Bruins For the Future

I came back last month to Ballona and wanted to try something new: Gardening! I've never really been interested or gotten into it so I wanted to try it. I attended their Tuesday Volunteer Gardening Club, where I got to make the park area extra pretty for the Migration event they were having like the next day. I helped plant native plants like...

While I was up in SF a couple weeks ago, I was able to snap these pictures of seemingly healthy macroalgae growth. Healthy seaweed means that the water in the Bay is still not acidic enough to prevent growth, which means healthy seaweed can grow and sequester emissions!

As I explored alternative transportation options, I found out more about the measures taken to grow the presence of micromobility riders in urban planning. An important example is Bird in Los Angeles (commonly found at UCLA), which provides an SMS messaging service that unlocks an e-scooter for which riders can use cash to pay for. The purpose...

As I took daily walks around UCLA and my home neighborhood, I have noticed subtle details of the infrastructure that made it easier or harder to use micromobility. At UCLA, I often observed students with e-scooters riding through the ramps that are near the stair area, which worked to connect the academic section of campus with the housing and...

As I practice mindfulness while eating, I have found that limiting the distractions that surround me during meal periods do not only reduce unnecessary energy spending on entertainment, but lead to a healthier body and mind. As I spend my time on my phone, particularly on social media, I am constantly fed with advertisements promoting fast-food...

I regularly use single-use grocery bags and water bottles, and this definitely has generated a lot of waste on my end. For this EcoChallenge, I focused on completely eliminating this waste, and I was largely successful. It was an easy fix - I now use a Trader Joes insulated bag (which keeps the groceries cooler for the walk back home) every...

For this ecochallenge, I committed to walking to Holmby Park once a week with my friend. The walk was definitely a lot of uphill and downhill, and was not easy when it was midday and really hot out. However, it was refreshing to be outside, socializing with my friend. When we would get to the park, we would study at the park. I found myself way...

I emailed - and followed up with - two of my state representatives with this ecochallenge. One was the state senator, Chris Murphy, and the other was my district representative, Jim Himes. I included in my emails details about regenerative agriculture and its benefits, as well as a description of the deforestation project that had happened by...

I’ve always been a terrible driver, so it’s nice to know that traveling by foot is not only better for the safety of myself and others, but for the environment as well. Since relying more on walking or other muscle-powered transportation, I’ve noticed a meaningful shift in how I engage with my community. When I drive, I’m focused on the...

Practicing the “5 Rs”—refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose, and recycle—helped me realize that recycling should actually be the last step in the waste-reduction process, not the first. Before this, I always thought I was doing my part by tossing items into the blue bin. But recycling, while important, doesn’t address the root problem:...