Caitlin Tanji

It concerns me how our small, individual actions are contributing to climate change, specifically relating to single-use plastics. Everywhere we look, plastics are being used and discarded. In the fashion industry, plastics are used to package every clothing item. At the grocery store, plastic bags are used for every item in the produce section. Furthermore, in my research for my bibliographic essay, I learned about the environmental impacts of food packaging, such as excessive plastic containers, bags, and utensils for take-out purchases. It is a serious concern considering the popularity of food delivery apps during the COVID-19 pandemic. With restaurants being closed or having limited seating for the past year, consumers have been more likely to order take-out. It is difficult to find food that isn’t encased in single-use plastic. And, unfortunately, there is no system in place for reusable containers to be used for restaurants due to health concerns. Although take-out is an individual experience, it all adds up. I was shocked to learn from Project Drawdown’s article on Bioplastics that “globally, we produce roughly 310 million tons of plastic each year.” This number is not solely from single-use plastics from the food industry, but we should still consider how much plastic ends up polluting our air, soil, and waterways because of our actions. I personally don’t think we can eliminate our plastic consumption in the near future so alternatives might be a more practical option. Using bioplastics, which are biodegradable and made from biomass sources, instead of regular plastics is an alternative that Project Drawdown suggested. Bioplastics are more environmentally friendly and can be used to make non-toxic shopping bags. I also learned that bioplastics do not use non renewable oils to be produced. Natural polymers from potatoes, algae, and sugarcane can be used to make bioplastics. I searched up the cons of bioplastics and found that they might not be as durable, which could limit the use. But, in general, this sounds like a great alternative, so I am curious to know what barriers exist that prevent bioplastics from gaining popularity? Overall, I found these readings to be very insightful for my bibliographic essay and for my own lifestyle! Until recently, I took advantage of Amazon Fresh’s 2-hour delivery services for groceries. However, evaluating the environmental impact persuaded me to stop. Instead, I hope to be more plastic-free by going to the grocery store and bringing my reusable produce bags, similar to what is featured in the article “Can You Imagine A Supermarket with No Plastic?” I feel guilty when I use plastic bags that will be used just to transport my groceries for a short period of time. I always carry a reusable tote in my purse now to prevent needing to use plastic bags while shopping. My goal moving forwards is to be more conscious about how much plastic each item I buy has and consider if it’s worth buying. Now, I would much rather go out of my way to find products that are more eco-friendly. I hope more stores will implement “plastic-free aisles.” I think it would be very cool to have one in Westwood and see how the UCLA community responds to it! Although that is a dream for the future, action must also be taken now. After reading the Project Drawdown articles, I went to Whole foods and Bruinwalk to talk to people within the Westwood community. I initially wanted to create a flyer to pass out, but instead I created a QR code to the Drawdown website as a more eco-friendly way to share information. The photo I attached below is me at Whole Foods (with my reusable bag!) where I talked to a few people about alternative packaging options. I hope that the people I talked with will look further into the resources and information I provided and consider reducing their plastic waste. Without a reminder, I would never stop to think about my actions, so I hope my efforts made an impact on my community members!

Since climate concern is focused on nutrition, I have been researching unsustainable farming practices. Therefore, by exploring the process of regenerative annual cropping in this ecochallenge, I was able to see the other side of organic production that reduces emissions and carbon emissions. There is a common misconception that “the world cannot be fed without chemicals and synthetic fertilizer,” which led to higher rates of runoff and overexploitation of land. However, Project Drawdown clarified that synthetic fertilizers used in conventional agricultural practices are not the only way soil is fed. Instead, regenerative agriculture improves productivity and the health of the soil. As a result of not using pesticides, using multiple crop rotations, and in-farm fertility, plants are more pest resistant and have improved nutrient intake. Using biodegradable chemicals instead would also build soil health. In addition, Jacob Shea, a UC Berkeley Graduate student, reported that the meat industry is shrinking habitats that are perpetuating extinctions. In my bibliographic essay, I wrote about the impacts of beef consumption, but did not know meat production was linked to decreasing biodiversity yet. Before this ecochallenge, I never considered the ecological impacts of my food consumption. After looking through the Project Drawdown resources, I looked into regenerative agriculture more. Regeneration International stated that a global shift to regenerative agriculture would feed the world using less than 25% of the farmland we use today, reverse climate change through increasing soil carbon stocks, nurture biodiversity, and restore grasslands that are being degraded. To me, regenerative agriculture is a win-win situation. I was curious to know why farmers do not get rid of their unsustainable techniques if there are better alternatives, especially since I was also shocked to find out that “at least 50% of the carbon in the earth’s soils has been released into the atmosphere over the past centuries.” It may be because regenerative agriculture has not proven to be profitable compared to past methods. However, seeing that regenerative agriculture leads to healthy soils without degrading the land and leads to healthier communities, I believe it is worth the initial economic cost. But, after learning more about agriculture solutions, I felt a bit unsettled. I gained a lot of knowledge of what should be done, but as an individual who is not in the farming industry, I wondered what more I could do to advocate for regenerative agriculture. Ted-Talk presenter, Charles Massy, stated that it’s up to us to love and nourish our planet to simultaneously renew human health. Just like how he had conversations with his grandson, I plan to share the information I learned with my peers and consume foods that are harvested using regenerative techniques. I talked to my friends, Daniel and Sam, about what I learned to talk about regenerative agriculture. Although Daniel, Sam, and I knew nothing about farming before, we all left the conversation feeling more knowledgeable about the issue and potential solutions.

In class, we read an article on the number of Ubers and Lyfts taken within the UCLA campus. I shared this article with my friend Sunhu. At first, he was shocked that 11,000 Ubers and Lyfts are called every week but when I told him they were only called to go across campus and not to other places out of town, he let out a huge gasp and was frozen there for a few seconds. Because he goes to UCSD, we had a conversation comparing transportation options at UCSD and UCLA. We agreed that students often value our time and comfort and neglect the environmental impact of these unnecessary trips. To follow up on this conversation, I asked him to take the carbon footprint test. I also took the test to compare our results. After adding my zip code for ‘Aiea, HI, my result jumped up to $74.23, so I was curious to know why it was so high compared to Sunhu’s zip code in Long Beach, CA. It would have been super interesting to see a map of nearby cities to compare the emissions. I enjoyed taking this test because I had to reflect on multiple areas of my lifestyle including electricity type, transportation, and food choices. It also made me think about what choices are made by me and what choices are made by my parents for me, such as electricity type and cars. At home, I thought my family tried to be as sustainable as possible. We have solar panels, an electric car, and our own produce garden. However, I noticed I excessively use my AC anytime it gets hot (my mom scolds me for this!) and we all eat meat regularly. I realized our lifestyles weren’t as sustainable as I thought! In the end, my cost was $84.74. Similarly, Sunhu got $90.36. We were both shocked by our result and immediately felt pretty guilty. On the FAQs page, Tradwater states that “our daily actions and choices lead to the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases,” which makeup our carbon footprint. Sunhu and I were shocked by how our little actions don’t seem like they add up. But, it was a good reminder of how we can reduce our carbon footprint in multiple areas of our life, not just the ones we actively try to reduce. After doing the test, we talked about our results. As college students, we live in an apartment and at home, but we calculated our results for home. We wondered how it might be different from when we live at school versus at home. We mainly talked about how difficult it is to shift our lifestyles after 21 years of living the same way, but we want to make an effort to slowly implement sustainable habits. We realize that changes to decrease our carbon footprint will not happen overnight or even within the next month. But, by acting now, we will be able to see the long-term differences. Also, we think it would be a lot easier and more practical to modify our diet first compared to changing the type of car we drive. Before we ended our call, we agreed that being aware of our carbon footprint convinced us to take more action, so we shared the link to our friends to calculate theirs too. I’m really grateful to have had this experience with my friend Sunhu because we reflected on our past actions and brainstormed how we could reduce our carbon footprint together!

It’s shocking how much land is used and wasted for human activities. However, there is an environmental cost to meet the production demands of humans. The Project Drawdown article on food, agriculture, and land use stated that “agriculture and forestry activities generate 24% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.” I found this quite alarming and wanted to immediately know what could be done to cut the emissions down. Project Drawdown advised us to shift diets to reduce the demand for food worldwide. My bibliographic essay is focused on the impact of the food industry on climate change, so it was interesting to learn how to lessen the impacts of climate change through our actions. For example, it was suggested to eat the food that is produced to limit food waste and farmer inputs. I never considered how the demand for food would affect the ecosystems and amount of land needed for food production. I believe a combination of shifting diets and agricultural practices would reduce the pressure on the land and greenhouse gas emissions. Although this is my perception of how I can shift my behaviors, I was very fascinated by the French start up’s initiative to create an environmentally friendly fertilizer made from human urine. To me, this is a very innovative alternative for farmers to use instead of pollutants like chemical fertilizers. This method would definitely require a collective effort within the community and even though this seems like a very strange tactic, I wonder if it will be a popular and cost effective practice in the future. I would love to know more about sustainable agricultural practices like these in the future! The second Project Drawdown article mentioned responses to environmental problems in international countries such as Peru, Kenya, and the Czech Republic. However, I am wondering what the United States is doing in response to benefit the land we use. I have never read an article in the news regarding this topic in the United States, so I am curious to know why it is not a major concern worth advertising? This ecochallenge was to explore other food, agriculture, and land use solutions, but I don’t know how accessible information is when it is not heavily covered in the media unless you are actively seeking the information yourself. I understand that educating myself may not have a huge difference when it comes to implementing sustainable agriculture and land practices, so I plan to educate my friends and family too. After learning more, I called my grandparents to share the information I learned. I thought it would be an interesting experience to call my grandparents because although we live in Hawai’i, I don’t think I have ever heard them talk about climate change. I wasn’t even sure if it was important to them. However, they were really receptive and intrigued! I realized that it’s not as scary as I thought to talk about issues like climate change with family members and I feel encouraged to have more conversations in the future!