I will cut my car trip mileage by only taking necessary trips, and I will only use muscle-powered transportation for all other trips.
COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS
Share Your Story
Share Your Aha Moment
Fill out this form and share your Ecochallenge story with us!
COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Industry
Plastics Audit
Reduced Plastics
I will complete a plastics audit to see where plastics show up in my life and determine how I can reduce the use of single-use plastics.
COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use
Smaller Portions
Reduced Food Waste
I will use smaller plates and/or serve smaller portions when dishing out food.
COMPLETED 1
DAILY 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
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use
While dishing food out, we tend to load our plates with more than we need. Using smaller plates helps to mitigate this. Aside from the environmental benefits, what other benefits might come from eating/serving smaller portions?
While dishing out food, it's easy to overestimate how much I’ll actually eat--my eyes are often bigger than my stomach. Last week, I made a conscious effort to cook smaller meals and portion out leftovers for the rest of the week. I noticed that I’m more comfortable setting food aside for later when I plan ahead, rather than trying to save what's left over from a half-eaten plate. There’s something unappealing about mixing “eaten” leftovers with untouched food, so I usually end up being uncomfortably full after forcing myself to finish the last few bites of my meal. After taking a moment to stop and reflect, I’ve realized that the best way to avoid this is by serving myself a small amount first. That way, if I’m still hungry, I can always go back for seconds, rather than scraping uneaten food into storage containers. Beyond waste reduction, smaller portions have helped me feel more in tune with my body's hunger cues. I find myself feeling more satisfied and less bloated, and I’m more likely to enjoy my meals without overeating.
Pictured below: me putting my new habits into practice with a (reasonable) serving of homemade chicken udon!
Definitely agree with what you're saying about leftovers. My topic for this class's research paper is food waste and there are 420 TONS of food that's wasted every single day. I think a lot of this would be prevented if people just took their things to-go or packed their food into containers to save for tomorrow. I'm usually a big eater and I like finishing everything on my plate. Recently, I've tried to only eat the amount that I'm comfortable eating and save the rest for the next day as leftovers. I can definitely feel the same way as you in feeling less bloated and more satisfied with my meals.
Hi Sarah! I totally relate to you on the food portioning struggle - I often find that I either over-serve my plate, or eat until I finish my serving but feel bloated and overstuffed. I really like how you have incorporated this strategy of serving smaller portions first, and think its an amazing way to not only limit food waste, but also savor and enjoy meals as well, without the constant worry of finishing the plate. Thanks for sharing this, and your chicken udon looks delish!
I am here because climate change is a huge crisis that requires immediate attention. I've been putting off taking individual action because I keep thinking that climate change is an issue for the future, but the reality is that we are already seeing the effects now with the fires in LA, high-speed winds, and rising temperatures in the valley. If we don't take action soon, it may be too late to reverse the damage that we've already done. I remember growing up in Fresno, I'd have to stay inside every summer because of the heat, but the Central Valley is so unbearably hot now that my siblings come stay with me at UCLA when the temperatures reach the 110s. This challenge will be good for me to start incorporating small steps against a problem that seems incredibly overwhelming. I hope to learn more about the causes for the climate crisis, tackle misinformation, and try new things with the rest of this small community. There is so much of the world that I have yet to see, and I hope that I will be able to share the mountains I've boarded and trails I've hiked with my children in the future.
BRYAN CHOW 4/29/2025 10:11 AMDefinitely agree with what you're saying about leftovers. My topic for this class's research paper is food waste and there are 420 TONS of food that's wasted every single day. I think a lot of this would be prevented if people just took their things to-go or packed their food into containers to save for tomorrow. I'm usually a big eater and I like finishing everything on my plate. Recently, I've tried to only eat the amount that I'm comfortable eating and save the rest for the next day as leftovers. I can definitely feel the same way as you in feeling less bloated and more satisfied with my meals.
Aanchal Kasargod 4/24/2025 7:07 PMHi Sarah! I totally relate to you on the food portioning struggle - I often find that I either over-serve my plate, or eat until I finish my serving but feel bloated and overstuffed. I really like how you have incorporated this strategy of serving smaller portions first, and think its an amazing way to not only limit food waste, but also savor and enjoy meals as well, without the constant worry of finishing the plate. Thanks for sharing this, and your chicken udon looks delish!