Max DiCerbo

I think I chose what I assumed to be simple options in all four of those categories but as much as that may be so, it’s a lot harder to adhere to them than I originally thought. A lot of conscious effort has gone into keeping up with them which I’m proud of despite the challenges. My daily water challenge is to only flush the toilet when necessary, which is very simple right? I agree that it is but there are a few roadblocks. Auto flush has given me some issues in some toilets as well as muscle memory. If I’m not thinking, I’ll often just flush instinctively and after the fact be kicking myself that I had forgotten. Similarly, the energy challenge I chose pertains to actually shutting my computer down when I’m not using it. There are many hours the day that luckily I’m not on it but I used to typically just shut it and walk away. Despite me thinking that was shutting it down, it was still on and using energy. Similarly to flushing, it’s still instinct for me to just shut rather than taking the few extra steps to shut it down which has multiple benefits beyond just the environmental ones. My food and health challenges are somewhat linked as they both pertain to consumption. One of them is regarding vegan and vegetarian meals while my health one has to do with consumption of refined sugars. Both of these require effort to be aware of what I am consuming when and how much. It’s especially difficult due to the limited access to specific foods I have on my meal plan but it just requires some creativity. All four of these daily challenges have required me to break some sort of habits that are pretty ingrained and I perform subconsciously honestly. Due to that, it’s been hard to create a routine and it can be kind of tiring to have them on my mind often. That being said, I’m confident that if I were to continue them, new habits would be formed creating a healthier lifestyle.

I think this last week of challenges has been very fun, rewarding and surprisingly relatively simple for me. It could be the nature of the challenges that I chose but I have honestly found that the hardest part of it all is remembering to log them as completed on my dashboard. The first few days were a bit difficult as I was figuring out a routine of where to fit each challenge in but once I was able to find time in my day, I looked forward to it and it has almost become a normal part of my day. As much as the challenges that I chose are simple, they also have made me feel better mentally. It’s provided me with some time to just slow down and not think about much for a small part of the day. It surprised me how much impact even a total of the thirty five or so minutes a day can have me mentally. I’ve also found it’s a good way to connect with people. I found myself calling my parents on one of my walks one day and another, asking a friend if they wanted to join me. In both cases I felt very refreshed after both from the walk and the interactions that occurred whilst walking.

ENST 246 - Journal 2

a) I’m pretty stoked about the challenges presented in the “water” category. Despite water being a renewable resource, I think the finite amount of freshwater that we have access to is often overlooked and underappreciated so to say. While I was reading through the challenges, each one often had approximations of the number of gallons that would be saved for completing them. It really put into perspective how much of an impact something as simple as remembering to shut the sink off while brushing your teeth or installing a low flow showerhead. Other challenges from the community and food section are also exciting to me as they pertain to branching out and experiencing more of what is around where we live. The food challenges about visiting a farm or buying from a farmers market as well as connecting with a nonprofit or supporting local businesses owned by people of color emphasize the importance of connection to combating the climate crisis. I really enjoy meeting new people and experiencing new things especially in a place where I’m living so I think these challenges speak to me in that regard and excite me as they provide an opportunity to do just that. I think some of the other things in the food category relating to eating strategies would be more difficult for me. I don’t often cook for myself while I’m at school and therefore don’t always know what is being put in the foods as well as what foods I’ll have access to/be able to replace. Overall though I’m excited to use this as a way to keep myself accountable and kickstart some more environmentally mindful ways of going about my daily life.