Veronica or Nica Mork

For last week's focus on consumerism, I made an effort to prioritize buying from locally owned small businesses within my neighborhood. I hate grocery stores and am getting really tired/scared of inflation food costs, so I've been trying to turn my business more towards businesses that I feel connected to. I've also been experiencing and providing a lot more bartering systems, which is delightful. I spend a lot of time now at the produce stand down the street from my house, the local comic book/zine shop, and farmers markets.

This week I spent most of my time being sick and working, so I didn't have a chance to get into nature in the more immersed way I'd like. I went on a couple long walks to get out of the house, and spent a lot of time wandering my neighborhood and getting lost. Sometimes I try not to listen to music when I'm walking, because it makes me feel more dissociated from my surroundings instead of connected. I've been walking more in silence or using the opportunity to call someone and catch up.

For this week's focus on transportation, I prioritized carpooling and walking. I am lucky to live in a walkable neighborhood, and I've been taking advantage of that by spending my free time strolling around and appreciating the weather in my local spaces, as opposed to driving around running errands. I have a lot of free libraries, zines, and street art around me that makes the walk very interesting and helps take my brain away from school stress. I live blocks away from my partner and most of my friends, so luckily a lot of socializing is nearby. Plus, it's easy to go places together in a carpool. I am very fortunate.

I've been having a difficult time feeling involved in my community lately - the winter scaries are hitting me a lot harder this year than they have previously. This week, I was able to attend more community events than I have in a while, and it's been really fun to use my time and resources to support my people. I've been able to bring extra food from my work that would've otherwise been wasted to some of these gatherings, which is good for everyone's wallets and stomachs, and the environment. I also have been attending a lot more local music shows, and overall contributing more directly to local businesses, bands, and shops. I intend to keep up this progress and turn more of my attention to shopping locally for my needs. I've worked at a lot of amazing small businesses that have unfortunately had to shut down because people are spending their money elsewhere. As a food service worker, I'm also a huge fan of bartering with other businesses to exchange goods and support neighbors. I want to grow my skills in prioritizing giving my money, time, and effort to businesses or brands that reflect my personal values and immediate ecosystem.

At the later half of this week I got super sick, so I got to be a grubby little monster that did not shower or do laundry - which tend to be my heaviest water-usage activities. Lately, a lot of my Ecochallenge progress has been around hectic life events restricting my access to different needs, which bums me out. But it has been a really interesting practice in mindfulness towards the resources I take up. I'm currently building a more eco-conscious household with my new roommates, and we've been planning ways to create and sustain habits that pertain to sustainability. One of those habits has been beginning to collect rainwater for the garden we're in the midst of creating, and I think that'll be a really fun way to support our produce and learn more about recycling and reuse.

Last week, I changed my electricity habits by being home less. I was spending a lot of time at my partner's house, which often times becomes a community space where our friends gather and spend days doing activities together. My house was mostly vacant last week, so there was no need to have any lights on or items plugged in that weren't for constant/maintenance use. By staying in community spaces, all of our energy use was in one space for the time we needed it, and no more. I think there are a lot of sustainable habits that creep in unintentionally to the lifestyle my friends and I have as we strive for economic sustainability. This makes us especially mindful of our energy, water, and food use because we're all 20-somethings trying to afford the city we live in. I am having a good time adding intentional tweaks to these habits that enforce the various sustainabilities we're striving for.

For this week's Ecochallenge, I focused on only buying groceries I knew I'd utilize and compost. I live in a household of 4, and we make a lot of trash. As I've been paying extra attention to waste sorting, I realized that most of our waste is food-based and compostable. We've been planning out our garden for this coming spring, so bulking up on compost is a huge advantage to those efforts. I've been purchasing and eating primarily produce-based meals, which break down a lot easier in the composting process. I've also been utilizing scrappy cooking - which is one of my favorite things to expand on whenever I can.

For my ecochallenge this week, I focused on responsible buying. I am currently in the middle of a household move, which means that a lot of household items are suddenly taken or missing. As I've been steadily replacing the things I need, I've been making an effort to purchase reusable and eco-friendly items. Instead of buying paper towels, I got reusable sponge pads. Instead of ziplock bags, I got reusable sealable pouches for food storage. I've also been paying extra attention to packaging, and prioritizing purchasing items in glass jars when accessible, so that they can be reused. Additionally, I've been extra on my waste-sorting game and prioritizing composting and recycling so that I don't have to deal with any extra garbage bills from moving trash. It's been a bit challenging to figure out how much I can afford and what my priorities should be in terms of purchasing sustainable utensils and basic household items, but I have found a lot of relief in the help of my friends and family as I launch into a borrowing chain for items I only need every once in a while. It's been nice to test my own limits of how far I can go with sustainable purchases, and to feel my community strengthen around me as they continue to assist me through this process.

This week I started a composting initiative within my workplace. I noticed how much food waste we create on a regular basis, and I have been finding and executing solutions to this issue. I used the extra food scraps that we would usually toss to make completed meals to give to staff at the nearby hospital and people living in a nearby camp. The food that wouldn't be used in our restaurant, I took home and cooked into meals for myself and my friends. I've been centering my meals primarily around vegetables that I can use every part of, and have been composting scraps for my garden or freezing and compiling them to make into broth later. Decreasing waste through cooking is a big passion of mine, and I am looking forward to learning new skills around this and expanding my knowledge of how to do so.