Join the Campus Ecochallenge, presented by Ecochallenge.org

ENST 246 - Spring 2025 Feed

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Reflection, encouragement, and relationship building are all important aspects of getting a new habit to stick.
Share thoughts, encourage others, and reinforce positive new habits on the Feed.

To get started, share “your why.” Why did you join the challenge and choose the actions you did?

Sophia Cavalieri 2/19/2025 6:45 PM
I have really enjoyed getting engaged in the community aspect. My one time challenge was to research then contact a local representative with my support of environmental issues. It was very fulfilling to know that my voice is getting heard even if it's in a small way. It made me happy to know I was doing my part and being a part of a “issue public” in a small way. I found it interesting to reach out to these people and just find out who they are, especially in an area that is mostly red. For the waste section of the challenge my one time challenge was to research the waste processes here. Again this was interesting especially being in a new area. It is important to know where and what is happening to your waste. I was the president of the environmental club at my high school and we would spend at least one meeting a year teaching people about the trash and recycling programs in our community and school. It is interesting to see the similarities and differences on that level as well. Both of these have reminded me how much I enjoy getting engaged with what is happening around me. Whether it is learning about the waste programs or contacting local officials I am really getting involved.
Through this challenge I have learned many things. One of them being the little changes I can make in my life for the better. I think many people have an idea in their head that being an environmentalist means you have to do everything in your life environmentally friendly. But through these challenges has been a great example that contrasts that. You don't always have to make big shows or actions to make yourself an environmentalist. The small actions that we have been doing through these weeks have really emphasized the small actions that are important too. Even though they are small it adds up eventually. I’ve found that they don't take too much work to incorporate into my routine and that it's me just being lazy to try to put an effort into doing them. In Anthony Leiserowitz’s article, Building Public and Political Will for Climate Change Action, he classifies a group of people called issue public. These people are “highly attentive to and seek out information about their issue, have relatively high levels of knowledge, have developed strong and stable attitudes, and are more likely than other citizens to take action on the issue”. To me starting doing these daily actions and putting in that effort is the start to being part of the issue public if you want.

The historical and cultural origins of organic food are related to the 'daily' and 'one-time' challenges available in the "food," "health," "waste," and "community" we have been doing. Through our readings of organic foods we have explored the ideas of how food has been developed through society and time. In Maria McGrath’s article she refers to as the “denaturalization and commoditization of America”. This portrays how food has become a corporate game and not focused on human health most of the time. Many businesses just want to make money. Because of this we need to be focused on our health and what we consume. Through this challenge we have been trying to do this. In the food categories many of the topics are buying local foods or organic. The waste plays into this as well as many of our foods are packaged in one time plastic packaging. So therefore buying locally reduces this and helps your health. The health section plays into this because as it has been shown historically many of these food corporations aren't focused on this so as we progress in time we need to think about it for ourselves.

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- Andrew Stuhl 2/20/2025 9:02 AM
  - TEAM CAPTAIN
  - 28-DAY STREAK
  Great Sophia! I am glad you are feeling good about getting involved in the ways you have thru the "community" challenges. That's awesome you were a leader of your environmental club in high school! I love how you wrote about one of the benefits or outcomes of the daily actions -- that it puts us on a path toward creating the "issue public" that we need for large-scale social change. I agree with that, for sure. We will not only need to create that "issue public" but also sustain it over the long haul, and through lots of ups and downs, wins and losses, when it comes to making policy change. The EcoChallenge prepares us for that because we have to check-in every day, sometimes we do it, others we forget; we experience the wins and losses to an extent and get the chance to re-commit and keep going forward.
  
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Regan McGrath 2/19/2025 6:19 PM
My daily action for the waste category was to not accept disposable bags when making purchases. I always refuse a bag when I buy just a few small items I can carry in my hands. If I am going to Giant to purchase groceries, and I know I am going to be buying a decent amount of things, I now bring reusable bags to put my groceries in. At home, my family uses reusable bags when we shop for groceries, but at school I have often forgotten about it and bought things on numerous occasions and needed plastic bags. When I went grocery shopping this past weekend, I brought tote bags and carried my groceries out in those bags instead of taking plastic bags. I’ve noticed in the past that if you don’t do self checkout, the workers at grocery stores will often double bag your groceries too. This means you’re using even more unnecessary plastic that will just sit in your home or go in the garbage and end up in a landfill. I have only bought groceries once since beginning this challenge, but it already made me feel better leaving the store knowing I wasn’t taking home more plastic than necessary. I know I will continue to do this in the future, and I can be prepared by leaving reusable bags in my car. My community daily action is to help 2 other people throughout the day. I’ve been doing this in small ways by offering people directions, help in class on a problem, etc. One specific thing I did the other day was review a friend's application for a job interview. I think this challenge has been hard for me to pinpoint the specific acts I do to help others, yet I’ve made it my goal every day to just be helpful in small ways to anyone who needs it. My one time challenge for waste was to learn about sustainable fashion and practice it. I read about the contributions of the fashion industry to global warming and why sustainable fashion is a better alternative that can reduce GHG emissions. It was interesting to reflect on the fashion decisions I make in my own life, and has made me want to thrift more, which I sometimes do. Purchasing secondhand clothing is one way I learned to shop more sustainably. This taught me about how I need to simplify and be more minimalistic instead of making unsustainable or unnecessary purchases.
I’ve learned to appreciate nature more through the practice gratitude for the earth challenge in the nature category. During my daily runs I’ve made sure to look around and appreciate my ability to explore the wilderness while running, which not all are privileged enough to do. I usually complain about the cold during the winter, the rain during the sprint, the heat during the summer, etc. I’ve tried to complain less about the current season and appreciate the benefits of that climate or the beauty of that season instead of constantly wishing for change. I have also been getting more sleep each night by having less daily screen time and focusing on healthy sleep. I think this has helped me fall asleep earlier and achieve better REM sleep. Focusing on my sleep reminded me of how circadian rhythms regulate sleep, and by spending so much time inside with artificial lighting or staring at a screen, I mess up my sleep schedule. Some of the benefits I have experienced from spending more time outside and less time on screens are improved sleep, mental restoration, and improved emotional well-being (Emily Swaim). The video “Real Food: The Best Diet” reminded me of all the artificial and processed foods society consumes. We have replaced whole, natural foods like eggs and sugar with processed variations. There are many processed organic foods that are advertised as being healthier versions of foods, but learning about the truth behind these processed foods has made me want to avoid consuming processed things. The article “Naturally” explains, “At a time when the whole food system feels somewhat precarious, I assume that a product labeled organic is more healthful and safer, more “wholesome,” though if I stop to think about it, I’m not exactly sure what that means” (Pollan). This resonates with me, as I often buy organic food assuming it is healthier. This taught me to read the labels and learn more about the ingredients in the food I’m consuming and what the process was to bring it to the grocery store shelves. Reducing consumption of processed goods can help lower GHG emissions caused by processing and shipping food. Instead, I can buy locally from farmers markets, especially for produce. “The history of New York, told through its trash” made me reflect on the things I throw out on a day to day basis. Looking further into what I consume, I realized how much plastic I throw away each week from eating a protein bar or buying a container of sushi at the bison. We learned only 2% of plastic is effectively recycled, so even when I recycle these items, it doesn’t erase the fact that I used plastic in the first place. Overall, all the challenges I’ve completed have taught me to be more mindful about my decisions and actions. So much of my daily life has become a habit and I don’t think twice about what I consume, throw out, or do. By bringing my impact on the environment to my attention I can live in a more sustainable way that can reduce my carbon footprint and work towards a more sustainable future.

For my daily food challenges I tried to eliminate food waste by being mindful when buying groceries and only purchasing what I thought I could eat over the next week or two. For 1 meal a day I eat in my room instead of in the caf, and this allows me to ensure I’m not wasting the food I buy. In week 4 we learned about the history of food and how processed and organic foods began to be advertised and sold in grocery stores. We learned about how the definition of organic foods shifted and no longer meant what it used to. “Naturally” states that “... The word ‘organic’—having entered the vocabulary of both agribusiness and government—is no longer these farmers’ to redefine” (Pollan). This shows how once larger corporations became involved in ‘organic’ food, its meaning changed. I also learned about food sovereignty and accessibility for my health and food one time challenges. I watched the documentary “Gather” and read articles concerning food security. I learned that “Food insecurity is associated with increased risk for multiple chronic health conditions such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and mental health disorders” (NIH). I also learned about how areas without food sovereignty had their food systems colonized and have become subject to processed food in grocery stores as the only affordable option, which leads to health issues. My community challenges were to help people in daily life and engage in active listening during conversations. I think that these challenges align with the “Building Public and Political Will for Climate Change Action” article because it emphasizes the strength of a united force. By helping and listening to others I have strengthened my teamwork skills and fostered a sense of community. This is a crucial skill to make lasting and effective change in the world, as “system-level changes to the way human societies use energy and natural resources are necessary to limit global warming to ‘safe’ levels” (Leiserowitz). This emphasizes the collaborative efforts that are significant in creating change.

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- Andrew Stuhl 2/20/2025 8:57 AM
  - TEAM CAPTAIN
  - 28-DAY STREAK
  A very thorough journal, Regan! A pleasure to read, but not a surprise, as you consistently do a thorough job on all the assignments you submit. It's great to see you integrating your personal experiences with the daily challenges and the assigned readings. The larger message there is that we can learn through both (experiences and reading) and that, if we know about the historical and cultural origins of something, it often provides motivation to make the small daily change in our lives. I hope you continue the challenges / habits that bring you well being, happiness, peace, and a sense of community - and even continue to try new ones if you want! Looking forward to the next unit.
  
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Shane Wynne 2/19/2025 5:56 PM
Shane Wynne

As I explained to you on Tuesday, I am competing in my leagues championship conference meet this week. In this meet on the deck, no exaggeration, thousands of the little powerade ups that Corbin and Cat were talking about was used and thrown out. Now, without taking this class I would have never realized just how bad this is for the environment and also on the scale that it is. 10 teams, 40 people each probably using around 5-15 a day and sometimes so much more. I realied that I also do a lot and I was expecting not to use so many plastic water bottles but I do. Using a refillable water bottle has been huge for me, its also like a goal for me to drink a lot of water so that by itself is a fun thing for me. Onto the community challenges, I just knocked on peoples door, and don’t get me wrong, at first people were very hesitant because I think they thought it was wrid but after we got to know eachother it was actually pretty cool. I am actually typing this response when I am in their apartment so look at that. Again as I taked about, just trying to become a more outgoing person and I think this helps a lot with that.

I think my relationship with the environment is something of a growing one. Full understanding and acceptance that I did not really care about the environment a lot growing up. I would hear all these numbers about the planet dying, coral reefs dissapearing, a garbage patch in the middle of the ocean that is as big as texas, and nothing would really faze me. I think for a few reasons just pure ignorance and bliss, and for other reasons and this is a terrible mindset to have, but I think the overall feeling that if you really think about I can’t do anything to contribute. How is me recycling one bottle going to do anything. But then you kind of take a step back and realize that you need to do at least something, becausemaybe that affects another person to do something. I think also a nother reason wy I probably didn’t care is because it doesn’t really affect me mainly. I come from Connecticut, and a very privileged town, the trash is not ending up by me, it is mainly affecting a third world country or someone that is less privileged than me so I would’t see the actual affects of it. Which is very sad to admit but I am happy that I am able tot ake fault in that. I relate it to the new york article we read in week 5, the only reasoned why they outlawed is because they fully saw the affects of the trash. If that never happened, they would continue to treat trash the same way. And it still does not do a good job!

I think the originiality of this organic food and disposability kinda gives way for these challenges. Obviously these challenges were created around being healthier, and being kinder to the planet that we are on. As I was writing this question, I asked my new neighbors from the community challenge about their opinion on climate change, again I think it is funny because I really just met these people and I am already hopping in with some loaded questions, but they wanted to know more. It relates to the Yale article in week 5 talking about building a massive collective action towards this problem of climate change and how important it is. One of the things that also relates to the article is my neighbor talking about and I am quoting here, “how politicians don’t give a shit, oil companies own them” and to her credit, she is not wrong. You look at the donations of a lot of elected officials and something just changes. You are sworn in to protect these people and instead you are selling out to a multi billion dollar a year industry, killing your constitutents instead of protecting them for a little bit of money. Crazy to think about, on a side note, I hate politicians.

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- Andrew Stuhl 2/20/2025 8:52 AM
  - TEAM CAPTAIN
  - 28-DAY STREAK
  Appreciate this post Shane! Your honesty is refreshing, especially around the fact that you did not grow up thinking too much about the environment, and the reality that the circumstances of you growing up in the town in CT that you did means you don't really face pollution or climate hazards like folks in other places do. Those are important realities to confront. I think it makes you relatable as a human being - and this is something that you (and all of us) will need to figure out how to do when we turn to the next unit - collective action. Collective action requires doing what you're doing this week: talking to others, listening to their answers, and somehow persuading them to "give a shit" and take action with you. We will have lots to say about how to build "political will" in today's environment, where it seems politicians in both major parties are bought by monied interests and corporations responsible for the state of our planet/society. It's a tall task but I know we are up for it.
  
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Maria Chiappelli 2/19/2025 4:34 PM
The eco challenge has been a great way to examine my daily actions and understand how I have been unintentionally contributing to the climate crisis. While most environmental issues stem from systemic faults, I have found it empowering to do my part on an individual level. Not only have the challenges made me more aware of my effect on the environment, but they have also positively contributed to my quality of life.
This week was my favorite set of challenges. Over the past few weeks, I have learned what types of challenges have been most beneficial to my learning and engagement, so when choosing challenges for the “community” and “waste” categories, I had a good idea of what I was going to choose. I wanted to pick challenges that would force me to learn something new and make occasional habits a new norm. As part of the community challenge, I chose to help one person a day and host a documentary watch party. The daily challenge of helping people was very vague, so I made it a point to check in with at least one of my friends each day. At this point in the semester, stress levels are starting to increase, so I found that taking the time to just speak about how we are doing was a good way to help my friends and also myself. For the documentary watch party, my friends will be coming over tonight to watch one on Roe v. Wade. I think this will be a good chance to learn more about the history of the case and help us think critically about the current state of reproductive justice. The challenges I chose from the “waste” category were using reusable bags and learning about sustainable fashion. When I go to the grocery store I always try to bring reusable bags, but sometimes I forget, especially if I didn’t plan on going to the store. This challenge was a great way to turn an occasional habit into something more regular and concrete. The only store I have gone to this week was Giant, so it was easy to bring a reusable bag because a lot of people do that anyway. I would like to try another store, one where it isn’t normal to bring your own bag, and see how that makes me feel. The final challenge I did was learn about sustainable fashion. I already thrift the majority of my clothes, but it is mainly for an economic reason. Something that was obvious to me before I started researching was that thrifting helps prevent clothes from entering landfills. However, something I didn’t know was how much water it takes to process and grow cotton, so keeping clothes in use for longer periods of time can help reduce the amount of wasted resources.

Most of what I learned from the challenges is that it is really simple to make changes in my life that will reduce my effect on the environment. President Carter’s speech encouraging people to waste less energy really resonated with me in that sense. While turning down the thermostat will not solve all of our environmental problems, he pointed out some of the ways we are unnecessarily wasting resources. After reading that article, I turned down my own thermostat, because I realized I could survive with it being a little colder than what I was used to. Something else that resonated with me was Dr. Weil’s video on eating “real food.” After studying abroad in Italy, this was a topic I became interested in, and this class has made me realize that eating real food is not only good for my health, but for the environment as a whole. As far as waste goes, I was shocked to learn that “a million plastic bottles are consumed a minute,” according to Susan Strasser’s article on plastic. I knew that the amount of plastic we consumed was a problem, but never understood the degree to which we used it. Once again, this article made me reflect on my time in Italy and I realized that they do not use nearly as much plastic as we do in the United States. Even though plastic use is so normalized here and it feels like there is no way to fix it, I think we can easily transition to more sustainable forms of packaging.

The historical and cultural origins of organic food and disposability are related to the tasks in the campus eco challenge. The organic food movement began as a response to industrialization and World War 2 which contributed to what Maria McGrath refers to as the “denaturalization and commoditization of America” (3). With a new focus on natural foods, the organic food movement was pushing back against these forces. Many of the challenges from the “food” and “health” categories are in line with the values of the organic food movement including “choose organic ingredients,” “buy from a farmers market,” and “eat more fruits and veggies,” all of which put an emphasis on purchasing local, organic produce which in turn positively affect your well-being. The organic food movement also put an emphasis on the cultural meanings attributed to food. Challenges from the “community” category can help us understand the different cultural meanings through “engaging in active listening” and “supporting native communities.” Finally, the “waste” also ties back into the “denaturalization and commoditization of America” (3), because we are producing more and in turn wasting more. Challenges like “skip the straw” and “compost food waste” help us limit the amount we are wasting.

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- Andrew Stuhl 2/20/2025 8:37 AM
  - TEAM CAPTAIN
  - 28-DAY STREAK
  Great Maria! I'm glad to learn more about your thoughts on the Eco-Challenge and see you effectively narrate the historical and cultural origins of some of these daily actions. I'm biased, because I'm trained as a historian, but I think knowing the answer to the question "Why are things the way they are today?" is a powerful motivator for change, either at the individual or societal level. It also helps free our minds from the thought that life today was inevitable, or impossible to change. People just like you and me built the world we have today. People just like you and me will build the world we will have tomorrow.
  
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Grace Garvey 2/19/2025 11:47 AM
The two daily challenges that I added for waste and community were using reusable bags and helping others. I think that both of these things were easy to integrate into my daily routine. Helping others is something that I would like to think I already do, but I challenged myself to go out of my way to be helpful in ways that I would not normally. Whether it was helping one of my roommates with their dishes or someone in my research group with one of their projects, I tried to find ways to take some stress away from the people around me. In terms of using reusable bags, this is something that I always try to do, but often forget when I am going to the store. As some of my classmates talked about in class, my home state, Connecticut, has banned single-use plastic bags and charges five to ten cents for each paper bag that you use at the store. Here at school, when I have forgotten my reusable shopping bags in the past, it has not felt like an inconvenience at all, because the plastic shopping bags are free. It has been a good challenge to remember my reusable bags because it is an easy way to shift towards better habits in my daily life.

Over the past few weeks, doing the Eco-Challenge, I have really reflected on how the addition of these daily challenges has impacted my life. These challenges have not required major shifts in my behavior, rather small intentional actions or shifts in my previous habits. I think that in reflecting on my relationship with the environment, I realized that I have allowed myself to ignore small detrimental behaviors for the sake of convenience. Some of these behaviors are small, for example, utilizing plastic bags when I forget my reusable ones at the store, or leaving the lights on when I leave a room for a short time, but they can add up. In her 2019 article “Never gonna give you up: how plastic seduced America” Susan Strasser explains that when plastic entered the mainstream markets “The new materials offered freedom from attention, care and responsibility for material things.” I think that this Eco-Challenge showed me that I was carrying a similar blasé attitude towards my environmental impact. Additionally, many of the daily challenges added something positive to my day, encouraging my interaction with nature and the people around me. In McGrath’s book introduction, “The Gathering Storm” she describes that an activist described the natural food movement as “not telling people what to do. It’s bringing something to people that can change their lives, and that they can do easily” (McGrath, 2019, p.12). I think that the Eco-Challenge encourages a similar attitude, easy shifts that can accomplish real lifestyle changes. In reflecting on my experience with the Eco-Challenge many of the tasks were easy to implement but had significant impact on my daily life.

Many of the food and waste daily and one time challenges have direct ties to the “organic foods” movement and to how we dispose of our waste. The push for organic foods often stemmed from a want of environmentally friendly food options that did not conform to the mass-produced corporate agribusinesses practices that dominate our food system. Many of the challenges within food push for interaction with local farmers, eating organic foods, or evening educating oneself on food systems and complexes. In terms of the challenges in the waste category, there are similar options to reflect on one’s daily waste output, to educate oneself about local waste management options, and to lessen one’s waste output by utilizing reusable products rather than disposable ones. These actions are all interconnected through community and environmental impact. As author, Pam Reynolds asserts, “Our actions can and do have a profound effect on our collective well-being. But we must take action beyond bringing reusable bags to the grocery store.”(Reynolds, 2024). It is important for us to remember that the small changes we make add up and create an example for those around us, but we must not stop there. By engaging in our community, we can push past the challenges to work together to accomplish real change.

References:

McGrath, M. (2019). Introduction: The Gathering Storm Baby Boomers and Their Discontent. In Food for Dissent (pp. 1–14). University of Massachusetts Press; JSTOR. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvpbnpbk.5

Reynolds, P. (2024, March 18). The Truth About Carbon Footprints. Conservation Law Foundation. https://www.clf.org/blog/the-truth-about-carbon-footprints/

Strasser, S. (2019, June 21). Never gonna give you up: How plastic seduced America. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/21/history-of-america-love-affair-with-plastic

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- Andrew Stuhl 2/20/2025 8:34 AM
  - TEAM CAPTAIN
  - 28-DAY STREAK
  Wonderful, Grace! I'm glad to read here (and hear in class today) these positive reflections on the Eco-Challenge. I also want to acknowledge that you do an excellent job integrating the readings into your journal, making sure to identify the author and cite appropriately (both in text and with a bibliography). That's a hallmark of excellent academic writing and also is much more persuasive than referring to evidence more generally/vaguely, or not at all.
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Community

What benefits does a sharing economy offer to your own life? What benefits does it offer to your neighbors' and community members' lives?
Jenna Wright 2/18/2025 8:09 PM
Resources like a sharing economy are incredibly beneficial because it allows others to use certain products at a more feasible price through things like renting while also allowing those who own the items to make a profit. For me, I and people I know have rented and borrowed products such as cars. In a more community sense a sharing community can lead to a more tight-knit community as well as increase business opportunities.

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Katrina Torelli 2/18/2025 11:22 AM
For my daily challenge in the “waste” category, I chose “skip the straw”. This means that every day I will replace a plastic straw with a metal or reusable straw. This is something that initially was difficult for me because everyday I drink an emergen-c out of a tumbler with a plastic straw. While this daily challenge is not actually a hard thing to do, it was something that I had to incorporate into my routine. I found an old metal straw that I had lying around in my drawer and I have been making an effort to use it everyday. This has taught me that I am much more capable of making little changes in my daily routine than I give myself credit for. For my daily challenge in the “community” category, I chose “help others”. This means that every day I will help one person in need. This is something that I felt was very important for me to incorporate into my daily routine because sometimes I am so busy that I feel myself only focusing on how I can make my time more productive rather than the needs of others. I have learned that now that I have put helping others on my radar, I am much more inclined to look for people who need it. For example, I am more likely to hold the door or the elevator for someone now that I am aware that they may need my help.

Through the daily challenges across all the categories, I have learned that many of the largely advertised “environmentally friendly” practices that we do everyday are largely executed by PR firms. One of the daily challenges that I chose for the “food” week was to “choose organic ingredients” for one meal every day. This is something that I found to be relatively easy when I knew where to look and what food to buy, but after reading Pollan’s article, “Naturally” (2001), I realized that a lot of the “organic food” companies we support are thriving on false claims. Many companies utilize misleading labels and graphics with small farms or beautiful landscapes to guide the consumer to believe they are supporting a “mom and pop” farm when in reality the milk they are buying is loaded with chemicals. Pollan states that many organic farms became “PR firms” for the organic food movement. These companies target health seeking consumers who will buy organic for the perceived health benefits. McGrath’s article, “The Gathering Storm”, focuses on natural cooking and the commoditization of the organic food industry. Through my daily challenge and these articles, I have learned that the things that I thought were truly organic and contributing to the environment in a positive way are mostly based on false advertisements.

Disposability is based on throwaway culture and the rise of one-time use plastic products that contribute to the norms of cleanliness and convenience in society. The daily and one-time challenges in the “food” and “waste” categories are interlinked because they focus on living intentionally with waste disposal, some of that through food, and taking initiative on how to improve the state of the environment through our methods of fueling. These challenges connect to Strasser’s article “Never Gonna Give You Up” (2019) because she connects the idea of convenience and cleanliness to single use plastic products in the United States. Many people use plastic eating utensils so that they don't have to do dishes or drink out of plastic straws to save time. Some of the daily challenges for “food” and “waste” are about practicing “zero waste meals” or “skipping the straw” to reduce the amount of waste that is produced from food consumption. Throwaway culture, as stated by Strasser, rested on the idea that somebody else would carry away the trash, and this is something that the eco challenge holds members accountable for. The “health” and “community” sections of the eco challenge focus on quality of life and helping one’s surrounding community. Kaiser-Schatzlein’s article, “The history of New York, told through trash”, emphasizes how when the Fresh Kill landfill became so harmful to the quality of life of Staten Island residents they began to lobby for the closing. This connects to the health and community categories because people came together to support their community in the name of their collective health.

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- Andrew Stuhl 2/19/2025 12:23 PM
  - TEAM CAPTAIN
  - 28-DAY STREAK
  Nicely done Katrina! I see how you are integrating the readings and your experiences with your daily challenges into your answers to the prompts for this assignment. I'm thankful for your efforts in this Eco Challenge. I truly believe that experiential learning - where we do things ourselves, in addition to just reading about them - is a powerful way to learn a subject, in this case environmental activism. I hope you can take some of the new habits, sense of accountability, and sense of your own ability to make small daily changes into the future - not just our next unit in this course, but beyond this course as well. Like you said in your journal, we are much more capable of making change than we often give ourselves credit for.
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Community

In your opinion, how do social inequalities diminish a strong sense of community?
Kate Mercer 2/17/2025 6:30 PM
I mis-read the prompt, I want to attempt to spend minimum 15 minutes helping people but have adjusted my goals since then and will attempt to help as many people as possible as well as spend time making sure they are sufficiently assisted.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Health

Before you started this challenge, did you think you were 'addicted' to sugar? How do you feel now?
Jenna Wright 2/17/2025 8:45 AM
Before starting this challenge I wouldn’t say I was addicted to sugar but I would say I wasn’t aware of how much refined sugar was in some of the things I consumed. For example this weekend I went home, there is a red mango in my neighborhood that before coming to college I would go to at least 3 to 4 times a week. I normally get a smoothie or an açaí bowl, two things I always thought was relatively healthy and good for me. Because I was doing this challenge I decided to look up how much refined sugar these bowls contain and I was shocked at the amount of sugar that was in it. While it was not a crazy amount it was more than I thought it would be.

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- Andrew Stuhl 2/17/2025 9:19 AM
  
  TEAM CAPTAIN
  
  28-DAY STREAK
  It is wild how much sugar is in the food available to us in the United States. I'm particularly blown-away by how much sugar is in yogurt. Like more than 15g for a serving!! In my opinion, that level of sweetness is not necessary. Now, we do have to distinguish between refined sugar and 'natural' sugars - like fructose - that exist in fruits and vegetables. As Dr. Weil pointed out, typically when we consume a piece of fruit - as in your açaí bowl or a smoothie - the sugars come with fibers, seeds, and sometimes fruit skins that make that kind of sugar a much healthier form of sugar overall than simply scooping some table sugar to add to your food or drink.
  
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Anthony Kelly 2/16/2025 5:20 PM
For this week's EcoChallenge, I selected to work on reducing the number of plastic bags I use while shopping and being better at conversing with my friends about important issues that affect us all. When I partook in the reducing plastic bag daily action for waste, I began to realize just how many plastic bags I have wasted and thrown out after a shopping trip. It made me realize just how much I was negatively impacting the environment. My friends have always been better than me about using reusable bags, but after my experience with them, I found it to be both empowering and rewarding. There is something about filling up the reusable bag that makes me feel like my personal contributions are making a difference. When I think about this I think about our discussion on personal vs corporate responsibility when it comes to pollution. I have never been one to put too much pressure on the individual to change significantly because I always thought a lot of the blame was on the corporations. I mean to be fair, according to the Truth About Carbon Footprint article, 71% of the CO2 emitted into the atmosphere comes from 100 companies. But after this activity, I can appreciate personal contributions more and I see that there are small ways I can change to better the environment, even though in the past I was discouraged and felt like there was very little I could do. The community tab I chose was to engage in active listening with peers to spread my values to advocate for change. Throughout this week I have not been given many opportunities to participate in such dialogue, but I find it rewarding to listen to others, gain a new perspective, and better educate yourself on an important issue. It is how we can bring about meaningful change, as is portrayed in the Building Public and Political Will article. I am a true believer that debate is the best form of learning, and that is something I will continue to value after the EcoChallenge is over. In addition to my learning about personal contributions, I feel like I have learned a great deal through spending time outdoors and joyful movement. Being able to disconnect is a powerful thing, and I have felt more engaged in classes, feel like I have gotten better sleep, and overall just more present with life. However, my favorite daily action is to spend time outside and enjoy nature. Even though I am doing it as part of taking care of Milo, I find the beauty of nature relaxing. It got me thinking about what Pollan says and how he questions what is really "natural". He argues that human activity has long been a part of nature for thousands of years, so defining nature as purely untouched by people is unrealistic. I can find some solace in this, for even when I am outside enjoying nature and observing, there are landmarks of human activity all around. That does not destroy my appreciation for nature or my ability to reconnect with it, so I can understand where Pollan is coming from with his work. In today's world, you have to appreciate the outside and nature for what it is. I feel like these daily challenges have allowed me to grow my appreciation for it and taught me that nature is still rewarding regardless of human activity. Lastly, the week 5 readings about disposability resonated with me when it came to the "waste" and "food" daily actions I chose. I have always been bad about food waste and plastic waste. Before the EcoChallenge, I would try to meal prep for a week but it would always go to waste because I had a craving for something else or I was just tired of eating similar things each day. That, in turn, would lead me to throw away the plastic container that I put the portion into as well. The Never Gonna Give You Up article explained to us how corporations are to blame for the reliance on plastics for consumption and how synthetic materials have taken over the economy. Since 2000, half of all the plastic ever produced was manufactured for our goods. Corporations that made consumer goods encouraged a continuation of purchases that would enrich them and the chemical industry. These industries have been able to profitize from our reliance on these products. According to the article, in the 1900s, Americans produced little waste and the habits of reuse were strong. However, in the 1920s, most families moved toward a modern relationship with the material world and throwaway culture grew. I feel like the daily actions from the "food", "health", "waste", and "community" categories are an attempt to try to revert to our habits before plastic overtook our lives. It encourages people to reduce as much waste as possible and practice the habit of reuse as they did in agricultural societies. I feel like the EcoChallenge is set up for us to revert to the past when food was not preserved or wasted. It wants us to realize that the habits we grew in the past decades are destroying our environment, and we can learn to go back to our old ways if we try to break the cycle of comfort we have come to know with plastics.

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- Andrew Stuhl 2/17/2025 9:12 AM
  - TEAM CAPTAIN
  - 28-DAY STREAK
  Great Anthony! Appreciate you working ahead to turn in this journal well before the Feb 20 deadline. It's great to see the benefits you are drawing from the Eco Challenge. I hope you continue to find the daily actions meaningful long after we complete this "assignment" in class. I also think some of the lessons you wrote about - a sense of fulfillment; a sense that "you can make a difference"; better well-being - are all very important to keep in mind as we shift toward collective action, which can be very frustrating and not as immediately gratifying. Finally, very good job incorporating the readings into your answer so that you / I can see how the course materials and the course experiences (eco-challenge) are informing one another.
  
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