Karin Karam

For this week's eco challenge I chose to opt for walking to close places instead of driving like in downtown Gresham and Portland. Even though, I drive a hybrid car and it is eco friendly. When I incorporated walking, I felt more connected with my community and it was a nice workout, especially when it is nice and sunny outside. Walking reminds me of Syria, where everyone mostly uses walking as their main transportation method.

For this week's eco challenge and for my independent field trip day I volunteered with SOLVE for three hours at the Rosewood Community Food Forest Site Cleanup where we helped pick up trash and load a truck with wood logs. While it felt nice being apart of the community and helping turn an abandoned forest into a community garden forest, it was very overwhelming due to the amount of trash and old furniture thrown there. I am glad I helped out in this project!

For this week's eco challenge I decided to take little action to save water. I started taking shorter showers, I have to admit I'm someone that enjoys taking long showers, but recently I have been thinking about how much water I am wasting in the shower. So I decided to incorporate this action into my week. I have also been very alert of turning off faucets when I am not using the water like when I am brushing my teeth and washing my face. Even though these might be small habits that are very easy to adapt, but I feel like they are very effective with saving water.

Since this week's topic is food, I decided for this week's eco challenge is to pack lunch for work. I usually feel lazy to pack my own lunch, and I always end up buying food out. My excuse is I work once a week so it is not that bad. For this week, I made a sandwich and I also packed carrots and hummus dip. For some reason, it was more fulfilling than the food I'd usually buy, and it obviously was more healthy. I want to try to stick to this goal, but I know it might not be easy since I am always tight on time.

This week, I've been dedicated to practicing small yet impactful habits to save energy. Each day, I've made a conscious effort to turn off lights when leaving a room, unplug electronics not in use, and adjust the thermostat to conserve energy. Additionally, I've taken shorter showers to reduce water heating costs and tried to cut down on electronics use, such as hair tools. By incorporating these simple habits into my daily routine, I'm not only saving energy but also contributing to a more sustainable future.

For this week's eco challenge, I chose to skip the straw when I order drink. To be fair, I do not really buy drinks, but when I do I am gonna skip the straw from now on. For reference, I bought two drinks this week with no straw (I only took a picture of one of them)