Dominique Lund

This week I was the most successful using public transportation since I started. After parking my car at my dad's house on Monday, I have only used transit, walking, and a couple rides to get everywhere I needed to go. The benefits have been a much more relaxing commute, since I can sit and listen to music or read the news on my phone while the bus driver or train operator does the driving. I can also tell I've really reduced my gas consumption in my own vehicle. Before I started using transit, I already would have filled up my tank almost twice already. At this point, I have used less than half a tank of gas, which is about a 75% reduction. This has been a huge money saver. It has also felt really good to know my actions are contributing to the changes I want to see in our individualist consumer culture in order to be more sustainable and save the planet.
However, there have also been drawbacks. The main one is the amount of time I've spent commuting. On Thursday, I spent four hours of my day either in transit or waiting for my bus, and I only went to three different locations. Not everyone has this much time, and it's definitely been a strain on my time management since I have a lot to get done every day of the week. Hopefully if ridership increases TriMet will be able to offer more frequent service which would reduce wait times and total time commuting.

Last week, I took a weekend trip to Atlanta, Georgia to see my mother and my sister, who both live there. I have my father and his side of the family here in Portland, my mother and sister in Atlanta, and the rest of my mothers side in Chicago. Unfortunately this means that some amount of air travel is built into my year in order to see my family, and it's out of my control that they are spread across the country. I calculated the amount of CO2 my flight produced, and it ended up being 1279kg. What helped to conceptualize this for me was the comparison to the total CO2 output of the average person in Ethiopia over an entire year, which was only 560kg, which less than half. This made me feel guilty, because it's so clear that I'm doing way more than my fare share of the damage to the planet, while people near the equator and in developing economies will suffer from climate change the most.

Atmosfair is a really great resource I found for offsetting personal carbon emissions from air travel. You put in the airports you flew to and from, and it calculates how much carbon you produced as well as asking you donate an amount to offset that amount of carbon through green energy initiatives. I like atmosfair because they provide these offsets by building green renewable power infrastructure in communities that do not yet have electricity or have limited access. This ensures that these households which are new consumers of electricity and other sources of power will come into it already using renewable energy. I like this strategy because it promotes energy justice by using the money I donate to bring electricity to underserved populations while also making sure these people have access to green energy from day one. Overall I paid about $34 for my offset which seems like a really cheap price to pay for the amount of CO2 my flight produced. I will definitely use this site again in the future whenever I use air travel to see my family! I suggest everyone check it out, it was pretty easy to use!

While I really like eating fruits, I'm not good at buying and eating vegetables. They often go bad in my refrigerator before I get to them. Last week I tried eating two cups of vegetables and two cups of fruits each day. It actually was pretty successful and didn't feel like a chore. One thing that helped me was to buy several frozen vegetables, such as broccoli, carrots, and brussels sprouts. I baked or pan fried these and seasoned them to my liking. I then portioned them out and refrigerated the portions so I could use them for the rest of the week. Meal planning was also a really big help. It allowed me to know what vegetables I would need for the week before going grocery shopping, which reduced my food waste. Last week I made garlic butter asparagus, roasted sweet potato, lemon pepper broccoli, and broiled brussels sprouts. All of these dishes were really good! One thing that I've already gained from this class and doing ecochallenges is that I've learned that to cook good fresh food for myself rather than assuming I'm not able to and buying it from the deli or a restaurant.

This week I formally introduced myself to my new neighbor across the hall from me at my apartment. I had seen him as I left my apartment, but I hadn't asked for his name or anything more than that in the two months since I moved in. In my previous apartment, I knew one neighbor well, and disliked a few others who I tried to keep away from. Looking back, I feel that I felt less safe in my previous building because if there was ever an emergency I would feel pretty alone. It is important to know your neighbors because we never know when disaster might strike in the form of a big storm or another pandemic. It is in these times when knowing your neighbors really makes a difference. One part of living in Portland is preparing your household for the Cascadia megaquake which is expected in the next 50-100 years. I live in an old building that will almost certainly be destroyed in the earthquake. If and when this happens, no one will come to anyone's rescue. We must rely on those around us for help and support. One way I can create more meaningful connections to my new neighbor and others is to use my new cooking skills to bake cookies or banana bread and offer them some. Hopefully I can then get to know them on a more personal basis and learn how they are involved with the community.

I found out that the local indoor skatepark (Stronger in Milwuakie) collects old skate wheels so that they can be picked up or recycled.