Eco Challenge 6 - For this weeks eco-challenge I decided to walk to and from work from my apartment complex. The walk is roughly 2 miles along NW Portland and Tomm Mcall waterfront. Some of the challenges/cons of my walk are the busy streets on Naito that I have to cross, and the rain that I encountered (which were most days). On a personal level the positives of this walk include the views of the Willamette River, the lit pathways along the water, and access to the Max If ever changed my mind. On a environmental level I reduced emissions and traffic congestion. Walking this route also allowed me to see how our mixed transportation infrastructure works between pedestrian paths, public transit, and road crossings.

Eco Challenge #6 Transportation: My car is in California, so I rely on public transportation to get around the city. Today, I decided I should walk! I was headed home from a shift I picked up by Powell's. The streetcar goes directly to and from campus to Powell's, but I decided to walk instead since it's not that far from campus. Usually, I take the streetcar or the MAX because it is convenient, but mostly because I don't feel like walking or it's too cold. Walking was nice and the weather was good today. I actually ran into a few of my customers from my usual store and stopped to talk to them on my way back from my shift. It was nice to run into people and have a conversation - something that doesn't often happen to me on public transit. After this week's challenge, I am inspired to potentially take up biking. While walking is always an option, it adds a lot of time and the weather does not always make it easy. Perhaps, as we are moving into the warmer season, I will start biking rather than taking transit!

Eco Challenge #5 Community: For this eco challenge, I focused on connecting with some of my neighbors. I live here on campus, and am familiar with the people who live on my floor, but I don't often talk to them. For this task, though it was a little out of my comfort zone, I started talking to people around the building. While doing laundry, I stopped an talked to another resident who was doing their laundry at the same time. Luckily, they were very talkative and seemed like the right person to approach. I also decided that for this challenge, I would talk to people in the elevators too. I know a lot of people, especially students are not usually willing to have small talk, but it was nice to learn people's names for once. Finally, I stopped to talk to my RA for a bit and we just shared how the term was going for both of us.

Eco Challenge #4 Water: For this challenge, I wanted to focus on taking shorter showers. I used to be pretty great at this, as I have always been pretty water conscious, but as of late, I have been taking lengthier showers. I don't set a timer, but I queue two songs to play (about 5-6 minutes) and the goal is to be done by the time those songs are over. I have always turned off water while applying products, only having it on to rinse off, so I am keeping this habit. Since I started working early shifts, I started showering once after a my shift, and once again at the end of the day. I have decided to limit this, only showering twice when I feel I absolutely need to - otherwise limiting myself to one shower at the end of the day.

Eco Challenge #3 Food: For this challenge, I decided to go to farmer's market to buy a few things. I was able to go this past weekend and bought lunch, as well as a bunch of produce. I used some in salads and got some to snack on here and there. I was pretty good at going to the farmer's market here at PSU each Saturday for a while, but this school year, my work schedule has me for the whole duration of the market - so I haven't been able to go as much. I was off at 1pm this past weekend, leaving me just the last hour to attend. In the past, I have found that it is better to attend in the early morning, because the best products are still available and not as many people are in attendance. I recently updated my work availability (for other reasons) but it will permit me to attend the farmers market early, since my Saturday shifts will now start later. I have a bad habit of putting off grocery shopping because without a car, it's difficult for me to walk to and from the grocery store and being able to carry all that I need, especially when it is always raining. I appreciate that the farmer's market is accessible, even more so since I live on campus.

Energy: For this ecochallenge, I focused on the "Turn It Off" goal. I have a bad habit of always leaving things plugged in, not turning off lights, and leaving things charging over night. In my dorm, I especially had no excuse because most of my electronics and appliances are connected to power strips - which are simple to turn off. For this challenge, rather than turning off power strips, I completely unplugged them, as that saves more power than just turning them off, especially since each power strip has 3-4 devices/appliances connected. One issue I ran into while unplugging my appliances was that the time on the Keurig would reset. I initially found this annoying, but then realized that if my goal was to only have it plugged in when I needed it, why did I need it to display the time? I don't even look at it if i'm not making coffee or tea. I also have to awkwardly crawl under my desk, and move a few things around to get to the power strip that my game consoles, TV, and computer charger are plugged into. This was an issue when I was rushing out the door - remembering last minute that I needed to squeeze under my desk to get to the power strip. I encouraged my roommate to also start unplugging or at the very least, turning off her power strip before heading out for the day.

I’ve been relying on public transportation for my daily commutes for quite some time now. This week, I made sure to continue using the streetcar and buses, which have become my go-to options for getting around the city. While it's already part of my routine, I’ve noticed that it not only helps me avoid traffic but also reduces my personal carbon footprint. Sometimes, the challenge can be dealing with the crowds during rush hour, but I still prefer it over driving. I feel good knowing I’m contributing to a more sustainable lifestyle, and it connects well to the course's theme of making environmentally-conscious transportation choices.

For transportation this week I have decided to walk a bit more. I realized that I hop in my car for a 2-3 minute drive often when getting food. This past week I walked around SE and SW neighborhood to get food, and even found a new spot. Within a 15 minute walk from my house in SE is Baby Doll Pizza and they were amazing. It is in the opposite direction of me driving to work, so I walked there, then walked back home and then drove to work. Smelling the pizza the entire walk home definitely had me more excited to share it with my co workers.

I would have never carpooled before this class so transportation challenges was a good push for me to offer rides to the Sunflower Farms. I will try to carpool with some of my coworkers to work to stop driving every weekend.

2/18/25: Was somebody going to tell me that carrying 6 reusable bags 1.5 miles home is way easier on my body than using paper? I have mobility issues with my joints and often have to carry bags weirdly so I don't slip my joints out of place; The reusable bags were able to handle a lot more strain than plastic or paper, although I think I will invest in some thicker-strapped bags for even better support. I've been using reusable bags the past few weeks, but found carrying the bags awkward and a little embarrassing. I usually do small shopping trips to be able to carry things home, but there was enough difference with the cloth bags that I may be able to do more large order trips.