to be pretty far behind. In downtown San Diego I know that they are shutting down some roads so that they can be for pedestrians only and I agree that LA could benefit from having pockets throughout the city that are like this. I also think that increased safety on streets could encourage greater use of micro-vehicles like bikes and scooters. I know that I would love to be able to ride my bike to nearby areas, but the danger that is posed from the way people drive here and how roads are constructed prevents me from doing so.
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use Reduce 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?

Tony Nguyen 6/05/2023 2:10 PM

Growing up buddhist, I never saw vegan food options as anything to be wary of. There were certain days out of the year that we had to eat vegan for some religious reason I didn't quite understand. This being the least we could do for choosing to eat meat every other day out of the year. What I noticed was that the buddhist temples always knew how to cook the best vegan meals I've ever had. Using meat substitutes made of mung bean and plant-based ingredients. I also noticed that many of the people who were eating at the temple with us were people and families that faced food insecurity. To which getting free meals was not just beneficial for them, but healthy and cost-effective for the temple cooking the meals. I think it's a bit too utilitarian to think about all this, but to me it really opened my eyes to how eating less meat effected myself and my community in so many different ways.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Transportation Advocate For Greener Vehicles

How does advocating for green vehicles in your community connect to your values? How might you be able to get others involved in advocating for the shift to fuel-efficient vehicles?

Tony Nguyen 5/03/2023 11:43 AM

As someone who loves driving and the feeling of freedom it provides me, giving it up entirely is a hard ask. I would love to try and figure out our public transit systems if it means I can be helpful towards the environment, but right now the personal benefits of owning and driving a car outweigh it. I do however drive a hybrid vehicle, which I am somewhat proud of, but it does consume a decent amount of gas. The greatest benefit I've found from using a fuel efficient vehicle is the savings whenever I need to pump gas. I don't often need to go to the gas station, as I did before with an all-gas car, but I still have to pump around the same amount, just less often. My goal is to save enough to buy an all electric car, and for everyone's sake I hope that the prices for those cars get lower so we can all make the switch.

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- Indy Bui 5/05/2023 8:36 PM
  
  Hey tony, it's great that you've been trying to be more conscious about your driving and its impacts. I do agree that its super difficult to cold-turkey quick driving, especially at our age and if you work or commute. I do think that it is a great first step to simply acknowledge the detriment that choosing to drive does, and maybe to cut down on driving just here and there. You don't need to stop driving entirely to make an impact, and simply starting to take the bus for shorter trips may be a cool idea. Once you start taking the bus I think it is pretty nice and also convenient as long as you plan ahead. Avoiding parking is always great. I also think its super cool that you are thinking about the future, and potentially getting an electric car. Props to you Tony!
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Buildings Research Heat Pumps

Why is taking action on climate change important to you? Why do you care?

Tony Nguyen 5/03/2023 11:35 AM

Taking action on climate change is important to me because it affects literally everything we do in our daily lives. I'm not one who enjoys change, similar to most people, and that includes outdoor temperatures. I've been doing some deep research into heat pumps these past few weeks. It's astonishing to see how much hotter it has gotten over the past couple years, and how my thoughts on this during the summer have been validated. Personally, I felt like my skin is roasting when I'm outdoors and it's particularly sunny. Way back then, this was not the case and at worst I would just feel a bit hotter than usual, but not fearing that I might actually burn. I think we need to have more discussions surrounding climate change because no one likes to be excessively sweating all the time, and there are serious repercussions like skin cancer and heat strokes when we get into it. I hope more people will try to learn a little bit more about heat pumps and how they can change out their home HVAC systems for something that is more sustainable and works just as well.

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Tony Nguyen 4/28/2023 5:16 PM

I've started to volunteer at this non-profit organization called "Nourish LA" every Sunday. The goal is to redistribute excess food, that would normally go to waste, to the community or anyone who needs groceries. Volunteering has made me really start to consider the amount of food that I usually dispose of or don't use, only because I am fearful of the expiration dates. My grocery shopping habits would probably be deemed wasteful by most measures, as I tend to be forgetful of the groceries that I do pick up from the store, only to be reminded by my roommates when its close to expiring. This is something that I'm quite shameful of, but haven't been able to fix. My initial intent in volunteering with Nourish LA was to just try and help out the community wherever I can, but to my surprise it ended up being an intervention for my own shortcomings. I try not to grab anything and everything I see that entices me at the grocery stores these days, only getting the exact amount I need for a recipe I'm planning to make for dinner. I hope that by continuing to participate every Sunday, I will be able to make some kind of impact on the community, even if its just enough to help the next person out who needs groceries for their own dinner that night.

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- SOPHIA KALANSKI 4/30/2023 12:50 AM
  
  Hi Tony! I also started volunteering with NourishLA every Sunday and my experience with it has been amazing. After my first time volunteering, I was shocked to see the amount of good food that could've gone to waste if it weren't for this organization and it's scary that this is happening in a lot of other places in America that don't have a similar organization that redistributes excess food. After this, I have been a lot more conscious of how much I buy at a grocery store (portions), in the sense that I don't want to contribute in wasting food or forgetting to eat something before it expires. I love NourishLA because it not only helps the environment but it also helps other people, who don't have enough money to pay for groceries, to have food on their tables .
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Action Track: Healing & Renewal Go for a Daily Walk

What have you noticed on your daily walks? What have you enjoyed? What infrastructure changes could make your walks more enjoyable or possible?

Tony Nguyen 4/26/2023 4:05 PM

Recently, I've started walking to and from class from my apartment instead of using the electric scooters, Birds, that are found everywhere in Westwood. I realized that my cardiovascular health was not as great as it could be and walking about 2 miles a day would help me work on this. UCLA is very hilly and walking, especially when you're late for class, is no easy task. I've often found myself sweaty, out of breath, and struggling to stay composed upon arrival on campus. However, I have started to notice now that the walks are more enjoyable when I plan ahead and give myself enough time to walk at a steady pace. I feel calm when I pass by plants and trees on my path, and the occasional breeze that gives me some relief. I have noticed that my walks become less enjoyable because it is usually right next to the street where cars are constantly zooming by. I think this could be fixed by adopting infrastructure ideas from Korea, where there is a clear separation between the sidewalk and streets. This is accomplished by granting equal space for both and a clear dividing line, in Korea they use rows of trees, so that walkers can walk and drivers can drive. I noticed that when I walk in places not directly next to traffic, that I become less stressed about what I am trying to do.

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- ANDY GARCIA 4/27/2023 2:37 PM
  
  I walk to and from class every day. I am very blessed that I live close enough in Westwood that this is a very easy and feasible option for me. This quarter, I have stopped wearing headphones when I walk to class so I can really appreciate the sights and sounds of my daily walks. I've really enjoyed how vibrant Westwood is and how there's always so much going on. Sometimes too much going on, though. There's always construction and it often takes up sidewalks and forces pedestrians to walk unsafely along the road with cars breezing by. I think that when construction is unavoidable, they should try to make a walking path safer for pedestrians so that we are safer and have a nicer walking experience. Maybe this would also promote more people to walk instead of taking electric scooters or cars.
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Industry Recycle Everything I Can

How could you incorporate other "R's" -- reduce, reuse, refuse, repair, repurpose, etc. -- into your lifestyle? How does considering implementing these "R's" make you feel?

Tony Nguyen 4/26/2023 12:31 PM

I'm a big snacker and as a result I produce a significant amount of single-use plastic waste. This includes wrappers, chip bags, and plastic drink bottles. While I try to limit my consumption of single-use plastic water bottles through my hydroflask, there are so many other drinks that I love to have in my life but unfortunately contribute to plastic waste. I find it quite difficult to change eating habits so I realized that the very least i could do was to be mindful of how that waste is disposed of. Recently, I've taken extra care to not just recycle everything that can be recycled, but also going another step to rinse out contaminants beforehand. I've been guilty of thinking that all I needed to do to recycle was throw everything I thought should be recycled into the recycling bin. But I've come to understand that not everything falls under the category and leaving contaminants ultimately negates the act of recycling once it hits the processing centers. Additionally, the waste that I can't recycle has made me realize how much I am contributing to the problem and forced me to reflect on what I can do to change that. I think that this is a positive change for both me and the environment, changing cheetos for carrots.

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