Jan Semerak

This week, for our eco challenge focused on community, I was looking for a place to do my independent field trip and I found something cool on the Hands On Portland website. Every last Saturday of the month a group called Weed Warriors gets together to clear out invasive plants at Mt. Tabor Park, which is actually one of the spots my friends and I love to hang out in Portland. I thought this would be a great way to help out a place we care about and also check off the field trip for my challenge. So, I started asking around to see if any of my friends wanted to volunteer with me. While some had other plans or weren’t interested, my girlfriend is down to go and I think at least one of my roommates might come too. It know it's not a lot, but I think even three people can make a difference. It’s also a cool way for us to connect more with the community.

This week, I was able to connect our Eco Challenge with my Eco Change project, since they both focused on water.
So firstly, I shortened my shower time from 10 minutes (or sometimes longer) to just 5 minutes, which led to a big reduction in water use. With showers typically using around 2.1 gallons per minute, this saved me about 63 gallons each week. I managed this by setting a timer and taking warm showers instead of hot ones, which also saved energy.
I also made sure to do laundry only when I had a full load, cutting down my weekly loads from two to one, which saved about 19 gallons per wash.
I really think this topic is especially important as we advance since water scarcity is becoming increasingly relevant.

As a part of this week's eco-challenge, I headed to the Saturday farmer's market at PSU instead of doing my usual grocery shopping elsewhere. I’ve walked through this market a couple of times before but this was my first time actually buying anything there. I picked up bread, eggs, a lot of vegetables, and some meat, and even grabbed myself a breakfast burrito. I was especially excited about the bread because it reminded me of how bread is back home. Later, I used the ingredients to cook a dinner and it tasted amazing even though I'm not a big chef. I would say it was slightly more expensive than shopping at places like Safeway, but the quality is for sure worth it, and it feels great to support local producers. I'm pretty sure this won't be my last visit, and I'd recommend checking it out if you haven't yet.

For this week's eco-challenge I did the action called "turn it off" under the energy topic. The task consisted of turning off lights and electronics whenever they're not in use. For the most part, I managed to stick to this goal, but I noticed a few slip-ups here and there. The most common oversight was my bedroom and bathroom light. Sometimes I'd leave the room only to realize later that I hadn't turned them off. To improve, I decided to use little reminders on the doors, small notes that catch my eye, and jog my memory. I have also looked more into smart home tech to help manage this better. In conclusion, I would just like to say that this challenge has made me more aware that even small steps can lead to bigger benefits. It's rewarding to see what a difference we can make just by flipping a switch.

Hey everyone,

For this week's eco-challenge, I decided to go without buying any drinks that come in bottles or cans. I used an old plastic bottle for water instead. It's amazing how many drinks you end up buying when you don't pay attention.

Some Tough Parts
When I was in a hurry or after exercise, I missed the ease of just grabbing a drink. Plus, remembering to fill my water bottle before I went anywhere was something new I had to remember.

Good Things That Happened
I made it through the week without buying a single new drink bottle! By carrying my water bottle, I actually ended up drinking more water than usual, which is a big plus. And of course, I created less waste and even saved a bit of cash.

What’s Next
I'm planning to stick with this habit. It's a small step that makes me feel better about how I treat the environment and myself.

Thanks for reading!