Alexandria Weinberger

Even though this was labeled as a "one-time action" I feel like I live these experiences every day. I read the articles from SolutionsU on "Removing Barriers for Women and Girls" and felt so seen, even though compared to many of the women narrating these stories, I am so privileged. In "How to Build a Feminist City" by Apolitical, I learned that so many of the aspects of urban life that I find normal are really barriers to women success. For example, offering bus schedules and routes centered around business times is a barrier to women who have careers and also are mothers who may need to leave in the middle of the day or travel to far places not offered by a single bus route. I had no idea that "city planning for women [therefore] encompasses everything from street lighting, transit and surveillance to the gender balance of statues in public spaces and the gender of architects working in design firms." One solution that they offered came from research in Brazil. Their results showed that "many women would choose cycling as their mode of transport for carrying out daily tasks...But, the study found, majority fo day care services, healthcare facilities and public transport stations were located far from cycling infrastructure." This calls for an increase in responsiveness to gender-related needs in terms of urban planning. They also offered other safety-related solutions such as creating "night stops" on busses in Sweden, which reduces walking time for women at night. These solutions are so mind-blowing to me because I feel as if I've never had to think about them. But in many ways, they make so much sense and I do hope they also get implemented here. I think they will be very helpful in college towns, where young women are more likely to be walking around at night. But I also hope they city-wide planning can be implemented everywhere so that young girls can grow up in less gender-biased places. 

Okay, admittedly, my apartment came with a Nest thermostat already installed in it so I didn't have to go out of my way to install one. BUT, I love it. I think having this thermostat in our apartment has made it really easy for us to keep utility costs low, since we can just set it to start cooling the apartment once it reaches a certain temperature in the room. Reading the Drawdown page on "Smart Thermostats," I actually didn't realize just how smart our Nest was until today. Apparently, it can actually learn our habits and behaviors in order to turn on heat or cooling at the best times (super cool!!). Project Drawdown believes that by 2050, "1,453-1,589 million homes would have them. Reduced energy use could avoid 7.0-7.4 gigatons of carbon dioxide emissions for an investment of $155-172 billion." While the investment amount may sound pretty high, they predict the associated return on investment to be $1.8-2.1 trillion over the homeowners' lifetimes. That's just wild to me! Not only are these thermostats more efficient, but they end up saving money in the long run and reduce CO2 emissions. 

Okay, not going to lie. I decided to do this challenge after going to eat sushi today. The link took me to the Monterey Bay Aquarium website, and the first thing it says in bold letters is "When you choose to buy sustainable food, you push suppliers to source more environmentally responsible products...Ultimately, your choices have an impact on the health of the ocean." That's pretty heavy stuff right there but so true. Out of interest, I clicked on the link to the Sushi Consumer Guide and guess whose meal choices were all listed under the "AVOID" column? Yeah, that's right, mine. It was so interesting to see that the same product could be listed under multiple columns, but specifically sourced from different locations. This really highlights the countries that work to ethically fish their produce and those that do not. Even though tuna and unagi are quite literally my favorite things ever, it looks like I'm going to have to skip out on those and save them for special occasions. Like the quote above, avoiding purchasing these unethically-sourced seafood products may eventually force the suppliers to re-think their methods in favor of better ones. Pro tip for everyone: a lot of US farmed and/or New Zealand seafood products are actually listed under the "BEST CHOICES" tab! I really encourage everyone to start looking into where their food is coming from in order be able to make the best choices for our bodies (because good quality=happy tummies) and the earth!

I think you should definitely consider what organization you are purchasing carbon offsets from, to see if they are legitimate in their purpose and actual outcomes. In the Tradewater article "Why This Work Matters Now" by Tim Brown and Gabe Plotkin, they point out that despite the knowledge that global catastrophe will occur if the temperature increases another 1.5 degrees, "we are releasing more greenhouse gases year over year, not less." This is so frustrating to hear since I know that the substantial efforts by a lot of people to reduce their emissions are overshadowed by big corporations and conglomerates that don't care about their footprints. They point out that one of the biggest problems for the depleting ozone is the use of fluorinated refrigerants, and that is why Project Drawdown "ranks increasing the control and elimination of fluorinated refrigerant gases as the number one approach to reduce global warming that we can all work on." This is why Tradewater works to collect and properly dispose of refrigerant gases so they don't have their long-term warming effects on our ozone. Recently, I ordered shoes online and the website offered me a "shipping carbon offset" option at check-out! I was so excited to actually see that option and immediately added it to my cart for the small $1.00 cost. I really hope more online sites add this option to their check-out pages from now on because it puts the option right in front of the shoppers' faces and makes them more aware of their choices!

This is so hard. The article "4 Foods that are Eating the World's Forests and How to Choose Better" by One Green Planet is so eye-opening but frustrating to see how majority of the foods I eat contribute to deforestation in some way. They highlight the 4 food groups as palm oil, coffee, cocoa, and meat, dairy and eggs. I can definitely stay away from palm oil as I have already made a conscious effort to read labels and stay away from the processed snacks that contain it, opting for alternative such as olive oil or avocado oil if possible. But I do drink at least one cup of coffee per day. They mention that the average American drinks 3 cups a day, which would require "18 coffee trees to sustain this habit." That's devastating. They advise that you can look for coffee labels with Rainforest Alliance Certification stickers (they look like a little tree frog) that signify that the farmers collecting the coffee are trained and educated to do it in the most sustainable ways possible. Once again, I imagine this might come at a higher cost per cup of coffee, but it's probably worth it in the end to make that small adjustment. The other huge one that affected me was cocoa. I looooove chocolate in all of its forms--Reeses, hot chocolate, chocolate cake, straight chocolate bars. With the increase in demand for cocoa products, they have had to develop hybrid cocoa plants that "require full sun exposure" and thus leading to "an increase in the amount of deforestation associated with cocoa." Again, searching for the Rainforest Alliance Certification on chocolate brands can assure us as consumers that the farmers use the shade-grown method, saving the forests they are farming in from destruction. In turn, this protest the wildlife that the farmers share the land with, the other plant species that also live in the  crop areas, and encourages the farmers to mitigate the use of chemicals in the crops. While these food groups are huge, I think the small conscious efforts will add up, since we truly have so much power as consumers!

We ad a lot of conversation throughout this challenge. It was exciting to see the carbon footprint number go down when we input that they purchase renewable energy and use hybrid cars, but then disheartening to see the number increase again because they all eat meat regularly. I know eating meat isn't necessarily a bad thing, only when it is done in a non-sustainable way. The Tradewater website warns that the average CO2 emissions for a single house in the US is 4.00 tons. As we were going through the prompts, I could see how that adds up quickly when you account for trips on airplanes for multiple people in a family, having multiple cars, and not using renewable energy sources for the household. I've attached the final result of the challenge. His family actually got below the average, with 3.71 tons every month! I'm going to do this for my family too and compare the results, since I know my family has a different lifestyle and priorities than his. 

I regularly use my own water bottle and often opt for drinking from it even in restaurants. I honestly can't even remember the last time I bought regular water bottles! Some other staple items that I always have on me are my reusable bamboo utensils, a metal straw, and reusable grocery bags. Some single use items that I haven't changed up are my Keurig pods. I have looked into the reusable pod, which you can just fill up with your own grounds then wash out after, but haven't purchased one yet. One thing that I really like is reusable ice cream container lids offered by my favorite local ice cream shop in Gardena (see attached image). Instead of giving completely paper or all plastic containers, they use plastic lids and request that people wash them and bring them back to be sanitized then packaged again! The shop is called Kansha Creamery, and does a lot of other cool things to encourage sustainable choices. For example, when they used to scoop ice cream before COVID, they offered 50 cents off for people who came in and brought their own bowls and spoons in order to avoid throwing away a paper cup and plastic spoon every time. In "Tips to Use Less Plastic" by the GEF, they suggest bringing your own containers for food that you don't finish. I almost never finish my meals at restaurants, but have never thought of bringing my own containers instead of using the styrofoam boxes! That seems like such a great way to minimize waste and then you can easily pack everything in your own Tupperware anyways. They also suggest to give up chewing gum, which is really just made of plastic. I didn't know this and often chew gum during midterms and finals seasons when I stress out a lot and don't want to grind my teeth. However, giving up gum would be an easy way to cut down on plastic use because you are stopping gum, but also avoiding purchasing the packaging, which is usually other forms of plastic and metal foil that can't be recycled!

Today I had to go to Ashe Center to get a TB test and I was a little crunched for time since I was coming from work and had class soon after. I decided to walk from my apartment anyways. It was so nice to be back on campus after so long; you really don't realize how much you miss the daily walks down the Hill until you don't do them anymore! Like Tamar was saying today in class, sustainability is not just for the planet, adopting a greener lifestyle also does wonders for your mental health! I'm someone who is always on the go and planning what I am going to make for dinner, what assignment I have to work or next, which lectures I have to watch, etc... It's no wonder that I'm so stressed (honestly, I do it to myself). Going on this walk forced me to forget all of that for a little bit and just get a good walk in. I focused on looking around me, recalling life on campus and walking past all of the big buildings daily. It also made me thankful for how walkable Westwood is. I only live about a block away from the Hill and it took me 15 minutes to get to Ashe. Thankfully, we don't live in a city where cars are required for most students just to get to campus. Has anyone else loved taking walks on campus recently?