Sophia Samson

Nature, God, and Social Justice Spring 2025

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
642 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

713

minutes

being mindful
UP TO

0.0

donations

made
UP TO

1.0

hour

volunteered
UP TO

0.0

advocacy actions

completed
UP TO

365

minutes

spent learning

Sophia 's actions

Simplicity

Core Values

We may find more meaning and joy in life when our actions are aligned with our personal values. I will determine what my top 3-5 core values are so that I can better align my actions with them.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Simplicity

Track my Purchases

I will spend 30 minutes each day maintaining a record of all my purchases and learning about my spending habits.

COMPLETED 18
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Learn About Local Environmental Justice Concerns

I will spend 20 minutes researching environmental justice and environmental racism concerns in my region, who is affected by them, and local initiatives to address these concerns.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Simplicity

Mindfulness Practice

I will spend 10 minute(s) per day practicing Mindfulness.

COMPLETED 18
DAILY ACTIONS

Simplicity

Eat Mindfully

I will eat all of my meals without distractions, e.g., phone, computer, TV, or newspaper.

COMPLETED 16
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Happiness

I will write down three things every day that I am grateful for, or send one email every day thanking or praising someone.

COMPLETED 18
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Connect with a Nonprofit

I will connect with a local nonprofit, environmental or otherwise, and find out how I can get involved or become a member.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Research Restorative Justice

I will spend 15 minutes learning about restorative justice and conflict resolution opportunities in my own community or state.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Learn About & Practice Sustainable Fashion

I will learn about sustainable fashion and begin trying to practice it in my own life.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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?

Sophia Samson 4/22/2025 8:52 PM
Today, I was able to share a meal with my friends and catch up on our Easter breaks. After going home for break and most of my hometown friends still having class, it was nice to be able to share a meal with others and eat mindfully.

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Sophia Samson 4/22/2025 8:50 PM
At the beginning of the challenge, I chose my daily actions based on habits that I felt like I could realistically complete and were habits that I had been hoping to use in my life beforehand. I think in the end tracking my purchases made me reflect the most on how my actions impact the environment and what I specifically can do to reduce my waste.

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Sophia Samson 4/22/2025 8:29 PM
As our ecochallenge comes to a close, I feel that I have a greater understanding of what being connected to our environment means in our everyday life. It does not necessarily have to mean living with zero waste, or becoming a vegan, but even practices related to mindfulness and acting with intention can make you a more grounded person and more in tune with your surroundings.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Simplicity

What are your top 3-5 core values? How did you narrow it down to those as being your core values?
Sophia Samson 4/21/2025 2:49 PM
I narrowed down my core three values to empathy, my relationships with other people, and integrity. I was able to narrow these values down by reflecting on what my life goals are and my motivation behind those goals. Also reflecting on the everyday decisions that I make and evaluating why I make those decisions helped me understand the values behind many of my choices.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Health

Who is most affected by environmental degration and/or environmental irresponsiblity in your community? How are they affected?
Sophia Samson 4/19/2025 3:33 PM
The homeless population of Sacramento is negatively affected by local environmental irresponsibility. The American River Parkway is a regional park of Sacramento, home to many recreational nature activities, and it is also where a large population of the Sacramento homeless population lives. When people become more carless about where we throw our waste or how we act as consumers, the sanitary standards of the Parkway decreases, not only negatively impacting the wildlife of the Parkway but the people living there as well. Sacramento has tried to combat this problem through Street to Housing programs as well as accounting for the homeless population when creating local environmental policy.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste

How can you express your personality, creativity, and values in ways that don't require fast fashion or buying more clothes and accessories?
Sophia Samson 4/19/2025 3:23 PM
One habit I have been trying to practice is waiting before purchasing. If I find a piece of clothing that catches my eye online, I try to wait at least a couple weeks before purchasing to see if it's something I really want. I try to express my personality through the clothes that I already own, such as by repurposing old clothes by altering them or embroidering them to be something that I will wear more often.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Community

How can Restorative Justice help foster the well-being of both people and planet?
Sophia Samson 4/17/2025 4:13 PM
From what I learned about Restorative Justice, it seems that this form of conflict resolution has large potential to create long-term change and ability to address the roots of problems, rather than putting a band-aid over certain conflicts. I think that in terms of the well-being of the planet, Restorative Justice has the ability to reshape how humans can respond to environmental harm and hopefully make the environmental justice movement more productive.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Health

How does/can practicing gratitude keep you centered and motivated to work for a better world?
Sophia Samson 4/12/2025 2:01 PM
Practicing gratitude reminds me of the goals that I am working towards and the role I hope to play in the world.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Simplicity

Mindful eating is healthier for us than eating with distractions. How do your eating experiences differ when practicing mindfulness?
Sophia Samson 4/10/2025 5:59 PM
I usually do work or go on my phone during dinner, but today I was able to get food off-campus with people and it was great to be able to share a meal with people I don't get to see very often.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Community

What inspires you to act toward a more sustainable community?
Sophia Samson 4/08/2025 6:20 PM
The non-profit that I spoke with was Catholics for Choice, an organization dedicated to raising awareness on the Catholic pro-choice majority and supporting reproductive justice advocacy. Although this organization is not directly related to environmental justice, I believe that reproductive justice is an important factor of creating safe, sustainable communities for people to thrive in.

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