Eva Tomlinson

For the final eco challenge my two goals were joyful movement and limiting my social media use. For joyful movement, I was aiming for at least 10 minutes a day, and I did things like dancing or meandering walks. I achieved far more than 10 minutes almost every day and I found that it decreased my stress levels a lot and helped me to be more productive. I often found I had time to fit in a walk between bus stops when my wait was 10-20 minutes, and especially when it was sunny this was a great way to spend some time. Limiting social media use is a constant goal for me that I am often not good at. Especially when I am stressed out I use it to tune out. I did decrease my usage by an hour almost every day, which was definitely helped by doing joyful movement and taking walks while waiting for the bus, which allowed me to spend that time in a different way and stay more present.

This week I chose the two ecochallenges of practicing gratitude for Earth, and of trying to enjoy the sunset every day. Practicing gratitude towards the earth is important to me because I value the ability to notice nature and enjoy little things like flowers and moss, especially in the spring. I used mindfulness as a tool in this challenge, making sure that when I had the chance I was paying attention to the snow falling, or smelling flowers that were blooming, or feeling the texture of the moss I passed. These very small acts make me feel more present in the world and make me very appreciative of every spot of beauty and color that nature adds to the world. It was not entirely possible to enjoy the sunset every day as it has been pretty overcast, but when I am at work and have a higher point of view I have been able to see more clearly and enjoy the way the light fades out, and even see how the mountains slowly disappear in the dark. I am looking forward to spring, when I will have more time as well as energy to spend outdoors enjoying the new blooms and the warming weather.

The main eco challenge I took on this week was to improve a bus stop. I initially thought I might decorate a stop in some way, which was unfortunately not something I could undertake in the short time I had. I take the bus everywhere daily and have a few stops I wait at regularly. One particular stop is smaller and used less, and for weeks this stop has had piles of cardboard boxes and other garbage dumped at it. This has been quite frustrating to see, but I haven't had the supplies to clean it up as I am always coming from work. I decided to bring a trash bag and clean it up to the best of my ability. It was a bit disheartening because along with the cardboard boxes left there, there was styrofoam in a nearby drain, broken glass around the bus stop post, and a bunch of small pieces of garbage all along the sidewalk and in the bushes leading up to my stop. I did not have gloves, so I had to handle the pieces of glass carefully, but I found and picked up as much trash as I possibly could in the 15 minutes before my bus came and it was ultimately rewarding to see how much litter I had taken out of the environment. I am including pictures of the before and after. Taking on this challenge gave me the idea of creating a poster or other art piece I can put at a few stops asking people to take their litter and throw it away in the bus trash cans. I think when I have more time I will do this!

For this week's ecochallenge I chose to do some research on restorative justice and on supporting native communities, and spent about an hour total looking into both. Restorative justice is about repairing the harm caused by crime, and is based more on ideas of forgiveness and accountability more than punishment. I find this concept to be an interesting solution, especially considering the way criminals are treated before and after they have been "punished" by traditional systems. It is hard to implement in the larger context, but I read a few stories about violent criminals speaking to people they had harmed or family members of people they had killed, and this process being healing for both parties. The most compelling part of my research was a Ted Talk by Martha Minow, a law professor at Harvard for more than 40 years. She talked about forgiveness in many aspects of life, in pardons for certain crimes, in expungement of records, in debt forgiveness, and expressed that these are things we need more of in the United States. These things can help people start anew, and accountability is still possible while also treating people fairly and with forgiveness.
I spent time researching the Umatilla, Walla Walla, and Cayuse people who used to inhabit land in the Columbia Gorge and land in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. These three tribes had their land reduced by millions of acres due to 19th century treaties, and share one reservation. Previous to colonization, these tribes were all friendly and shared some space and resources, but now all share 172,000 acres of land as opposed to the 7 or so million acres that once belonged to them. They were all nomadic, moving with the seasons to be able to gather resources accordingly. All of their populations have decreased, and now there are about 8,000 people between the three. Umatilla is still a spoken language, but the Cayuse language is extinct due to colonization and decreased population. Knowing a bit more about the people whose land we are on makes me feel even more connected to the importance of respecting and preserving these cultures, and doing my part to defend them

This week I took on two water-related eco challenges. The first was to take 5-minute showers which I actually found pretty easy to achieve. I appreciated that it saved my time as well as water. I made this challenge fun by listening to a 5-minute song to mark the time passing. The other challenge I completed was to get involved with the water justice movement by learning from resources they provide. I read an article from 2018 about Nestle taking water without permission from the First Nations community whose land holds the water. The residents of the land do not even have access to safe drinking water, or even running water themselves. The article discussed how the corporation is allowed to do this on an expired license because of the legal rules, and how Nestle is specifically trying to capitalize on water with the knowledge that a shortage could likely happen. Canada is home to 60% of the world's lakes, and 1/5 of the world's freshwater, but has big problems with water shortages due to the government's regulations. Even with promises to help resolve the issue, not enough money is being put aside to address it fully. Outside of this article I did a little research about water shortage risk in the world, and about 2 billion people right now do not have consistent access to clean water. By 2040, most of the world's countries will be facing water shortages to some extent, and according to the diagram I referenced, Canada is not one of them. Considering the account that I read, this may be reported due to the large amounts of freshwater in the country, but not taking in socioeconomic factors.

For this week's food-related eco-challenge I chose 3 goals. One of my goals was to eat 2 meatless meals and/or 1 vegan meal per day. I believe I ate at least one, but usually two meatless meals each day this week. For breakfast I usually eat yogurt and/or toast. For dinners this week I planned vegetarian meals with my roommate who is vegetarian, and we made tofu stroganoff and spinach stuffed mushrooms with rosemary potatoes. The potatoes used up some fresh rosemary that did not get used in a previous recipe. I do not eat a lot of meat in my everyday life, but I do really like instant ramen and have been finishing off the last of the stash I already have before trying to find a meatless and less packaged option. I did not end up making any vegan meals this week. My second goal was to cook one zero-waste meal per day. I did not cook every day, but I made a meal early in the week that created four portions, and counted those meals as zero-waste because no new packaging waste was created with these meals. I believe when it was originally being cooked it also produced little to no waste because items like noodles were not used up, and produce did not come in packaging. Related to this goal, I also made my own oat milk for the first time this week and it was very easy. I stored it in glass bottles I had saved from other items. I am excited that I can easily make this myself from now on and reduce the packaging waste. The third goal I had was to do some research on seafood sustainability which was very informative. I looked at all types of seafood I eat usually and learned about some of the fishing and farming practices that are unsustainable and why. I learned where practices are sustainable and even learned about what types of fish to look for in sushi to make sustainable choices. I am glad to have this resource that I can now use whenever I purchase fish.

The eco challenges I selected this week were to turn off my appliances and electronics when not in use. This is already something I try to do, but I worked on being better about it this week. I tried to turn my lights off even when I was only leaving the room for 5 minutes, and tried not to leave my heat on in rooms I was not using. This was definitely made easier by the warmer weather this week. I also chose to power down my computer to save energy and limit CO2 emissions. This was a very easy change to make, and after a few days of actively thinking about it, it became a normal part of my routine and I will continue to do this. I also thought the challenge to send representatives letters about the power grid seemed relevant, but I did not accomplish this goal. I did not feel like I had input I could actually contribute to this conversation and felt stuck on this goal. I still want to pursue a goal of sending a few letters to representatives about other environmental issues, and will try to make time for this in the coming weeks.

This week I undertook two daily challenges, and one multiday challenge. My daily goals were to use reusable bags and reusable mugs, which is something I already do, but can improve upon. Because of the bag challenge and because of my overall Eco Change project, I was especially motivated to use reusable bags when I went grocery shopping, and saved 12 bags in one trip, from using my reusable totes and also reusing plastic bags that I already had to bring home bulk items. Additionally I got some mesh produce bags to use. I did use 5 reusable mugs for my coffee or tea this week, but there was one day I got a disposable cup from a cafe. This was partially due to the circumstance of not having power for a couple days, and not being prepared with my own cup.
My multiday challenge was to do a waste audit, and I tried to record ever piece of waste I sent to the landfill, as well as what I recycled or composted. I found that when it is written out, it is definitely more waste than I realized I was creating. Being mindful of this audit during the week also led to me being more aware of waste I created, and trying to be a bit more careful about the trash I created. Some challenges I experienced when doing this were trying to decide what waste constituted as my own at work or in a restaurant, such as recycling a box because it is empty, not because I used what was in it, or the wood stir stick going to the landfill because it came in my drink without me asking. I ultimately determined that anything that I had used in some capacity before it was thrown away was my waste, therefore the box was not specifically my waste, but the stir stick was. Another challenge that came a couple days in, was realizing creating some waste was so innate to me that I didn't even notice, particularly paper towels in a public restroom. In this same thread, I wondered how I can get rid of waste like compost if the environment does not have this option.