LILY ZHOU

Ever since the beginning of this school year, I have been taking the Bruin Bus to campus since I live 30 minutes away from school walking. At first, it was confusing as I don't ride the bus prior to this year and I didn't know where to get off the bus. But after a couple of rides, I find the bus very easy and convenient to take and became my main transportation method, especially to campus. There are times when I am annoyed at riding the bus because I need to wake up a little earlier than usual to make sure I don't miss the bus I need to take or else I will be waiting at the bus stop for 15+ minutes for the next one which will make me late for class. Safety-wise, I am not too sure about the safety level of other buses, but as for Bruin Bus, I find it very safe to ride on. I remember there was a time when I had to attend a career fair starting at 6 and ending around 8:30 pm, I took the U5 back to my apartment and I didn't find the journey scary. In fact, I feel safer because my fellow peers and the bus driver are with me. 

Compared to driving, especially in LA, I find the bus more convenient and relaxing because of less traffic and I can focus on other things during my bus ride rather than on the road. When I am driving, I need to pay full attention to what's ahead of me, and sometimes driving brings the worst anger issue out of me where I get road rage when traffic is really bad. But when it comes to the bus, I can relax on the bus and sometimes do last-minute studying because I don't need to pay attention to the road. I also realized that I am saving a lot of gas money when taking the bus since the gas price is stupidly high here in Westwood. Bruin Bus is free while the Big Blue Bus is only $1 per ride. I can take the Big Blue Bus all the way to Santa Monica, and take the bus back with the fee of $2. However, if I decide to drive to Santa Monica, I have to pay for gas money and the crazily overpriced parking that costs around $25. That is way I enjoy bus and will continue to take more whenever I can in the future. 

When I was at the mall yesterday, I came across the sale section in home goods. I saw the hydro flask on sale and thought it would be better for me to use a hydro flask to carry water than regular plastic water bottles, so I bought it. After one day of use, I am a big fan of it. Not only does it help the environment by saving plastic, but it also keeps my drinks warm/ cold. When I put ice water in the bottle, the water stays cold for the whole day. And when I put warm water, the water stays warm for a long time. There is also a handle on the lid that makes it very easy to carry. I love my purchase. 

Some single-use items I regularly used before this class are straws, plastic bags, plates, and zip lock bags. However, as I learn more about the different factors that can contribute to climate change, I really want to start a change in my own lifestyle. So instead of plastic and paper straws, I bought metal straws from amazon. An issue about these metal straws is that it gets dirty easily inside and are difficult to clean. But that is an easy fix as I easily just bought a straw cleaner from amazon and clean my straw regularly. Another big change is the use of plastic bags, especially from grocery shopping. Now, I bought a reusable grocery bag that is canvas and brings those with me every time I go grocery shopping so I don't have to get plastic bags. This might seem expensive, but in the long run, I don't have to pay 10 cents for every plastic bag used in one grocery run. For plastic plates, I fix my lazy habit and use ceramic plates and just wash them after. For zip lock bags, I use them regularly to store prep groceries in the fridge to organize them and throw them away once I cook those ingredients. Now, I replace zip lock bags with glass containers, so I can use wash and reuse them again. These are my baby steps to live a more sustainable life and I can't wait to take bigger steps. 

Mindful eating is a practice that I thought I would never enjoy as I am someone who has the habit of watching something on my laptop/tv/phone everytime I eat unless I am at a restaurant. Before the challenge, I would always spend the first ten minutes or more trying to find a good show to watch while I eat. By the time I found a good show, I realized that my food had turned cold. I also don’t really look at what I am eating because my full attention is on the show causing me to always eat more than I can, resulting in me being too full by the end of the meal. 

However, I tried mindful eating today and it was honestly a really big challenge for me as I thought it was kind of boring to eat a meal alone without any shows. But besides the boredness, I realized I finished my meal faster than usual and paid more attention to what I was eating, and appreciated the food more. I thought of stuff that I would not think about before while eating such as “the tofu is seasoned perfectly” and “the kale was not chopped enough for my liking today.” I also know when to stop eating when I am full and save the leftovers for later when I get hungry again. Overall, today’s experience made me appreciate the flavors of food more and forced me to think about what I like or don’t like in my meal. At my next mindful eating experience, I would love to eat with friends or family without distractions to see if there is any difference.