I’m Ready for the Sustainability Challenge

Honestly, I chose this course because it fit into my schedule nicely, but I am excited about the opportunities and challenges ahead. First off, I have never blogged before but I’m ready to try new things. Secondly, since junior year of High School, I have had a big interest in living more sustainably. One of my favorite teachers in High School was very passionate about environmental injustice and she definitely walks the talk. She was a big influence in my life to reduce my emissions and live less impactfully. Her impression on me led me to chose GreenHouse at UK.

So, do I live a full on sustainable lifestyle?

Not quite, but I can’t wait to try more ways to live sustainably through this course. I’ve always wanted to and this will give me the opportunity to try it out for myself to see what works and what doesn’t. From what I’ve heard so far, I find making my own products, a zero trash day, and the composting box all interesting, intriguing, and something I am definitely looking forward to. I can’t wait to jump into these projects and keep this blog updated with my experiences!

 

Challenge Blog 15 – Celebration

I can’t believe that this semester is already over and that I am done with my freshman year of college! I am very happy that I chose to take The Sustainability Challenge class for my Greenhouse LLP course. I loved how hands on this class was and all of the activities and projects that we were able to do. I have learned so much in this class that I am able to take with me and use the rest of my life. Before taking this class, I thought that I lived a pretty “green” lifestyle but I was wrong. I learned so many new ways to live a sustainable lifestyle.

It was fun having new challenges every week to test how sustainable we really can be. One of the hardest challenges for me was probably the challenge that we had to go 24 hours without using power in our dorms. I was mostly able to go the 24 hours without using power in my dorm except for a few things like having the light on while I took a shower.

My mom has been doing very well with her challenges that I presented to her. She is now only using tupperware containers to store leftovers and she has not bought a case of water bottles since I gave her the challenges. Even though this class is over, hopefully she will carry on these new habits into the future.

I cannot wait to go home and share what I have learned in this class with my family and friends! I will continue to use the things I learned in this class in the future to live a more sustainable lifestyle and hopefully make a difference!

Challenge Blog 12 – Water Conservation

In class we built our very own rain barrels. We were then asked to write about our experience building the rain barrels. I thought that building our own rain barrels in class was a really cool idea. It was neat to learn how to build the rain barrels, learn the benefits of rain barrels, and be able to all work together and build them. The jobs I was given to do was to sand the outside of the rain barrels and screw in some of the parts in the rain barrel after we drilled a few holes. I think that rain barrels are such a great idea and they are very easy to build.

Once the rain barrels are all ready, we have to sign up for a time to go to the Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Department to add our name and handprint onto the rain barrels that we built. We have not been notified that the rain barrels are ready for us yet so I have not been able to go do that yet.

There are many ways that anyone can conserve water. We were also asked to think of three ways to conserve water and practice those ways for at least 24 hours. One way is to take a shorter shower. I am one of those people that takes way too long of showers. By taking less time in the shower, I can conserve a lot of water. I think that is the way I waste the most amount of water. Another way is to not run the water while washing dishes. While doing dishes here in my dorm, I normally keep the water running while I wash the dishes so I can then rinse them right away. Now I am going to fill the sink with water, wash the dishes, and then turn the water on to rinse the dishes. A third way to conserve water is to do less laundry. I used to do laundry once a week even when I did not have a full load of laundry to do. This is a huge waste of water because it means a lot of small loads of laundry instead of a few large loads. Now I only do laundry when I have full loads.

Reading Blog 7 (Eating Seasonally – Cooking)

In chapter 6 of No Impact Man Colin Beavan discusses buying fresh and local foods and eating sustainably. He also talks specifically about how food gets to consumers. Most people do not think about how far their food actually has to travel in order to get to them. “The average distance food travels from farm to plate is roughly 2,000 miles” (Beavan). That is a crazy amount of miles that food travels in order to get to us, the consumers. Imagine all that can happen to the food while it is traveling all of those 2,000 miles. When you buy local food you know where it is coming from and you know that the food has not traveled very far to get to you. When food does not have to travel very far to get to you, you know the food is fresh and not a lot could have happened to it.

Colin talks about how it is not easy buy all the foods you know and love locally. Depending on where you live, you can only get certain food locally. Colin and his wife love their coffee but because of where they live (New York) they are not able to get coffee locally. That required them to give up coffee for Colin’s No Impact Man project because they only ate local food that came from farms at the most 250 miles away.

I would love to eat local and seasonal food all the time because I know the wonderful benefits of it for me and my body as well as the environment. The problem is that it is not really possible to eat local and seasonal food all the time especially while in college and living on campus with a meal plan. While at home, my family and I try to buy a lot of food from the farmers’ market as well as farm stands. Eating locally and sustainably is very important for us humans as well as the environment.

Reading Blog 9 (Chapter 8) – Energy Conservation

Chapter 8 of No Impact Man discusses the conservation of energy. We waste energy all the time, especially in our homes, without even realizing it. Keeping lights on when we are not in the room, leaving appliances plugged in when they are not in use, and leaving the water run while we brush our teeth are just a few ways that energy is wasted in our homes. There are many simple things that we can do to help conserve energy in our homes. A few things that most people think of right away to conserve energy is to leave lights off as much as possible and to take advantage of natural light and to not run water unnecessarily. I have found a list of ten easy ways to save money and energy in your home.

1. Find better ways to heat and cool your house.

2. Install a tankless water heater.

3. Replace incandescent lights.

4. Seal and insulate your home.

5. Install efficient shower heads and toilets.

6. Use appliances and electronics responsibly.

7. Install daylighting as an alternative to electrical lighting.

8. Insulate windows and doors.

9. Cook smart.

10. Change the way you do laundry.

The article goes further into how you can do those things to conserve energy in you home. The link to the article is below. These simple ways to conserve energy will not only save energy to help the Earth but it can also help you save money on your electricity bill.

http://www.nachi.org/increasing-home-energy-efficiency-client.htm

Challenge Blog 11 – Energy Conservation

First we were challenged to go 24 hours without using power in our dorm rooms. I thought that this would be pretty easy for me but I knew that I was going to run into some difficulties. For the most part, I generally try to not use a lot of electricity. I keep my lights off as much as possible and I only charge my electronics when needed and only until they are at 100% and then I unplug them. From the moment I woke up to the moment I got back to my dorm room after dinner, it was pretty easy for me not to use any electricity in my dorm room. First of all, it was during the day so I had daylight to light up my room so I could see everything. Second of all, I was not in my dorm room for most of the day. Once I got back from dinner is when I ran into most of the problems. It was nighttime so I could not use natural light to light up my room. Also, when I went to the bathroom and went to take a shower, I could not see anything since we do not have any windows in our bathroom. If we did have a window in our bathroom, it would be easier because I could shower during the day and use the natural light to see. If we were allowed to have candles in our room, I would have used candles to help light up my dorm room. I think that this part of the challenge was a slight success for me. I was mostly able to go 24 without using power in my dorm room.

We were also asked to identify two ways that we can change our habits to conserve energy while at UK. Lauren, my roommate, and I live at the end of the hallway so we have a window in our common area of our dorm room. We normally have the blinds closed on that window so we normally have to have the lights on in our common area. One thing that we can do to change our habits to conserve energy while at UK is that we should keep the blinds open more often so that we can take advantage of the natural light that the window can bring in so we do not always have to have the lights on in our common area. Another thing that we can do to change our habits to conserve energy while at UK is to not keep our laptops and cell phones plugged in overnight. I normally do not charge my electronics overnight but there are those nights that I sometimes do. Electronics are only meant to stay on their chargers until the power reaches 100%. If electronics stay on their chargers after they are at 100%, it is just wasting energy. These are just a few different ways that we can conserve energy while at UK but there are always more ways we can do so. We should also carry these habits home with us for the summer so we can also conserve energy while living at home.

Challenge Blog 13 – Transportation

In class last week we talked about transportation. We talked about different modes of transportation and ways to travel sustainably.

The first challenge was to go without your car for a week and instead to walk, bike, or use the bus. This challenge was very easy for me because I do not have a car down here with me at college and most of my friends here do not have cars as well. I normally walk everywhere. I sometimes use my bike when my destination is sort of far away or if I need to get there quickly. I only use the bus when it is impossible for me to get to my destination by walking or biking. So this part of the challenge was a success for me.

The second challenge was to suggest ideas for how to convince students to choose to travel in a more sustainable matter. I have thought of a few ways to convince students to travel more sustainably. One way is to offer some sort of carpool on campus. There could be like a group or maybe even a club on campus that could offer a carpool sign up list where someone offers to drive somewhere and can take other people there that also need to go to the same destination. For example, there could be a group of people that want to go to Walmart once a week. Each person could trade off driving to Walmart each week and everyone can ride together so there is not a bunch of cars all going to Walmart at the same time and instead just one car going. Another idea that could convince students to choose to travel in a more sustainable matter is to offer some sort of bike rental. Maybe someone does not want to purchase a bike or rent a bike for a whole semester but they just want a bike for a weekend. Maybe Wildcat Wheels or some other place could offer some sort of program where you can rent a bike for a day, or week, or weekend. This would offer students the option to rent a bike for just a short period of time instead of having to commit to renting a bike for a whole semester or having to buy a bike.

The third thing we had to do for this challenge was to report on our recruit. My mom has told me that she has been using less Ziplocs bags to store things in which was one of her challenges. Her and my grandma have recently purchased these new containers called “Lock N Lock” containers off of QVC that they are really excited about. My mom said that she has been using these new “Lock N Lock” containers to store all of their leftovers in. Hopefully she will keep this habit up and maybe she will start her next challenge soon which is to not use or purchase plastic water bottles.

Reading Blog 11 – Transportation

In the book No Impact Man, this chapter focused on travel and transportation. Travel and transportation is a huge part of my life and I assume that it is for others as well. Some modes of transportation can be very harmful to the environment but there are ways that travel can be sustainable. I am proud to say that while I have been living here in Lexington I have definitely become more sustainable in the travel and transportation aspect. Since I do not have a car down here and most of my friends do not have cars, I rely on my own two feet for transportation most of the time and I occasionally ride my bike. There have been a few times that I have taken the bus to get to places that are too far to walk or bike to. When I was living back at home, I relied on my car to get me everywhere. I would like to walk or bike places back home but I live in a rural area part of my town where there is nothing but forests and fields around us. I need my car in order to get anywhere like school or the store. There is also not any sort of convenient bus system that would be able to get me anywhere.

Colin Beavan, the author of No Impact Man, brings up in this chapter that certain modes of transportation were made to make our lives easier and traveling more convenient and quick. I do agree that certain modes of transportation like cars, planes, and trains have made traveling so much more convenient and quick but they do have a bad effect on the environment. Also, things like elevators and escalators have been invented to make lives easier but we do not need to necessarily always use them. I do think that we should still use cars, planes, train, elevators, and escalators but only when necessary. We should try to carpool, walk, or take the stairs as much as we can.

Challenge Blog 8 – Eating Seasonally – Cooking

In class we all helped to cook our own class meal at the Lemon Tree. We were then asked to find a recipe that uses seasonal and local foods and try it out. I have thought of a recipe that uses seasonal foods as well as local foods that I have made many times before. It is a recipe for roasted garlic. The recipe is super simple and easy while using seasonal and local food. I love garlic, especially roasted garlic. Garlic is one of my favorite foods and I put it in everything. One of my family’s favorite things to make is roasted garlic. This recipe is so easy that we do not even have a recipe for it but I have found a recipe online that is similar to what we do. The link for the recipe is below. Although I do supply this recipe, there are many other different variations of this recipe that could be used. This is just a general guideline to follow.

http://www.marthastewart.com/341007/roasted-garlic

Another thing I love about roasted garlic, besides it tasting so good and it being very easy to make, is that it is so versatile. You can do almost anything you want with roasted garlic. You can use roasted garlic instead of regular garlic in any recipe for a different flavor. You can rub it on raw chicken or corn before cooking to give it a great garlic flavor. You can spread it on toast or just eat plain which is my favorite way to eat roasted garlic.

I was not able to make this recipe here at college but I have made this recipe multiple times at home. I found a picture on the internet that shows the end result of roasting garlic.

I highly suggest trying out roasted garlic. Even if you think you do not like garlic, try roasted garlic. It gives a whole other flavor that you would not expect. It is super easy to make and can be used in many different ways.

Reading Blog 10 – Report on Class on 4/8/15

In class last week on April 8th we built rain barrels. Rain barrels are a great way to conserve water and the conservation of water is very important.

In the beginning of class we talked about what a rain barrel is, the benefits of rain barrels, and how rain barrels work.

Then we built three of our own rain barrels. We started with old pickle barrels that had already been cleaned out and we sanded the outside of them so the paint will stick to them. Once the barrels are done being built, we will paint them not only to make them pretty but so we can keep the sun and heat out of them to prevent the growth of algae. We then drilled a few holes and screwed some caps on them for when you want to use the water and in case the rain barrel overflows.

Although I do not have any pictures from when we built the rain barrels in class, I found some pictures on the internet of rain barrels that look similar to the ones we built.