Amandalyn Skillman

For this week's focus on nature, I really wanted to go on another solo nature adventure. I ended up going to the Columbia Slough, which is only about a five-minute drive from my house. I like the slough because it houses so many different animals that I often see. I've seen a lot of different birds, bunnies, nutria, turtles, and I'm sure so many more. There is a perfect loop that only takes about 15 minutes and is a very easy walk. I really love that we have spent so much time outside this term, it has helped re-ignite my spark for nature adventures and the days are only getting longer and more beautiful from here on out.

The focus for week seven was consumerism, which was interesting for me. Consumerism is weird these days because I think life is hard, so the draw to grab something stupid that makes you happy in the moment is more compelling than I would like to admit. I used to go to Target after a long day to look at the seasonal stuff, the cheap clothes, but through the readings and thought process we've had in this class, I don't find that activity particularly fun anymore. I am happy to report that I am thinking much more long term with my purchases now. I have always tried to shop second hand, and I still happily do. Also though, I have changed my line of thinking when I do choose to purchase something new. I do not buy things because they are convenient or cheap, I save up for the version that is going to last me for many years, even though that version might be a little bit more expensive.

For week six, we focused on transportation. This was a major focus week for me, because a lot of my independence comes from my ability to drive my car whenever I want, wherever I want. After all, I pay a lot of money for my car, so I find myself making sure I'm using it. On the bright side, I do carpool with people often-- I offer to drive my friends most times when there is an opportunity. Most of the time, it just makes more sense to carpool! Save gas, more hangout time, better for the environment, sometimes more convenient. I have carpooled with a classmate to each class adventure, or garden hangout, and that's something I'm proud of! Not only because carpooling is awesome, but also, I got to make a deeper friendship connection with my pal (-:

For week five, our focus was "community". This was by for one of my favorite weeks because I felt like I had an excuse to do something fun with my friends while still "doing homework" and completing an assignment. During week five (and six because I had such a good time) I hosted two events at my house and invited people over. The first event was a board game night where I made soup and had a few of my coworkers over as well as a few of my boyfriend's friends. We all ate soup and chatted and then played a few hours of games. The next week I hosted a craft night for a few of my girlie friends. We thrifted picture frames and upcycled them by painting them! I should have taken a picture, they turned out so cute! This was a good reminder to me that my house doesn't have to be perfect, people just love to gather, and I love to host.

For week four, our focus was water. I really struggle with using too much water, especially when I shower. I use showers after a long day as a form of decompression, so it was interesting to find a way to still enjoy a hot shower, but for a shorter amount of time. During this week, I attempted to substitute a short mindfulness session if I still felt wound up after a long day. Something that made this week difficult was getting my boyfriend on board with being mindful of our water usage. He will turn on the water and fully walk into a different room to use the bathroom or complete another short task while the water "warms up" but he is gone for much longer than the water actually needs. Once I explained my mission to him, I felt as though he was slightly more on board and I do feel like our water usage has decreased.

For week three, we focused on food. I took this week to clean out my fridge so I can be more mindful moving forward and less wasteful. I have never been good at eating leftovers, so this week by starting with a clean fridge, I was able to keep everything edible within eyesight. I made soup using anything that was still good--it wasn't my best soup but I was proud to use some of the stuff in my fridge instead of throwing it all out

This week I worked WAY too much, so I brought my waste-related eco challenge to my job with me. I work at a coffee shop chain and we have an uncontrollable amount of trash. On top of that though, we constantly have new people (the turnover is crazy) and we're moving really quickly, so the trash we do have has been improperly disposed of lately. Also, I know Oregon has strict recycling laws, and when we aren't on top of these things, I think my store can contribute a lot to improper waste and unnecessary pollution. This week I notified my team and made a post informing people of how we can properly dispose of our trash and recycle, and I printed out a poster that I found online as a resource. Additionally, I encouraged people to be very intentional and to rinse and recycle the milk cartons as we went, and celebrated all the milk cartons that were properly disposed of. My store is such high volume that I see us consistently throw milk cartons in the trash when we are busy and feel like we don't have time to rinse them. Milk jugs are actually recyclable in Oregon! (Unlike our plastic cups). Screenshot from the Starbucks website (-: