Sierra Barker

This week for the health prompt I looked at the actions and decided to write three things I'm grateful for everyday. I started this today and will continue it for the next week, then I'll assess what my plan is for this action in the future. Gratitude and positive affirmations are great for improving mental health and I already do these things in my head, but putting it on paper is even more powerful. Some of the things I wrote so far were that I'm grateful for the hike we went on as a class today, because the nature was super healing and I got to feed and pet goats. I'm grateful for my partner because she's always supporting and uplifting me, and I'm grateful for the bratwurst I had for dinner because it was really good. I like that this action is simple, I'm confident that I can do it daily and it takes like no time at all. This is something my therapist has been encouraging me to do for a while too, but I've just been putting it off. This might motivate me to try journaling as well, which I've also been told is good for the mental health.

For this week's eco challenge my partner and I went to the tennis courts at the rose garden because the weather was really nice. It was great to get outside and do something active while enjoying the nature around us. A lot of the actions under this category are things I practice in my life already. For example I walk almost everywhere, and have also been trying to meditate more often. Lately I've learned a few new meditation techniques and I've been doing them when I walk from place to place and when I'm at home as well.

This week's theme is transportation, and I would say this is one of the ways I've reduce my carbon footprint the most. I don't have a car so I take public transit to work five days a week, and I live on campus so I'm able to walk to classes. My partner used to have a car, so often times if we needed groceries or wanted to get takeout from a place that was far away, we'd drive. Although about two weeks ago my partner and I got in a car crash on the freeway, and her car was totaled. It was pretty scary but luckily both of us were ok. Since then, neither of us has made unnecessary trips to get food we could easily make at home. We've been able to slow down a lot, now we either walk or take public transit to the grocery store and restaurants. Even though it took a near-death experience to help us make this change, in the end it's made me feel a lot more at peace to take my time doing things, rather than getting in a car and trying to get everything over and done with.

This week's theme was community so I decided that now would be a good time to tell my friends and family what I've been learning in this class so far, and give them suggestions about sustainable changes to make. I didn't want to be condescending about it, so I asked my friends and family what areas in their lives are the least sustainable right now, and I gave them solutions that were specific to their situation. For example my mom is really into gardening and is working on building a greenhouse, the problem for her is that soil is expensive and she uses a lot of water, so I told her to try composting and using leftover water cups (which she leaves around the house all the time) for her garden. My friend is always blasting the heat in his house, so I told him to bundle up more so he doesn't get cold. That one sounds a little more like I'm up on my high horse, but I was just being honest and the people close to me respect that.

This week our theme is water. I already bring a re-usable water bottle everywhere and only flush the toilet when necessary, so my challenge this week was shorter showers. I always struggle with this especially when I have to wash my hair because that takes a while, but these week I've done a good job of keeping my showers at around 5 minutes or less. I'm not placing too much pressure on myself to be cut off at exactly 5 minutes because that would stress me out during a time where I want to feel relaxed, but just being conscious of that goal has been helpful enough. I will continue to do this going forward, and I'm sure in a week or two I'll be used to it and it will become my new normal.

Challenge #3: This week I chose meal prepping as my eco challenge report action. I was specifically drawn to this because of how much easier it has made my life when I've tried it before. In addition to that, it's environmentally sustainable which is great. I work Monday through Friday and have the weekends off, so that's the perfect time to prep my meals for the week. I also have classes Monday through Thursday which makes it hard for me to find time to cook and eat, so meal prepping is super helpful. The first meal I made was pasta which provided me with lunch for about two days, then I made a sandwich for the day after, lastly I made some fried rice and chicken for my final lunch of the week. This helped me feel less stressed about coming up with things to eat, and it saved me money. A lot of times I'm not in the mood to cook and just end up getting takeout because it's easy but meal prepping saved me a lot of time.

Challenge #2: Lately I've been powering down my computer instead of just shutting it. Even doing it one time saves 1.1 pounds of CO2, which is a lot more energy than I would have guessed. It's a really small thing that someone can do, and it actually helps a lot. It was pretty easy to make this switch, lately I've been trying to think more intuitively and slow down my decision making process. Doing this helps me make more environmentally conscious choices overall, instead of just impulsively doing what's most convenient for me in the moment. For example, I've always been taught to think about turning off the lights when I leave a room which is another good way to save energy.

Challenge #1: This past week I purchased a reusable mop. I've been looking to make changes the amount of waste I produce and this seemed like a good place to start. Before I made this change I was using a swiffer, which required me to purchase non reusable pads for it. The mop I just purchased on the other hand allows me to take off the part that wipes the floor and put it in the washer which saves money and time. The only challenge with this was spending the money to buy the new mop, which I already did so at least I don't have to worry about that anymore. I already tried it out and it works even better than the swiffer I had before which is great.

Lately I've been powering down my computer instead of just shutting it. Even doing it one time saves 1.1 pounds of CO2, which is a lot more energy than I would have guessed. It's a really small thing that someone can do, and it actually helps a lot. It was pretty easy to make this switch, lately I've been trying to think more intuitively and slow down my decision making process. Doing this helps me make more environmentally conscious choices overall, instead of just impulsively doing what's most convenient for me in the moment. For example, I've always been taught to think about turning off the lights when I leave a room which is another good way to save energy.