Brooklyn Ramirez

Nature, God, and Social Justice Spring 2025

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
375 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

81

plastic bottles

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

51

plastic containers

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

4.0

donations

made
UP TO

4.0

advocacy actions

completed
UP TO

20

minutes

spent outdoors
UP TO

60

minutes

spent learning

Brooklyn's actions

Community

Raise Money For a Nonprofit

I will raise money to support Ecochallenge.org or another nonprofit.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health

Learn More about Food Apartheid

What can lack of access to nutritious food affect a community? How can having access to nutritious food help a community become more resilient?

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Nature

Explore My Area

I will explore at least one new hiking trail or nature walk in my area.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Car Share

I will sign up for a car-sharing service or organize car sharing with my neighbors or classmates to cut down on the number of vehicles on the road.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Use Reusable Bags

If at all possible, I will not accept any disposable bags when making purchases.

COMPLETED 18
DAILY ACTIONS

Transportation

Use public transportation when going distances I can't walk

I will opt to use public transportation over Uber or other ride-sharing apps when going long distance

COMPLETED 17
DAILY ACTIONS

Transportation

Use public transportation when going distances I can't walk

I will opt to use public transportation over Uber or other ride-sharing apps when going long distance

COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Use a Reusable Water Bottle

I will keep 3 disposable plastic bottle(s) from entering the waste stream by using a reusable water bottle.

COMPLETED 18
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Support Pollution Reduction

I will spend at least 30 minutes learning about water and air quality issues in my area, how they are impacting human and environmental health, and how I can help.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Reduce Single-Use Disposables

Cheap, single-use items and disposable packaging end up blowing around as litter more often in poor and POC-majority neighborhoods. I will find out how I can limit single-use items and do my best to limit the waste I generate.

COMPLETED 13
DAILY ACTIONS

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?

Brooklyn Ramirez 4/22/2025 7:05 PM
As I wrap up the Ecochallenge, I find myself wishing I had pushed myself more with my daily actions. It's true that I found it easy to make the switches to more sustainable options and now will continue to make that change. I'm also glad that I found small ways in my life to improve my relationship with the environment, however after we make these small steps, we need to also look at the big steps we can take to really create change. I'm going to continue to think about ways I can make more sustainable choices even when they may inconvenience me at first even after the conclusion of this challenge.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste

What single-use items (e.g. straws, coffee cups, vegetable bags, plastic bags) do you regularly use? What did you substitute or could be substituted instead?
Brooklyn Ramirez 4/22/2025 6:48 PM
Ruether says "corporations are uninterested in the next generation. They pillage the environment and then flee the scene." While at Georgetown I find it easy to regularly reduce my single-use disposables, it's when I go out that I find the most trouble avoiding them. Out of convenience, and frankly to avoid paying a livable wage to more workers, so many businesses opt for unnecessary single-use disposables and leave you with very little choice to opt out. It's really hard to make sustainable choices when the choice is not offered to you when you are out.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Health

What environmental factors affect human health in your region, and how do they affect it?
Brooklyn Ramirez 4/22/2025 6:38 PM
In DC, the DC Policy Center is a great source to see how environmental factors affect human health in our community. Environmental factors include soil contamination, air pollution, and water pollution. Contaminants from leaking underground storage tanks, brownfields, and superfund sites expose residents, especially in Wards 4, 5, and 6, to hazardous chemicals that can cause cancer, respiratory issues, and neurological damage. Further, air pollution from traffic and industrial sources, particularly in Wards 7 and 1, increases the risk of asthma, heart disease, and developmental problems, with Black and low-income communities experiencing the highest exposure and health impacts. Water pollution, often tied to soil contamination, further contributes to harmful exposure to chemicals like lead and petroleum byproducts. Overall, these environmental hazards lead to serious health disparities and highlight the urgent need for environmental justice in DC. It also reminds of Ruether's call to target the exploiters at the top whose actions most hurt those at the bottom.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste

What do you do if you find yourself in the situation of needing a bag for items but don't have a reusable one with you or aren't allowed to use the one you brought? Carry things out in your hands? In a cart? Accept a disposable one? If you find yourself in this position often, what system could you put in place to try to create a successful habit of not using plastic bags?
Brooklyn Ramirez 4/22/2025 6:22 PM
This month I have been bringing reusable bags when I can and going completely without a bag when I can't. This weekend, I went on a large grocery shopping trip and brought my large insulated reusable bag and started to think about how making sustainable choices doesn't have to make life more difficult. In fact, sustainable choices often make life easier and make more sense than the alternative. My reusable bag allowed me to hold tons of items without fear the bag would rip, the insulation kept my frozen food cold during my 20 minute walk, and the padded handle fit comfortably on my shoulder. Making the sustainable choice in this situation was easier and better for the environment.

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Brooklyn Ramirez 4/22/2025 6:14 PM
This month, I opted for public transportation, instead of rideshare apps, when going distances that I could not walk. In Ruether's book she says "in the case of transportation, the private automobile becomes an unacceptable mode of transportation." She then goes on to share that building cities connected by public transportation is incredibly important for building community and fostering connections that lead to the "good society." She also, importantly, asks us to think, who profits from building communities that are only accessible with automobiles? As I took the metro, I often thought how everyone can benefit from having public transportation access and how it is safer, more efficient, boosts businesses in the city, and overall more accessible. When we think about change, it is important we think about who serves to gain from us not reaching the "good society."

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Community

How do/can Ecochallenge.org programs help you develop a stronger sense of community?
Brooklyn Ramirez 4/22/2025 5:52 PM
As the USC Speak Your Mind challenge is gaining traction and raising money for a mental health non-profit, I can't stop thinking about the power of many. Many of our authors discuss the importance of acting alone so that one day we may act collectively even in the face of the adversary. The challenge also prompts me to think of questions like is performativism that achieves good still valuable? What are the issues with a short-term challenge like this, which leaves the non-profit with inconsistent donations to grow with?

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- Say Hart 4/22/2025 6:33 PM
  I like this and the fact that the challenge is allowing you to start to question whether performativism that achieves good still valuable.
  
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