Taiya Essex

Capstone spring 2025

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
76 THIS WEEK
220 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

0.2

pounds

food waste prevented
UP TO

2.6

pounds of CO2

have been saved
UP TO

0.4

pounds

waste composted
UP TO

56

gallons of water

have been saved

Taiya's actions

Food

Weekly Meal Planning

I will reduce food waste and save money by planning a weekly menu, only buying the ingredients I need.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Water

Conserve Toilet Water

I will save up to 12 gallons (45 L) of water a day by flushing only when necessary.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Water

Brush My Teeth Without Running Water

I will save up to 8 gallons (30 L) of water each day by turning it off while brushing my teeth.

COMPLETED 2
DAILY ACTIONS

Water

5-Minute Showers

I will save up to 20 gallons (75 L) of water each day by taking 5-minute showers.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Waste

Compost Food Waste

I will avoid sending up to .42 lbs (.19 kg) of food waste to the landfill each day by composting my food or learning how to.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Energy

Turn it off

I will keep lights, electronics, and appliances turned off when not using them.

COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS

Energy

Power Down the Computer

I will power down my computer and monitor when not using it for more than 2 hours, saving up to (1.1) lbs of CO2 each day that I do this.

COMPLETED 2
DAILY ACTIONS

Participant Feed

Reflection, encouragement, and relationship building are all important aspects of getting a new habit to stick.
Share thoughts, encourage others, and reinforce positive new habits on the Feed.

To get started, share “your why.” Why did you join the challenge and choose the actions you did?

Taiya Essex 5/05/2025 1:54 PM
This week I decided to do several actions related to water to reduce my overall use. I realized how much water goes into everything, the food I consume, the products I use including materials/clothing and plastic products: it’s been very eye opening and it’s concerning how much water is wasted every day. I tried to conserve toliet water and only flush when necessary. This was difficult because I didn’t want to leave anything in the toliet, but I tried to as often as possible. I also didn’t run water while I was brushing my teeth and cleaning, only turning on the tap when necessary. I took shorter showers and limited them to a few less days a week than usual. I hope these things can help conserve water and I will continue to do so to try and conserve how much water I use, at least I will be mindful.

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- Amy Minato 5/06/2025 1:13 PM
  - TEAM CAPTAIN
  you can place a brick in your toilet tank to use less water per flush.
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food

An average American throws out about 240 lbs of food per year. The average family of four in the US spends $1,500 a year on food that they throw out. Does this surprise you? Where would you rather use this money?
Taiya Essex 4/27/2025 3:11 PM
Honestly this doesn't surprise me, as growing up my family wasted a lot of food (they weren't fans of leftovers for the most part) and a lot of people don't know how to only buy enough ingredients for their meal to ensure it won't get wasted. Sometimes I think people plan meals and never make them which results in waste. Being more educated on meal planning and understanding the impact of food waste may help people reduce their impact and also save money. I would rather use this money on more important things, or activities I can do with family. I could also use this money to donate to sustainability foundations. Or pay a months rent. People can be very wasteful without even realizing.

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- Amy Minato 4/30/2025 7:57 PM
  
  TEAM CAPTAIN
  i think the answer for many of these issues is just to be more mindful in general...
  
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- Ava Miel 4/27/2025 10:39 PM
  Hi Taiya, I agree with what you say about people having the goal to meal plan but then don't follow through for whatever reason. I have been guilty of this many times. Like this week's session also mused, I think people want to eat better and have the discipline of pre-prepped meals because it is better for you, but life gets in the way and many people find comfort in eating foods that have lots of sugar, fat, and salt. I think that a cultural or mental change, like how else you could spend the money that is spent on food that is never eaten, would be a good way to deter people from doing this as much in the future. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
  
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Taiya Essex 4/20/2025 7:19 PM
This week, I decided Turn It Off (when not in use). I researched some of the ways to save energy in your home by looking at PGE’s website, which offers ways to reduce energy waste around your home. I try to keep everything off when I am not using it, sometimes I use the heaters/AC so this week I made sure to not turn them on. I also made sure to always power down the computer when not in use. I went around and unplugged things that are just plugged in, such as chargers and gaming consoles that aren’t in use. Since the days are becoming longer, I don’t turn on lamps except in the early morning or when it gets dark. Maybe I will invest in LED light bulbs which save energy.
I also tried to use less appliances when cooking. Sometimes, I use multiple appliances at once but I am going to try and maximize their use to only one at a time and perhaps try making more cold things so I don’t have to turn on the oven as often. I also changed the settings on the dishwasher and wash machine to ‘cold’ and I am only going to run them when completely full. The biggest challenge with turning everything off was that it takes a few extra minutes before I leave to make sure I unplug everything, then of course when I need to use something it takes a moment to plug it back in. It’s not that big of a deal and I’m going to try and make sure I unplug things I’m not using and always turn off lights and other appliances when I’m not using them.

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- Amy Minato 4/22/2025 10:32 AM
  - TEAM CAPTAIN
  power strips make it easy to turn stuff off. We got a small convection oven and never need to use the big range.
  
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Taiya Essex 4/13/2025 11:16 AM
For this week’s challenge to reduce waste, I decided to research composting in Beaverton. Since I live in an apartment building, I am not eligible for curbside pickup of compostables, yard debris and recycling. I think a lot of people who want to compost (but aren’t necessarily using the compost themselves) can understand. What should I do with my compost if I don’t have a yard? The point of composting is to reduce food waste by recycling the nutrients and using it to feed soil. I want to start a herb garden but it won’t be large enough. I decided to walk around my community and see if there are any nearby composting bins I could use, but I had no luck even at the community garden.
In preparation for composting, I went through my fridge to see if I had anything compostable I needed to throw out. Since I’m vegetarian, there was a decent amount of old produce and leftovers from the past week or so. I was surprised by the amount of waste, and I definitely want to reduce this in the future by trying things like meal prepping to ensure everything gets eaten/I don’t purchase a surplus that will go bad and get thrown away. I think I may not be able to compost everything as I live in a small space, but I prepared my garden space and was able to use some of the compost and save it from adding waste. I will keep searching for ways to reduce my waste.

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- Amy Minato 4/14/2025 5:13 PM
  - TEAM CAPTAIN
  too bad Beaverton doesn't pick up compost in apartment complexes!
  
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- Lally Pollen 4/14/2025 8:30 AM
  Hi Taiya, I came across a trick for vegetable leftovers not too long ago, that you might find useful, from @spicyoustache (short format videos on IG or here is his website https://spicymoustache.com/blog/). It involves collecting all the cut offs from vegetables, skin peals, tops and ends etc, and keeping them in freezer til you have a good amount. These can then be used to make great vegetable stock, both in liquid form, and if you blend the solids up at the end and mix with some nutritional yeast, then you can form stock cubes for future use. Might be a handy trick for those who don't have a compost pickup near by.
  
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- Perseo Ilias 4/13/2025 3:42 PM
  Hi Taiya, I also went out looking for a compost in my building. No luck either, but I know I will get it because I want to give back to the land. I thought the Article In One Green Planet, 5 Reasons Why Composting is the Greenest Thing You Can Do. “It creates excellent new resources, and in my experience it can encourage even the most stubborn anti-green individual to take part in making a difference. And that’s why it’s the greenest thing you can do for our planet.”
  
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