Josh Sewell

Eco Challenge 8:
With it being Thanksgiving this week, i thought it would be cool if i did something related to food. Usually for thanksgiving, my family will go to the grocery store and buy all sorts of meat and packaged products, but this year, i proposed the idea that, except for the turkey, we do a vegan meal this year and buy local instead of from a grocery store. It was honestly a lot of fun. My mom and i had a really cool time planning dishes, going to the local farmers market, and cooking an honestly amazing meal. I will say, i did miss the wide array of beef and cheese, but it felt good knowing that my family was on board and that we were making a positive impact, however small it might be.

Week 7: Consumption and Economy
The theme this week being consumption and economy felt extremely fitting. With the current situation going on in Gaza, a lot of people have decided to boycott a fair amount of companies that are choosing to turn a blind eye to the atrocities going on on the other side of the world. This is something that i wanted to join in on as well. So this week especially, I've been eating at home, making coffee at home, and abstaining from shopping. This is all in an effort to make a statement that a humanitarian crisis can not be ignored as well as has the added benefit of lowering my carbon footprint. Further, after discovering that the chemicals in vape's are mined from the democartic republic of congo using essentially slave labor, i've decided to give that up as well. The choices we make as a consumer matter, and the money that we spend shows what issues we care about as a society.

For transportation, living in the suburbs, it's often difficult to find times and ways that we can reduce our transportation impacts. Everything is extremely far away and public transit is often an extremely inconvenient solution depending on where you live. For me especially, i work a lot, and my job requires me to drive, so i often do not have the time or ability to use public transport. However, one area that i can improve is transportation in daily leisure activities. So this week, as opposed to driving, i started taking my bike to the gym. It may not seem like too huge of a change, but its a change that feels long term sustainable for my lifestyle, and small incremental changes do add up over time. Surprisingly, this has actually been really nice. The ride is about a mile and a half, uphill both ways. So not only am i reducing my environmental impact, but it cuts down on my need to prioritize cardio when im at the gym itself, freeing up other space for people who need it.

I think a big part of what can make a change in our communities is through systematic, overarching change. As normal people, sometimes it can feel difficult to make and influence this type of change. But one really important way that we CAN influence change is through voting. Now is a very important time to get involved as the primaries are in full swing. During this time, we're able to influence who in our party will be our candidate. Because of this, i filled out the voter registration form and started to research candidates, prioritizing candidates that would make the biggest difference environmentally and for marginalized communities.

Historically, i've taken really long, scalding hot showers, which is so nice, but terrible on the environment and worse on my water and gas bills. So this week, for my eco challenge, i started taking shorter (slightly less hot) showers. At first, it was a little bit of an adjustment not taking the type of showers that i wanted to. But after about a week, its more starting to become second nature to hop in, do what i need to do, and hop out. We'll see how it looks on my water bill.

For this weeks eco challenge, i wanted to revisit my challenge from last week. on the last walk i took, i found a bunch of trash that i wasnt able to pick up the first time. So, today, i left the house with a pair of latex gloves and a trash bag. i walked through the woods picking of piece after piece of trash. By the time i got back, the bag was nearly full. Although there were some things (namely a large kiddy pool that someone had dumped out in the forrest) that i wasnt able to pick up, i left the space substantially better than i found it. Ill definitely want to go back to make sure i got everything. But that space means a lot to me, and it really felt good to help clean it up so other people might be able to make similar connections with it in the future.

Eco Challenge 2:

As an extension for my first eco-challenge, i wanted to go on a walk and explore my local nature park. I went for a walk down one of the trails, taking in all the life around me. The creek to my life, the sound of the wind in the leaves, the chirping of the birds. But as i walked, i began to notice that even though this was not one of the main trails, there was garbage scattered around every so often. Fortunately, i had brought a doggy bag. But after a while of walking and picking up trash, the doggy bag filled up and there was still more trash to be cleaned. Now that i'm home, i feel saddened at the amount of trash i saw, but determined to go back tomorrow and clean up the rest of the trail. I think it's important not only to "leave no trace" but to also leave the spaces you enter better than you found it.

For this weeks Eco Challenge, i decided to try starting a mindfullness practice. Although this may not seem very sustainability focused at first, i think it might be the bedrock of practicing consistant sustainability. Through much of our day to day life, we get so caught up in the hustle and bustle, both in our actions and in our minds, that we lose sight of the beauty of the world around us. Taking a moment to pause though, to let my mind settle, allowed me the chance to really take in everything around me. The sounds of the birds chirping, the feeling of the wind on my face, the swaying of the trees around me. In doing so, i felt a certain connection to the natural world that i may not have otherwise, and my appreciation for the life around me dramatically increased. I believe that in building up this love and appreciation for the world around us, true motivation to preserve it arises. This is a practice that i want to continue throughout the term so that i can continue to feel that stillness and connection with the world around me.