Joseph Melgar-Egoavil

Journal #4:

Over the past seven to eight days experimenting with the one-time and daily challenges were genuinely fun or good reflection points to me especially during the daily walks where I found myself thinking and planning what I needed to do or just thinking of the smaller details in life that we forget to think about like “Oh I need to wash my shoes” or “I should probably drink more water”. So genuinely the daily walks have had a positive impact on my thinking but also really helped me be less bloated after having endless food at the ELC cafe. What surprised me the most about the challenge is that the one-time challenge, even though extensive and time-consuming, was very fun and gave me time to get away from the daily distractions we all have. Instead jam out to my favorite music and enjoy the walk which surprisingly brought much comfort to me since back home in Sun Valley Idaho I had the rocky mountains as my backyard and would spend much of my childhood exploring. So in other words feeling very grounded after the walk and more motivated in general to keep improving myself through the mind, body, and soul. What was surprising about the daily challenge of spending only when needed instead of when wanted was that I noticed how much I would've rather bought and tried new spots in town to eat on the daily instead of taking advantage of the unlimited meal plan and getting food there to eat or food boxes to go in case I get hungry because then I find myself just wanting to door dash anything available at the time which goes against the challenge. So I have definitely been grateful for the challenge because it has also helped me save money on a daily but also has encouraged me to eat healthier and more nutritious food at the cafe to avoid being hungry later and giving in on unhealthy snacks. Which then in turn helps reduce the amount of plastic waste I create by consuming a lot less packaged foods throughout the day. The barriers I face when making these lifestyle changes permanent would be that I would have to sacrifice the temporary discomfort of not getting what I want but at the end of the day, it pays off because then with the saved money I will be able to get what I want or go traveling or buy my mother a lunch which has further greater value than my own selfish wants. With the one-time challenge, in order to make this a lifestyle a barrier I would face is that at the moment I'm not in a place that awes me the way the Rocky Mountains did without fail so definitely would have to be the location since I do feel more motivated to go out when the scenery has you dropping your jaw. In making these lifestyle choices permanent I would say definitely will since the article of eight health benefits from being outdoors, lays out how our mental health can improve as well as our bodily functions, I for sure want to maintain it since being a boxer requires lots of stamina so an increase in the immune system eyesight and respiration are all by-products of being outside, then sign me up any day. (Swaim, 2022)

Journal 2:
Since starting the Eco Challenge I have been the most excited about the waste section of the challenge since growing up my mother always taught us to use as much as we could of our materials or food almost like a do you need it or want it sort of question. What I have been the most nervous about would be the transportation section because of the amount of enjoyment I have in driving my own vehicle. Especially since I just love to drive in general mostly manual vehicles but do understand that public transportation will limit and cut down on the amount of CO2 created by fuel-powered vehicles. I believe that the challenge that will have the most impact on my ecological footprint would be the one in the nature category and activity being supporting the local pollinators. I say this because a big problem we are facing is climate change and global warming which is mainly due to carbon emissions being released into the air by tons and mostly caused by humans. With the help of the pollinators it directly affects the biodiversity of the ecosystem around the pollinators and of course as we know, with a better biodiversity index level the healthier greener, and robust flora we have through their interconnected symbiotic relationships. With this type of biodiversity, the amount of CO2 emissions will decrease and be converted into oxygen through photosynthesis improving the air quality and making a direct impact on carbon emission in the atmosphere. I believe that if the increased quality of biodiversity happens that we will be able to prevent or slow down the worldwide effects illustrated in chapter one, “The Crisis Here and Now” that will be caused by the world warming about 2 degrees Celsius on average which when met approximately 153 million people would die from air pollution, and then having dozens if not hundreds of chain reactions around in the complex network of nature and industrialization civilization. (Wallace-Wells, pg 27-37) A daily challenge that will address the political, social, and/or economic drivers of the crisis we face would be the drive, less challenge under the transportation category because of the political weight industrialization has on policy and economic growth and of course vehicles are a huge part of this industrialization economy and drives a lot of the government goals and decisions which is bad news for nature and with driving less it is a choice of the people to not use that tool of the economy and cutting out a huge industrial driver. (Wallace-Wells, pg 3-11) This challenge also addresses the social aspect since it is a decision that you, yourself make not needing the improvement of any other person so it completely gets rid of conflict and also can be seen as a role model for other activists who want to find ways of reducing their environmental footprint. This will also address the economic aspect through the underutilization of the vehicles that were bought by consumers which when also not being used, reduces the demand for oil extraction which is a major environmental hazard and economic driver, and employers.