Maria Chiappelli

This week was my favorite set of challenges. Over the past few weeks, I have learned what types of challenges have been most beneficial to my learning and engagement, so when choosing challenges for the “community” and “waste” categories, I had a good idea of what I was going to choose. I wanted to pick challenges that would force me to learn something new and make occasional habits a new norm. As part of the community challenge, I chose to help one person a day and host a documentary watch party. The daily challenge of helping people was very vague, so I made it a point to check in with at least one of my friends each day. At this point in the semester, stress levels are starting to increase, so I found that taking the time to just speak about how we are doing was a good way to help my friends and also myself. For the documentary watch party, my friends will be coming over tonight to watch one on Roe v. Wade. I think this will be a good chance to learn more about the history of the case and help us think critically about the current state of reproductive justice. The challenges I chose from the “waste” category were using reusable bags and learning about sustainable fashion. When I go to the grocery store I always try to bring reusable bags, but sometimes I forget, especially if I didn’t plan on going to the store. This challenge was a great way to turn an occasional habit into something more regular and concrete. The only store I have gone to this week was Giant, so it was easy to bring a reusable bag because a lot of people do that anyway. I would like to try another store, one where it isn’t normal to bring your own bag, and see how that makes me feel. The final challenge I did was learn about sustainable fashion. I already thrift the majority of my clothes, but it is mainly for an economic reason. Something that was obvious to me before I started researching was that thrifting helps prevent clothes from entering landfills. However, something I didn’t know was how much water it takes to process and grow cotton, so keeping clothes in use for longer periods of time can help reduce the amount of wasted resources.

Most of what I learned from the challenges is that it is really simple to make changes in my life that will reduce my effect on the environment. President Carter’s speech encouraging people to waste less energy really resonated with me in that sense. While turning down the thermostat will not solve all of our environmental problems, he pointed out some of the ways we are unnecessarily wasting resources. After reading that article, I turned down my own thermostat, because I realized I could survive with it being a little colder than what I was used to. Something else that resonated with me was Dr. Weil’s video on eating “real food.” After studying abroad in Italy, this was a topic I became interested in, and this class has made me realize that eating real food is not only good for my health, but for the environment as a whole. As far as waste goes, I was shocked to learn that “a million plastic bottles are consumed a minute,” according to Susan Strasser’s article on plastic. I knew that the amount of plastic we consumed was a problem, but never understood the degree to which we used it. Once again, this article made me reflect on my time in Italy and I realized that they do not use nearly as much plastic as we do in the United States. Even though plastic use is so normalized here and it feels like there is no way to fix it, I think we can easily transition to more sustainable forms of packaging.

The historical and cultural origins of organic food and disposability are related to the tasks in the campus eco challenge. The organic food movement began as a response to industrialization and World War 2 which contributed to what Maria McGrath refers to as the “denaturalization and commoditization of America” (3). With a new focus on natural foods, the organic food movement was pushing back against these forces. Many of the challenges from the “food” and “health” categories are in line with the values of the organic food movement including “choose organic ingredients,” “buy from a farmers market,” and “eat more fruits and veggies,” all of which put an emphasis on purchasing local, organic produce which in turn positively affect your well-being. The organic food movement also put an emphasis on the cultural meanings attributed to food. Challenges from the “community” category can help us understand the different cultural meanings through “engaging in active listening” and “supporting native communities.” Finally, the “waste” also ties back into the “denaturalization and commoditization of America” (3), because we are producing more and in turn wasting more. Challenges like “skip the straw” and “compost food waste” help us limit the amount we are wasting.

The first challenge, turning off the water while brushing my teeth, was relatively easy for me. When I was younger, my mom always made me do this, so this habit was somewhat ingrained in my routine. However, by making it a specific focus of my challenge, I became even more aware of how I sometimes use running water unnecessarily. I also started paying attention to other instances where I could reduce water, such as when washing dishes or taking showers. This small adjustment reinforced the importance of saving water in daily life.

The second challenge, turning off lights when I wasn’t using them, required a bit more effort. While I generally remember to switch off lights when leaving a room, I noticed that there were still times when I would forget. If I was in a rush or preoccupied with something else, I would sometimes leave a light on without realizing it. To help address this, I made a conscious effort to check rooms before leaving and remind myself that even small habits can add up over time. By the end of the week, this practice felt much more natural and I found myself turning lights off without having to think about it too much.

My one-time challenge, washing my clothes in cold water, was an interesting challenge. I typically use warm water for most laundry loads because I assumed this was the best for cleaning. However, after washing my clothes in cold water, I didn’t notice any difference in cleanliness. This was surprising and made me realize that switching to cold water more often could be an easy way to save energy. Unless I have something that needs to be cleaned in warm water, I will probably switch to using cold water for my laundry in the future. While I was using cold water, I thought of additional ways I could save energy while doing laundry. I typically air dry some clothing items, but since I was focused on saving energy, I decided to air dry my entire laundry load. Even though it takes much longer to air dry, I realized it is an easy way to save energy.

Overall, these challenges were relatively simple to implement and I don’t foresee any major barriers preventing me from maintaining them long-term. As long as I stay intentional about these habits, they should be easy to incorporate into my lifestyle permanently. This experience also made me more mindful of other small efforts I could adopt moving forward.

The challenges I expect to have the most significant impact on my ecological footprint are walking instead of driving and reducing animal products. Since cars release carbon emissions, choosing to walk, especially for short distances, can directly decrease my ecological footprint. On cold days, I sometimes drive to campus, but making the commitment to walking will not only reduce my ecological footprint, but improve my personal health. Another challenge I expect to reduce my ecological footprint is reducing animal products. Meat and dairy production use extensive land, water, and energy sources, so being conscious about what I am eating will reduce my carbon footprint. On the same note, I think I should educate myself on plant-based substitutes, like almond milk, that also require significant amounts of natural resources, so that I am making the most sustainable decisions.

The challenges of supporting businesses owned by people of color and volunteering in my community directly address the political, social, and economic drivers of the crises we face by fostering equity, inclusion, and community building. Supporting businesses owned by people of color is an individual way to counteract systemic inequalities. This will not only help individual businesses but contribute to a more equitable distribution of resources. Volunteering in my community also tackles social and economic disparities by addressing immediate needs and building connections. Whether it is participating in food drives, assisting with community cleanups, or another need, volunteering is a simple way to get engaged in the community.