Henry Manger

Eco Challenge: Water. After reading some of the challenges regarding water on this site a few weeks back, I saw that one of them was to shut off the water while brushing your teeth. I thought about it, and it's something I hadn't really given a thought to previously but there's no reason to have the water running that whole time when it isn't even being used. Since then, I've been only briefly turning the water on to wet my toothbrush a bit before turning it back off while I brush, and it hasn't made the experience worse or even different in any way at all. This is one of those things where I wish I had realized it sooner as it's so wasteful, but I'm glad to have learned it now and will keep the practice/habit going forwards.

Eco Challenge Post 6: Transportation. Since I don't have a car myself, I often grocery shop with either my roommate or another friend with a vehicle who lives in the dorms. This week, I decided to try and convince my roommate to bus with me instead of taking his car. The place we go isn't too far anyways, so he ended up hesitantly agreeing. It was nice using public transport rather than using his car, we got to talk more while he was engaged rather than busy driving and I talked about some of the things I've learned about in this class, especially regarding considering public transport and/or walking/biking when possible. Overall it was a good time and taking the bus versus driving only took a tiny bit longer, plus we got to join a vehicle already going that route rather than adding another one onto the road.

Eco Challenge Post Seven: Consumerism. Recently I've been thinking about how I need new clothes since the weather is getting hotter and most of the clothes I have in my dorm are geared towards cold weather. After thinking more about it and considering what we've discussed in class regarding overconsumption and fast fashion, I realized I actually have a lot of clothes that I just haven't looked through in a while and I should start there. I decided to visit home last weekend (5/23-5/24) to not only see family and friends like I do whenever I visit, but also to sort through old clothes in bags / boxes in my family's garage rather than going out to buy more. I found a ton of shorts and t-shirts that I had completely forgotten about and that were still in great condition, so I was able to avoid wastefully buying new items when I had other options available.

Eco Challenge Post Five (Community) - For this week’s eco challenge I introduced myself to two of my neighbors. I live on campus in dorm housing, and even though we are nearing the end of the school year I haven’t met quite a few of my neighbors on my floor yet. I knocked on a few doors until somebody answered and said that they were free to chat for a minute, then I introduced myself. We chatted about schoolwork and life living in the dorms, plus how hot the weather is. I gave them my contact information and let them know if they needed anything (help moving furniture, flour for baking, etc.) I would help to the best of my ability. I think this was a good step in community building on our floor and it was nice to put some names to the faces that I often walk past or end up in the elevator with.