Elex Peyote Otero

My challenge for the past two weeks was not to drive and only take public transportation or walk. I have not driven in 11 days, which was pretty easy since I was just at home sick and live close to a couple of grocery stores. Before this, I had only driven once or twice a week, if at all, on the weekends. It’s been nice saving on gas, but I haven’t put in any gas since January 4th!

For the past week, I focused on my water usage. I have been stuck at home sick, so there was not a whole lot of action other than eating soup and sleeping, so it was easy to use less water in certain ways and keep track. I timed my showers to be between 5 and 7 minutes, which was pretty each. I also have been getting into the habit of turning off the water when washing dishes. It made more sense to soap up the dishes and then do a quick rinse instead of continuously running the water. When washing clothes, I try only to wash once a week, but I have also been using the quick cycle. I also use clean, recycled water when possible to water my plants. I want to continue paying attention to my water usage and see other ways to go into more depth with this challenge.

I have consumed a vegetarian or vegan meal at least once daily these past couple of weeks and rarely eaten meat. I also added the challenge of eating mindfully and limiting restaurant meals to no more than once a week. Cooking daily is challenging when I don’t have time, so meal prepping is key. It has helped me continue to eat healthy and keep to my vegetarian/vegan dishes.

This past week, I have been focusing on getting an hour or more of exercise daily, which worked perfectly, along with going for daily walks. I don't always find going out of my way to work out enjoyable, which is why I prefer to live an active lifestyle such as going to music events because I love dancing, yoga, walking to the grocery store, going on a hike, or working on a physical project, and so on. My main obstacle these days is that school involves a lot of sitting, and it’s hard to find time for movement, which is why incorporating movement into my daily chores is helpful. When I don’t drive and take public transportation, I walk more; if I do drive somewhere, I park further away from my destination. I will continue figuring out how to be active while in school, especially because I know it’s good for my heart and mind, but it also gives me more energy, and I feel more motivated overall.

I am learning to navigate the eco-challenge website. It was fun and inspiring to read some of my teammate's eco actions and see the photos they posted! This week, I focused on going meatless and getting into the rhythm of meal planning. It can be hard to meal prep/plan when my schedule is busy, but what I found helpful is making bigger portions that I eat for a couple of days until it is finished. As for going meatless, this is fairly easy for me because I was a vegetarian for 7 years, but my body started craving meat for the first time when I was a carpenter. I now don't crave it as much since I am not as extremely physical, and I usually eat vegetarian because it's more affordable and has less impact on the environment. I am going to continue to be more vegetarian. Here is a photo of my first home-made cast iron pizza. I used pineapples because I am that person, tomatoes, olives, mangos, jalapenos, and onions.