Amara Mings is participating in the Campus Ecochallenge!

Ecochallenge.org

Campus Ecochallenge

Amara's points

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
547 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

0.7

pounds

food waste prevented
UP TO

1.4

pounds of CO2

have been saved
UP TO

34

gallons of water

have been saved
UP TO

1.0

water footprint

calculated
UP TO

480

minutes

of additional sleep
UP TO

365

minutes

spent outdoors

Amara's actions

Nature

Learn to Grow Plants My Way

I will spend 30 minutes exploring how I can grow plants in my space—whether it’s a dorm windowsill, apartment patio, or a shared campus garden.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Energy

Turn Off Lights and Electronics

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

COMPLETED 14
DAILY ACTIONS

Energy

Calculate my Digital Carbon Footprint

I will calculate my digital carbon footprint and take steps to reduce my CO2 emissions.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

Understand My Water Footprint

Each of us has a water footprint, directly linked to our daily activities as well as the water required in the production of things we use each day. Understanding our water use is important for a healthy planet. I will calculate my water footprint and look for a few ways I can reduce consumption or waste, then share what I learned on the feed.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Energy

Heat and Cool Naturally

I will naturally heat and cool my house, office, or dorm room by opening or closing my windows, curtains, and blinds, and by using fans.

COMPLETED 16
DAILY ACTIONS

Nature

Enjoy the Sunrise or Sunset

I will enjoy the sunrise and/or sunset each day.

COMPLETED 13
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Carry My Trash for Awareness

I will carry all of my unrecyclable, non-compostable trash with me to raise my awareness of how much I send to the landfill.

COMPLETED 7
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Prioritize Getting Enough Sleep

Good sleep is essential for a healthy body and mind. I will prioritize getting 8 hours of quality sleep each night and develop a bedtime routine that supports rest and relaxation.

COMPLETED 5
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Plan Meals for the Week

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

COMPLETED 2
DAILY ACTIONS

Participant Feed

Amara Mings 3/08/2026 6:36 PM

I spent my time in nature watching the sunrise and sunset. I've been feeling sick all week and have been in a whole lot of pain physically, so I haven't been able to stay outside for long periods of time. But I have continued to use that time to unplug and spend those 30-60 minutes just existing and trying to relax. It did help clear my mind a little but being up made my physical pain worse. When I feel better I plan to go outside more frequently and enjoy life as much as possible.

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- Amy Minato 3/10/2026 12:59 PM
  
  there is a word in Danish, I believe, that translates to "dusking" which means watching the light change at the end of the day...so sorry about your pain Amara!
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Nature

Are you a gardener or house plant lover? Why or why not? What do you need to elevate your plant care skills?
Amara Mings 3/01/2026 6:05 PM

I’ve been looking into ways to grow some plants indoors/on porches for people who don’t have enough space for a garden or large planters. I started with a little garlic plant. A clove has sprouted so I planted it using dirt from outside my house. So far it's grown 6 inches, but I have been researching growing garlic more and unfortunately it seems like it may take over 200 days to grow. And some people say that garlic needs at least 6 weeks of cold temperatures in their cycle if you want it to bulb.Unfortunately it is already starting to get warmer outside, so I don't think I could get it to bulb.

On another note, I've been trying to spend more time outside. One of my other natural goals is to be out and see the sunrise/sunset more. There's a small trail near my house that I loved walking with my mom. So I decided to incorporate that into my sun watching! I also decided that I needed to unplug more because I have to spend so much time these days online so I leave my phone at home when I go.

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- Amy Minato 3/04/2026 5:44 PM
  
  the way I kept sane through my freshman year of college was to watch the sunset from my dorm every day
  
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- Sebastian Medina 3/01/2026 8:40 PM
  
  I grew up in a house full of plants with a mom that mandated us to get outside and help her garden! Since then, I've become so connected with nature and have grown quite fond of having greenery surrounding me, especially in a place like Portland that's flanked on all sides by forest. If I had enough money, I would be growing beautiful huge plants all around my dorm, but for now I stick to nature walks and facetimes with my family so my mom can show me her plants!
  
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Amara Mings 2/22/2026 6:25 PM

The 5 years I have been at PSU I have pretty much exclusively used Trimet combined with walking to get around. Only periodically getting picked up by family. While I have really bad anxiety about being in/on a crowded bus, it has saved gas money and time. I know that PSU has the Viking pass card for us, but I've opted to not buy it because I calculated the cost of the card versus how much it would cost for me to go in person 2 times a week for 9-10 weeks. And found it cheaper to just pay out of pocket. I do believe we could use more community buses as opposed to less and less cars but in Portland, we aren't properly set up for it. If we multiply the number of buses we have, we should add a ton more bus lanes, so it doesn't impede traffic too badly. And same goes for bikes. More bike lanes/designated sidewalks so bikers don't impede cars on the road. I think we could do more to support our public transport people so we can get back some of the bus lines they are taking away. Because the reduction of their bus lines makes it harder for people to use public transport.

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- Amy Minato 2/23/2026 1:39 PM
  
  yes i wish PSU had more options for discounts
  
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Amara Mings 2/15/2026 9:12 PM

For this week I looked into native communities in Oregon as my community driven task. I chose that because for some reason I always assumed we didn’t have many tribes left in Oregon, if at all. So if you're like me, I found a website that lists them! State of Oregon: Blue Book - Native Peoples of Oregon

It gives so much information on the tribes as well as sharing points of interest for people who might wish to go. I looked at the Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe of Indians to find some information about them. They signed their treaty in 1853 and were restored in 1982. And a fun fact, they do not collect taxes from their members. I wish I would have heard/learned about this sooner because I would have taken a side trip last year when I went to Crater Lake and saw. Because of school and work I don’t have the time or money for a vacation to go check it out. However, I have a group of friends who love exploring and seeing the outdoors so I plan to share this information and plan a trip for this summer! I think it would be fun.

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- Amy Minato 2/16/2026 1:54 PM
  
  awesome activity Amara! i think they live in Roseburg
  
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- Sebastian Medina 2/15/2026 11:11 PM
  
  I've had the pleasure of researching Indigenous communities in the PNW for classes and their history is amazing and plentiful! I also visited the Chachalu Tribal Museum and Cultural Center last term for my class and it was so amazing to walk through their Willamette Falls exhibition and read the panels. I absolutely fell in love with their history!
  
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Amara Mings 2/08/2026 2:25 PM

I have really struggled with adjusting my water use because I cannot do some of the actions. For example, minimizing flushing the toilet isn’t feasible because I have a family member who is allergic to ammonia, so I feel we could not allow the different fluids to just sit in there. And taking 5-minute showers is hard because all of us tend to sweat a lot and we all wash our hair on different days. Our hair is very water resistant sometimes and takes several minutes to fully saturate for washing. If we aren’t washing our hair, then yes, the showers last less time. But to properly scrub oneself you might need more than 5 minutes.

At my job I am still trying to lessen how much water I use on dogs but just like with humans, they each have different hair types and porosity, as well as skin conditions that often require me to do extra rinses to ensure there is no residue or scent left on them.

In the book the question on a sustainable water future for my region made me think. This might sound odd, but it made me think of a game I’ve played with friends. It is called Planet Crafter. Basically, you rebuild the planet's atmosphere to be healthy and do sustainable things to progress. To plant things in greenhouses you need power; to make power you have to sometimes cut down on resources and machines you use. For water you have to collect rainwater. That becomes a main source of water.

So that concept of giant rainwater collectors to auto filter and produce safe drinking water for people is something I think our community could do. We tend to get a decent amount of rain, and it would be great if we could utilize it more. If not a giant community water collection system, then perhaps better promote smaller ones to place on porches or roofs similar to solar panels. This way we can have more water AND can save some money on the water bills.

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- Amy Minato 2/09/2026 12:38 PM
  
  thanks for telling me about that game! Do you learn actual ecology principles?
  
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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 else would you rather invest this money instead of wasting food?
Amara Mings 2/01/2026 8:52 PM

This week I have been exploring different meals to cook; how much I need both literally and financially for ingredients and trying to plan out at least 2-3 dinners a week. So far, I have only found one meal, and it was really good! This meal fed 3 people and gave us 3 portions of leftovers. It was I believe about less than $50 overall. Crock Pot Angel Chicken: Your Ultimate Creamy Comfort Meal – Sandra Recipes Here is the link if anyone wants it. I personally didn't use some of the seasonings/garnishes and used thin pasta instead of angel hair and it turned out well. So for those who have dietary restrictions I am sure there are ways you can substitute gluten free in or make some of the broths yourself.
I have friends who are subscribed to HelloFresh and have been willing to share the recipes so I also plan to get more recipes that way. With us going to our respective farms again this week, I plan to do some more research on gardening and the costs that go into it. Because if I could cut out a few extra costs by growing my vegetables/seasonings that would be super helpful.

not my pic, I forgot to take a picture after cooking. So this is from the website.

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- Amy Minato 2/05/2026 12:34 PM
  
  well this looks delicious! crock pot meals are so efficient
  
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Amara Mings 1/25/2026 5:01 PM

I have been doing my best to avoid the heating in my house, we have thick blankets and so we’ve been using them instead. Because it's cold out we don't need to worry about using the cooling. To continue to reduce my electricity use, I have fully cut out using my living room light. During the day it is well lit enough that light is useless. At night I use my phone flashlight or the faint glow from my cat's litterbox to do things. I don't turn on hallway lights either. Even if I leave a room to go to the bathroom, I turn off the lights. We don't have a thermostat so we are already cut out of using that. My biggest obstacle has been one of my brothers, he keeps turning lights on and leaving them on, especially his light. He leaves his light on constantly even when he leaves the room, or during the day when his room is well lit. My biggest pet peeve is that I'll turn off my bedroom light when I leave the house but I come back and its on

Earlier this week(or last week, can’t remember), in a breakout room, I had a discussion with our classmate Jessica. She helped me learn a bit more about solar power and I’ve been trying to think of ways I could incorporate solar power into my household. Because I live in an apartment of sorts, I do not have the power to place solar panels on my roof. I have invested in more LED based lighting for my lamps in hopes to use less energy. But my main thing is just turning off lights and electronics. Unfortunately, my upcoming electric bill is somehow more expensive than it was this last payment. So I plan to do more research on energy to see if I can find more ways to help decrease the amount of energy I use and save some more money.

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- Amy Minato 1/25/2026 6:32 PM
  
  I bet your brother will be influenced to use less energy from watching you. There's a new state bill up for review that allows for balcony solar units for folks living in apartments.
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste

What one thing could you do right away to reduce your waste?
Amara Mings 1/18/2026 3:50 PM

In the reading I found one of the eco-challenge options on page 47 interesting. "Reduce your food waste by planning your meals before you go shopping and creatively using leftovers". This is something I try to actively do in my household because there are too many cases of buying more than we actually need and having to throw something away because it went bad. Likewise, I also always use reusable bags,

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- Amy Minato 1/19/2026 4:49 PM
  
  planning can help so much with reducing waste!
  
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- Amara Mings 1/18/2026 4:00 PM
  
  (accidently hit submit early) -- Because using the recyclable bags has been super helpful in reducing my paper and plastic waste when grocery shopping. None of our bags have broken yet so I haven't needed to replace any. And my reflection question was on the waste action, carrying your trash. I always try to do this when I am actively outside because often public trash cans are full but also because there are people who sift through the trash. Plastic cups I try to avoid but if I get them, I will carry them until I find a suitable recycling location. The image from the textbook really helped put into perspective how bad our plastic waste is, and I will start trying to ask if cafes I go to can put my drink in a mug/cup I bring so that I can eliminate the plastic use all together. At mt job we have bags for plastic bottles to be recycles, a coworker bought reusable utensils and bowls for us to use so we don't need to buy paper or plastic ones anymore. It doesn't seem like much, but my whole store contributes, and we all support and keep each other accountable. As well as share more sustainable tips with one another.
  
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Amara Mings 1/13/2026 9:18 AM

So far, the first week of class has shown me that I may be able to change some things within my household that could actually benefit us in the long run. I started telling everyone in my house to start being conscious about when they're using electricity. And to make sure they always turn it off when they leave the room. Even though they're confused, they're making an effort. And my mom has even been reminding them to remember to turn off lights. I want to tackle the waste output as well, but this will take more effort and convincing. We'll see if this small change had a benefit next month when we pay our bills.

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- Amy Minato 1/19/2026 4:48 PM
  
  its great that you are involving the whole household!
  
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