Maranda Simpson

Hello, everyone!
This week for health/simple living, I decided to meditate for 15 minutes a day this week.
I remember being introduced to mindfulness/meditation in high school, and I found it a bit ridiculous at the time. I struggled with the concept of sitting and doing nothing, and how it could be good for me- normally, being idle increases my stress, not lessens it. However, as a person whose been in therapy for about three years, my mindset has changed a lot. Over the last three years, I have gotten a lot better and understand the importance of living a more simple life, and enjoying moments without any stimulation, not dreading them.

Hello, everyone!
Since this week's topic is about consumerism and the economy, I think that it is important to take a look into the sustainability of clothing and other textiles. As it stands, the number one largest contributor to pollution in our oceans is the textile industry- microplastics from our clothes, and dye. After learning about this, I am trying to avoid purchasing first-hand, plastic based clothing (nylon, acrylic, etc). It is amazing the high quality stuff you can find at thrift stores, and avoid feeding the fast fashion machine!

Hello, everyone! Since this week was about transportation, I decided to look at the actions available under that category, and found I do most of them, already! Unfortunately, walking and biking longer distances is difficult for me due to health issues, but I minimize my carbon emissions by taking online classes (no commute to or from campus) and by owning an electric car, so when I do need to drive somewhere, I am not adding carbon to the air by burning fossil fuels!

Hi, everyone! Since this week is about community, I decided to focus my eco challenge on one of the most important things you can do in your community- vote! I went online to verify I am registered to vote. Since I moved addresses, I had to refill in some information to make sure it goes to the correct address, but I am very thankful we live in a state where gerrymandering and purposefully making voting difficult is less of a problem! It is super easy to register, and voting for local government is a huge part of a sustainable future.

Hello, everyone! This week my goal was to visit the farmer's market and get local products! Specifically, as a person with bad seasonal allergies, I needed to get local made honey as it helps with allergen adaptation. I also ended up getting some produce while I was there, and me and my girlfriend got coffee from our favorite sustainable coffee shop! Buying products from farmer's markets are good for the environment because it reduces reliance on monoculture, mass agriculture (scale is a common culprit for carbon emissions), but also supports local business! This is great because it keeps everything- resources, business and money- all in our communities!
The honey I bought is also packaged in a recycled honey bear bottle that they collect, wash and sanitize.

Hello, everybody! This week I decided to go ahead and reduce my intake of meat products. I already don't eat red meat due to health issues, so I figured that dropping poultry and fish would be easy! However, it was not as easy as I thought. I quickly realized how many meals actually use meat as the main ingredient- it reminded me of how in the book, the amount of meat eaten by an average person is way more than is necessary or sustainable. I had to think about what to make for dinner last night for a while because I didn't know what kind of vegetarian meals I would like. I eventually decided on mushroom and brie sandwiches! They are delicious and meat-free.

So far, this was the easiest challenge I have done, yet! It is crazy to me how easy it is to simply change the settings on your washer and dryer, and save so much energy! Also, I noticed that there is no noticeable difference in the cleanliness of my clothing, and I can imagine that overall it is probably better for any clothes with an elastic component.

Hello, everyone!
This week to address the weekly topic of waste, I decided to focus on reusable shopping bags. I already own a lot of reusable bags (in of itself an issue of collecting them, which I am working on), but the hardest part for me is remembering to bring them with me. A lot of items I purchase occur immediately after work as an attempt to limit my trips, but as a result I forget my reusable bags and end up using a paper one. However, this week I started carrying one in my purse, and another three in my car, and so far this has helped me remember to use them a lot! The one in my purse is good for a last minute few items, and the three in my car are for bigger, conscious trips with a list of a few more bigger items.
Also I only ever buy reusable or paper bags, no plastic! Most stores in my area don't carry plastic bags anymore, anyways, instead only offering paper.
Attached is a picture of an old Trader Joe's reusable bag I received from my mom- its been in our possession for at least two years!

For the week of 01/07-01/14, my eco challenges were mixed. I initially spent the first few days of class going through and finding challenges I already do regularly (such as using a reusable water bottle). My goal for the week was to watch a documentary about sustainability, but I only got it done today as my power was out until this afternoon dur to the snow storm. The documentary I watched was Kiss the Ground. I have always been interested in farming and botany, so a documentary about soil and how it impacts climate change was very interesting to me. One thing I learned from the documentary was how the overuse of fertilizers causes run off into our water ways that lead to mass die off of fish, as well as toxic algal blooms that make the water unsafe for human consumption or contact.