"I am here to learn about the actions I can take to reduce the impact of climate change. I am excited to learn from and be inspired by my peers and hope to incorporate some of their own practices into my own life. I hope to become more conscious of the environmental impacts of my actions and make effective changes to my lifestyle to improve the climate crisis."
POINTS TOTAL
0
TODAY
0
THIS WEEK
267
TOTAL
participant impact
UP TO
140
minutes
spent exercising
UP TO
100
minutes
spent learning
Kaia's actions
Coastal, Ocean, and Engineered Sinks
Research Bottom-Trawling Seafloor Impacts
Seafloor Protection
Each day, I will spend at least 15 minutes learning more about how bottom-trawling impacts on the seafloor.
COMPLETED 4
DAILY ACTIONS
Industry
Join a Recycling Program
Recycling
I will set up or join a recycling program at my workplace or school.
COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use
Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates
Reduced Food Waste
I will spend at least 20 minutes learning how to differentiate between sell by, use by, and best by dates.
COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Transportation
Go for a Daily Walk
Walkable Cities
I will take a walk for 30 minutes each day and take note of the infrastructure that makes walking more or less enjoyable, accessible, and possible.
COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS
Industry
Learn About & Practice Sustainable Fashion
Multiple Industry Solutions
I will learn about sustainable fashion and begin practicing it in my own life.
COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Participant Feed
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?
REFLECTION
QUESTION
Transportation
What have you noticed on your daily walks? What have you enjoyed? What infrastructure changes could make your walks more enjoyable or possible?
I have always aimed to take at least a few daily walks each week. Starting this challenge, I aimed to be more intentional with my walks and observant of my surroundings. I have noticed things like the temperature, the sounds of birds chirping, and different smells as I pass different restaurants in Westwood. I have enjoyed these walks as they allow me to exercise while also practicing mindfulness. I have enjoyed that they give me a break from my busy everyday life. In terms of the infrastructure in Westwood, sidewalks and traffic signals make my walks possible. However, I have noticed that when I walk between towns in Los Angeles, there are gaps in sidewalks that make my walks more difficult. Also, walking alongside very busy streets also make my walks feel less safe. According to Project Drawdown, walking infrastructure includes "density of homes... wide, well-lit, tree-lined sidewalks and walkways, safe and direct pedestrian crossings, [and] connectivity with mass transit." As walking is the most sustainable form of movement, it's important that city planners consider these factors to encourage more people to walk. I think that Westwood does this well as so many individuals here walk as their main form of transportation. However, I think of my hometown in Santa Cruz where there are no sidewalks or bike lanes in some parts of town, making walking and biking unsafe transportation options.
Today, I did some exploration on the difference between "use-by", "sell-by", and "best-by" date labeling for food products. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture, "use-by" dates indicate the last date that the item is at peak quality. Therefore, it is not classified as a safety date. "Sell-by" dates informs retailers when they should remove items from their shelves to sell to consumers. This is also not a safety date. Finally, "best-by" tells consumers when the product will taste the best or is of the best quality, and is also not a safety date. In the past, when I looked at these sorts of labels on the food in my refrigerator or pantry, I never put much thought into their differences. However, knowing the true definitions of these labels helps us better understand the state of our food products, which can help eliminate food waste. Although none of these labels indicate the safety of the product for consumption, they are often interpreted as such. Just because a "sell-by", "best-by", or "use-by" date has passed, does not mean that the food is unsafe and should be thrown out. When I looked in my refrigerator, I saw a more-or-less equal distribution of these three label types. Understanding these labels makes me feel more at ease about relying on factors such as smell or appearance to assess food safety rather than just the dates. I believe that knowing the difference in labeling can contribute to less food waste as people may feel more confident about their ability to discern food safety.
On campus, I am part of the student organization Medical Aid Initiative. We take unused or expired medical supplies from Ronald Reagan Hospital and redistribute them to volunteer groups, nonprofits, or global health organizations. The supplies get distributed to as close as a clinic in Los Angeles or as far as the other side of the globe.
The issue of medical waste is profound, with 5.9 billion tons of waste produced annually in the US alone. Medical Aid Initiative makes it possible for unused supplies, destined for the landfill, to be reused and potentially save lives. Through repurposing materials, Project Drawdown states that less greenhouse gases are emitted and the environmental burden associated with the landfill is reduced.
Before joining this organization, I was unaware of the concept of medical waste. Through my volunteer experience repackaging materials and seeing firsthand the large volume of unused products in our warehouse, I’ve developed a deeper awareness of the environmental harm caused by medical waste. Being part of organizations like this have made me feel like I am truly making a difference both for the environment and for the health of those who live in areas where medical supplies are in demand.
I relate to this because I am also in a club that is partnered with UCLA Health and redistributes unused medical supplies from their affiliated hospitals. Even though it is quite a niche area, I agree with you that medical waste is a problem to our environment and I feel like thinking about medical waste can lead the way to us being more mindful of waste in other areas.
This week, I spent lots of time learning about bottom trawling for my research paper. Bottom trawling is a practice in which large weighted nets are dragged by boats across the ocean floor, catching fish and marine life. According to the documentary Seaspiracy, trawling is the most destructive form of fishing, wiping out 3.9 billion acres each year. Not only does this practice destroy marine life, it also harms those practicing more sustainable fishing methods. According to the novel Vanishing Fish, industrial fishers in South East Asia engage in trawling very close to the shore, often destroying the gear of smaller-scale fisheries and competing for the same resources. While bottom trawling is not particularly lucrative in terms of contributing to the global food supply, it has a profound impact on the climate. According to Project Drawdown, bottom trawling causes significant carbon dioxide release from destroying sediments on the ocean floor. If we protected "283.38–383.65 million hectares of seafloor from bottom trawling [this] could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 3.80–5.14 gigatons between 2020 and 2050". Protecting the ocean floor, from trawling and other destructive practices, is essential to reducing greenhouse gas release as the ocean floor sequesters a significant amount of carbon. Learning about the effects of trawling led me to do further research on other practices within the fishing industry that are causing harm to our climate. Factors such as bycatch, fuel burned by fishing fleets, and sharkfinning all contribute to the breakdown of ocean ecosystems and therefore the Earth's climate at large.
This week I attended some events put on by the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health for Public Health Week. One of these events was titled the "Human Aid Art Mart", which a student group called the "Health Not Punishment Collective" (HNP). One of the group's goals for the event was to sell shirts they made in an effort to raise money for LA's unhoused population. The individual who made all the shirts described how she reused old shirts and used ink and stencils to print and transfer designs. She informed that during the protests on campus last spring, they were able to produce these shirts while in the encampment. I thought it was very interesting how all the pieces were created by hand with minimal new materials purchased. This practice is not only climate friendly through the use of sustainable materials, but also through creating the product in a manner that reduces energy consumption and pollution production. According to Project Drawdown, industry, including clothing production, "requires the use of energy-hungry machines, furnaces, and boilers," making it responsible for 21% of greenhouse gas emissions. By shifting practices away from using such machines and factory practices, sustainable clothing production can be achieved. I was very moved by the work of HNP, and it has encouraged me to be more conscious of where I buy my clothes from, my reasoning for making new purchases, and my practices when disposing of unused clothing items. While I still have a long way to go in my learning in this area, the event HNP put on was a great catalyst for learning more about how I can practice sustainable fashion on an individual level.
