Molly Jorden

For the past two weeks, I have felt a much stronger connection to the environment, which has everything to do with the EcoChallenges that I have been checking off in recent days. The “water” category under the EcoChallenge website has been particularly impactful this past week. The Hetch Hetchy Debate reading provided an insight into these challenges that changed my perspective on the importance of water, and its protection. I feel that in past years, I have taken advantage of the unlimited water resources that were available to me, however, my recent challenges of shorter showers and limiting water when brushing my teeth have made me much more conscious about why and when I use water, in addition to how lucky I am to have it. This debate really spoke to me as so many environmental causes like it are combatted for convenience. This is something that I personally struggle with, as so many of the EcoChallenges are to some point, inconveniencing. While the end result of the fight for Hetch-Hetchy was disappointing, it did shed light on why it is so important to value the future of our planet, over day-to-day convenience. This has been a large factor in what has motivated me to stay consistent in my tasks, even when they get in the way of time efficiency. The “food” category has been impactful as well. The reading from week 5; Naturally by Michael Pollan provided me with awareness of the corruption within the organic market. This made me more aware of what I have been eating and the impact my decisions have on the environment.

Reading about the historical and cultural origins of the counterculture food movement from Naturally by Michael Pollan informed me of how organic food has been a movement for longer than I had originally understood. This, in addition to the information under the EcoChallenges I have been completing, has shown me the personal impact I can make. Beforehand it was more difficult for me to understand that I could have an impact, however now I know that I am responsible for making an effort to make changes, to minimize my harmful impacts on the environment. These origins show how while thinking that a certain act (like buying organic food), has a positive impact, it can also have the opposite effect depending on its background and current corruption. This has made me significantly more aware on what brands mean when they say “organic” which has changed the way I think about many large (technically organic), brands. The challenge that has stood out to me the most in terms of relating it to conservation and the history of counterculture food has been reducing animal products in my daily meals (under the “food” category).

For the past two weeks, I have felt a much stronger connection to the environment, which has everything to do with the EcoChallenges that I have been checking off in recent days. The “water” category under the EcoChallenge website has been particularly impactful this past week. The Hetch Hetchy Debate reading provided an insight into these challenges that changed my perspective on the importance of water, and its protection. I feel that in past years, I have taken advantage of the unlimited water resources that were available to me, however, my recent challenges of shorter showers and limiting water when brushing my teeth have made me much more conscious about why and when I use water, in addition to how lucky I am to have it. The “food” category has been impactful as well. The reading from week 5; Naturally by Michael Pollan provided me with awareness of the corruption within the organic market. This made me more aware of what I have been eating and the impact my decisions have on the environment.

Reading about the historical and cultural origins of the counterculture food movement from Naturally by Michael Pollan informed me of how organic food has been a movement for longer than I had originally understood. This, in addition to the information under the EcoChallenges I have been completing, has shown me the personal impact I can make. Beforehand it was more difficult for me to understand that I could have an impact, however now I know that I am responsible for making an effort to make changes, to minimize my harmful impacts on the environment. The challenge that has stood out to me the most in terms of relating it to conservation and the history of counterculture food has been reducing animal products in my daily meals (under the “food” category).

Some barriers I might face by making these lifestyle changes permanent are the water-centered tasks. I have always struggled with wasting water, especially since I have always enjoyed a long shower. Staying consistent in my five-minute shower challenge has been difficult, however holding myself accountable has been a good step towards keeping consistent with it. I hope to continue this challenge for as long as possible, as it is something that I know has made the most impact on both my life and the environment out of all the challenges I have encountered on the website.

The readings from the earlier classes were very interesting to me, however, they came along with some discouraging facts about personal impact. The reading Does Personal Action Matter? from Climate Science, gives the insight of the gravity personal action can and doesn't have. Essentially, without fighting against corporations with more CO2 and other harmful outputs than any individual, personal action cannot matter to the degree that we think. That is why I believe it is so important that EcoChallenge has both personal and repetitive tasks, along with one time tasks that while being more difficult to accomplish, target larger goals. While I truly believe that these goals on the EcoChallenge website will make a difference, I also can recognize that the impact will not be significant if they are not carried out for longer than our class time. In addition, the responsibility for holding large corporations accountable and assisting large organizations who strive for environmental well-being seems to have the most significant impact in both numbers and public awareness. This is why I am intending to continue my EcoChallenges after this semester.

The quote from our first reading of last week “Does Personal Action Matter?” “76% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from energy (electricity, fuels, heating, etc.), which is mostly produced by fossil fuel companies and backed by governments. Indeed, around 84% of our energy comes from the burning of fossil fuels”, which makes it harder to accomplish some of the energy-conserving challenges on EcoChallenge as it motivates me more to accomplish some of the one-time actions that target larger corporations. Additionally, a quote from the reading The Crisis Here And Now, “This is why, the science says, the choices made in the next decade will define the shape not just of the near future but perhaps of many centuries to come – in this way, climate change is not just incredibly rapid but unfathomably long, the effects we produce today definitely life on earth perhaps as long as humans are around to witness and record it.” motivates to accomplish these EcoChallenges as the issues that both society and the world are facing is so urgent and requires immediate action. For example, given the reading, an action like “Donate to or volunteer for low-income solar initiatives' under the category “Energy” seems more impactful, and might have more of an impact on my ecological footprint.

The reading Averting Climate Collapse Requires Confronting Racism by Ian Haney López gave insight into the kinds of political, social, and economic drivers of the crises we face in addition to providing information into the challenges that could address said crises. For example the quote from page thirty-eight “Many worry that seeking to simultaneously address the environmental crisis, capitalism, and racism thrills activists but virtually guarantees that nothing happens to save the planet. On the contrary: enacting the Green New Deal requires addressing race, class, and climate together.” By focusing on these three topics together, we can accomplish real change. For example, the challenges “support a sharing community”, “support businesses owned by people of color”, and “support native communities” accomplish this, while providing resources to do so responsibly. In addition, from the same reading “In short, averting climate collapse requires massive government action, which depends on a wave election that breaks the GOP’s death grip on political power, which requires confronting racism as a weapon in the class war the rich are winning” (41), makes it obvious that one of the most important steps one could take to address climate change is taking into account the privilege and effect voting can have on the future of politics and in turn, racism, economic inequity, and climate issues.