1) I have better understood my tendencies and values through the last four eco-challenge categories. Under the water category, I chose a customized challenge of showering for less than 10 minutes per day. From an environmental standpoint, 10 minutes is still quite a long time to have water running for one person. In class, we talked about how showering with hot water for that long is a luxury in many parts of the world. However, I wanted to select something realistic to get myself in the habit of thinking about the length of my showers, which I would shorten over time. I have little trouble spending around seven minutes showering on a normal day. But there are certain days when I find myself right at the 10-minute mark, such as when I wash my hair. This challenge has emphasized the fact that the standard of hygiene to which I am accustomed is not sustainable on a global scale, and I am lucky to be in a position where I consider 10-minute showers normal. I am working on shortening them each week.
I chose to heat and cool the room naturally for my energy challenge. I have learned that I enjoy having natural airflow in my room. Heating the room naturally does not feel super effective, but I have a large window and keep the shades open at all times to let sunlight in. When the room gets too hot, my roommate and I turn on our fan and open the windows. It is refreshing to have outdoor air passing through our room, and it is effective in cooling the room. I am not sure that this is tempering the room completely naturally because my dorm does not allow us to shut down the air conditioning system, but I keep it at a moderate temperature and try to use the window and fan to adjust accordingly.
The food category has further solidified to me that I enjoy eating whole foods more than processed goods. My favorite meals at the dining hall are scrambled eggs with vegetables for breakfast and the vegetarian stir fry station for dinner. These meals are both relatively unprocessed, and I feel satisfied whenever I eat them. I also love the smoothies from the dining hall, which are made with whole ingredients as well. This challenge has proven to be easier than expected because I have realized that the processed food I eat is usually in the form of snacking, not meals. It might be more effective to focus on whole-food snacks.
My health challenge is to write down three things I am grateful for each day. I have learned that I have a lot to appreciate in every part of my life. I am generally a positive person, but like everyone else, I find myself looking at life through a negative lens sometimes. I am not sure that this eco-challenge habit could pull me out of a difficult mental state, but I think it is powerful in preventing me from reaching such a point in the first place, which is a much more sustainable goal anyway.
2) I have learned that the environment can provide so much value that I have not yet taken advantage of, that is, until doing the challenges in these last four categories. As I mentioned before, I have taken value from my attempt to heat and cool the room naturally. “Renewable energy… [offers] significant advantages in mitigating climate change” (The Intersection of Renewable Energy and Water Conservation). Although using direct sunlight to warm the room is different than typical solar-powered energy, it is the same idea and proves to have less of an impact on the environment. Therefore, since the environment can offer me so much, it is only right that I try to limit my negative effects on it.
Water is another environmental factor that provides so much value and that I often take for granted. My challenge of taking shorter showers has emphasized this idea. Since “water conservation practices ensure the availability of freshwater resources for present and future generations,” I must make sure to stay conscious about conserving water (The Intersection of Renewable Energy and Water Conservation).
3) The historical and cultural origins of the counterculture food movement and conservation are manifested in modern ways through the challenges in these categories. The counterculture food movement was originally practiced by very distinct groups of people, particularly hippies and organic farmers. The food movement was a fight for a more sustainable food system, orchestrated by people such as Gene Kahn (Pollan). As “the control of Cascadian Farm wound up in corporate hands” and Kahn began taking a business approach to the food movement, the meaning of organic and the counterculture push changed. However, the fact that it changed does not mean that it is less impactful or gone. One of my health challenges is to eat two whole-food meals a day, which aligns with the argument of the early counterculture food movement and the overarching missions of modern-day industrial organic farms.
Another aspect of the counterculture food movement and conservation was related to food sovereignty. Carol Flinders, an early member of this food movement, recalled the value of “food intimacy in ‘one another’s backyards…’” (McGrath). My one-time challenge was to watch a documentary on food sovereignty. The documentary I watched emphasized the value of native people’s ability to grow their food on their own land. This connects back to the early countercultural supporters in Food for Dissent. Further, it emphasizes that native people have been practicing the values pushed in the counterculture movement since the beginning of their time, far before the movement emerged in the 1900s.
