Max Power
POINTS TOTAL
- 0 TODAY
- 0 THIS WEEK
- 67 TOTAL
Max's actions
Waste
Use a Reusable Water Bottle
I will keep 2 disposable plastic bottle(s) from entering the waste stream by using a reusable water bottle.
Waste
Use a Reusable Mug
I will avoid sending 1 disposable cup(s) to the landfill each day by using a reusable mug.
Energy
Turn it off
I will keep lights, electronics, and appliances turned off when not using them.
Energy
Power Down the Computer
I will power down my computer and monitor when not using it for more than 2 hours, saving up to (1.1) lbs of CO2 each day that I do this.
Food
Weekly Meal Planning
I will reduce food waste and save money by planning a weekly menu, only buying the ingredients I need.
Water
5-Minute Showers
I will save up to 20 gallons (75 L) of water each day by taking 5-minute showers.
Community
Research Restorative Justice
I will spend 60 minutes learning about restorative justice and conflict resolution opportunities in my own community or state.
Community
Engage In Active Listening
I will practice actively listening to a friend, family member, co-worker, acquaintance, or someone who I may disagree with in at least 1 conversations.
Transportation
Walk Instead
I will walk 2 mile(s) each day instead of driving and avoid sending up to (___) lbs of CO2 into Earth's atmosphere.
Transportation
Drive Less
I will cut my car trip mileage by only taking necessary trips.
Nature
Go for a Daily Walk
I will take a 30-minute walk outside each day.
Health
Exercise Daily
Exercise is a great stress blaster! I will exercise for 30 minute(s) each day.
Participant Feed
Reflection, encouragement, and relationship building are all important aspects of getting a new habit to stick.
Share thoughts, encourage others, and reinforce positive new habits on the Feed.
To get started, share “your why.” Why did you join the challenge and choose the actions you did?
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Max Power 3/08/2025 9:23 PMFor this week's Eco Challenge, I decided to exercise daily for the week. I did 30 minutes of cardio every day this week, including running inside on the treadmill or outside when it wasn't raining. I choose to do the daily exercise because of the benefits I had from my last Eco Challenge, from walking my dog in nature daily. Along with getting exercise and feeling great afterwards, I really enjoyed the time I had to myself when exercising in the morning.
The two biggest obstacles that I faced when running every morning were time management and getting up earlier than I'm used to. Some days it was easy to wake up early, but some days, especially when it was cold, it was hard to leave the bed. However, reflecting now completed with this challenge, I think the benefits outweighed the cons. This week, because of the exercise in the morning, I felt more present in class and mentally uplifted compared to normal.
I think that even after this class ends, this is something that I will implement into my daily routine.-
Amy Minato 3/11/2025 12:46 PM- TEAM CAPTAIN
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Kit Stauf 3/09/2025 6:00 PMI'm not a morning person at all, but I love the days where I do end up awake in the early hours before many others are. The chilly morning air, soft morning light, and the quietness except for birds is so serene to me. I hope you get to enjoy those moments as well! -
Pierre Kaptanian 3/09/2025 9:53 AMThat's awesome Max, I'd bet running in the morning is really great for seeing a part of nature people normally miss when they're asleep! The sunrises are just gorgeous.
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Max Power 3/02/2025 4:59 PMFor this week's eco-challenge involving nature, I decided to go on a 30 minute walk every day this week. Most days this week I took my dog outside for a walk around the neighborhood, which was usually around 2/3 miles. One benefit that I got from doing this daily walk was it helped clear my mind and gave me time to plan and think about my future.
During these daily 30 minute walks I would often think about my life post college and think about the logistics of moving to a new city and what job I could see myself doing. Additionally, I would also use this time to think of my school work for the week and plan out an efficient plan to get my work done. Throughout the week, the walk outside got implanted into my daily route as I was looking forward to that time when I get home from class because of the mental benefits.-
Pierre Kaptanian 3/09/2025 10:15 AMLeisurely getting work done while walking, yes. Urban legend has it Charles Dickens walked for three hours a day; it helped him write people/nature more accurately -
Amy Minato 3/08/2025 12:24 PM- TEAM CAPTAIN
Max
I think a lot of people benefit from having dogs that need walking every day..exercise and being outside when you might not otherwise do that
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Max Power 2/23/2025 11:11 AMFor this week's eco-challenge involving transportation, I decided to drive less and walk more. I frequently drive to my local corner store to purchase energy drinks. The store is relatively close, only being around two miles round trip, but I usually drive during the winter. In the summer, it's a nice walk, but when it's cold and rainy, it's hard for me to choose the walk due to the convenience of driving.
However, this week I decided to walk to the store whenever it was not raining to purchase my energy drinks. The biggest challenge I faced doing this was leaving behind the convenience and efficiency of driving. The 5-minute trip that I would normally take turned into half an hourish walk. One part that I also found as a challenge was walking home with the cold drink making my hands freeze. This normally wouldn't be a problem in the summer but when it's already cold out my hands felt it.
The benefit that I got from walking rather than driving was the satisfaction of knowing that I saved money on gas while also benefiting the environment by cutting down on car pollution.-
Amy Minato 2/25/2025 6:45 PM- TEAM CAPTAIN
Max have you thought about making your own "energy drinks"?
'To make your own energy drink at home, combine ingredients like fresh fruit juice (e.g., lemon, lime, orange), sparkling water, natural sweetener (honey or agave nectar), a pinch of salt, and a caffeine source (green tea or a small amount of brewed coffee) in a glass, stirring well before serving over ice; adjust flavors and sweetness to your preference.' you could get a soda stream to carbonate the water.... you would save money too! just a thought -
paige Herkemij 2/24/2025 9:26 PMawesome to get your steps in! I usually buy drinks in bulk so I do not have to stop as frequently, which then uses less gas and less driving
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Max Power 2/16/2025 8:39 PMFor this week's Ecochallenge, I decided to learn about Restorative Justice. To involve the community aspect of this week's challenge, I researched restorative justice projects within my own community. As we learned in this week's modules, a lot of what is keeping communities from connecting is the lack of information.
When conducting my research I found a project called Restorative Roots. Based in Oregon, Restorative Roots is a nonprofit that implements restorative justice with Oregon Criminal Justice Commission funds. It is very easy to navigate their website with various options to donate, volunteer, or learn about their mission.
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Amy Minato 2/21/2025 1:43 PM- TEAM CAPTAIN
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Pierre Kaptanian 2/17/2025 3:55 PMwhat a cool org, yeah restorative justice is a real baked in part of criminal justice these days, probably because of work like that
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Max Power 2/09/2025 2:45 PMFor this week's Eco-Challenge, I decided to cut back on my shower length to save water. I decided to choose 5-Minute Showers because of how easy of a change it can be to my routine. Deciding to shower fast not only helps me get ready faster but also saves a lot of water that's unnecessarily wasted.
While participating in this challenge and thinking about water usage, I was reminded just how much water goes into things. When we did our group presentations in class about food, my group picked cheeseburgers, which use 700 gallons of water. This puts into perspective how much water is needed to make the things we need to survive.
Cutting down on my shower time is an easy way to reduce my water usage without any necessary tools or skills needed. Aside from saving water, one benefit that I noticed was that I spend a lot less time showering meaning that my mornings became more efficient.-
Amy Minato 2/10/2025 11:28 AM- TEAM CAPTAIN
good points. i"m glad you see an upside in your time management from taking shorter showers.
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Max Power 2/02/2025 4:07 PMFor this week's activity related to sustainability and food, I decided to meal-prep. Meal-prepping is something that I've always wanted to do, as it can be very beneficial for health and for reducing food waste. I bought a roasted chicken and pulled it apart, storing it in a couple of glass containers in my fridge. I also made rice and did the same.
For the past couple of days for dinner, I take out the glass containers put chicken over rice, and heat it up. It has been very easy and something I can definitely see myself doing more of in the future. This helps me save not only money for dinners during the week but I also spend less time thinking or actually cooking dinner. I also don't waste food as everything that I've prepared I eat or it can go back in the fridge if I don't finish.-
Amy Minato 2/03/2025 7:16 PM- TEAM CAPTAIN
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Kit Stauf 2/03/2025 11:57 AMMeal prepping is such a good idea! Food often causes me a lot of stress in considering what to eat and then that I have to prepare it. Like Cyrus said, I think meal prepping would definitely decrease this burden. -
Cyrus Qian 2/02/2025 5:57 PMThat sounds like a great start to meal prepping! It’s awesome that it’s not only saving you time and money, but also reducing food waste. Plus, having a ready-made dinner like that makes it so much easier to stick with healthier options throughout the week. I totally agree about how meal prepping can take away that daily “what’s for dinner?” stress.
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Max Power 1/26/2025 2:22 PMFor this week's Eco-Challenge I decided to turn off my electronics when I wasn't directly using them. I decided to choose this eco challenge because of its relation to our in-class material theme of energy. I was inspired by the video in class where people used the tops of plastic bottles along with the sun to provide light into their homes. This type of ingenuity inspired me to self-evaluate my own energy use.
This week I started turning off my computer, lights, music, and heat whenever I wasn't directly using them. One of the biggest obstacles I faced when limiting my energy use this week was remembering to turn off my PC. I am one of those people that likes to keep my PC on all the time and trying to break that habit whenever I leave the house or even my room was challenging at first.-
Amy Minato 1/29/2025 5:49 PM- TEAM CAPTAIN
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Pierre Kaptanian 1/28/2025 7:27 PMAwesome! If turning it off completely ends up being too much, there's lots of power settings that reduce power when the PC is on. And the new system on a chip computers (m1, m2, new qualcom etc) can use wayyy less power on standby. -
Kit Stauf 1/26/2025 4:11 PMI do something similar with keeping my laptop on a lot of the time, and that was a habit I also started trying to break this week! I'm trying to make sure my laptop is turned off at least overnight.
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Max Power 1/18/2025 8:21 PMOne action I chose to complete regarding reducing trash was implementing a reusable water bottle. Often I find myself going to the fridge and getting a cold plastic water bottle in the 24-pack. However, we have learned just how devastating trash can be to the environment this week.
One of the things that inspired me to buy and start to use a reusable water bottle was this week's TED Talk. I was fascinated that she was able to hold the amount of trash that she produced in 3 years. This made me reflect on my habits which included drinking water at home as the 24-pack of plastic water bottles has an insane amount of waste.
One obstacle that I faced when starting to use my reusable water bottle was the extra effort needed just to drink water. Usually, I just take another bottle out of the pack which is already cold, and it's very simple. However now with my reusable water bottle, I need to fill it up with tap water and add ice to make it colder. Even though it's less convenient I think it's a sacrifice that's worth it now after understanding the benefits of a reusable water bottle.
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Amy Minato 1/29/2025 6:01 PM- TEAM CAPTAIN
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Pierre Kaptanian 1/20/2025 8:28 PMI also find hauling around a bottle of water a bit cumbersome. And little inconvenience is all it takes to give up. Water bottles take up space and can be really heavy! When I tried carrying a bigger bag... quite a few people thought I was homeless and treated me less than great.
Anyhow, glad you're finding a way to use one!
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Pierre Kaptanian 1/20/2025 8:28 PMI also find hauling around a bottle of water a bit cumbersome. And little inconvenience is all it takes to give up. Water bottles take up space and can be really heavy! When I tried carrying a bigger bag... quite a few people thought I was homeless and treated me less than great.
Anyhow, glad you're finding a way to use one!
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Kit Stauf 1/19/2025 3:44 PMTo make it more convenient, you could get 2 or 3 reusable bottles, and keep them full in the fridge! Then when one is empty, you can swap it out with a nice cold one. Just an idea!
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