David Santillanes

Eco Challenge 8: I did a DIY home energy audit using the guidelines found at https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/do-it-yourself-home-energy-assessments . I found out my windows were leaking and the bedroom window could have its insulation replaced. The appliances I have are older, especially the refrigerator and stove. The stove is actually very energy inefficient, but I am using a mechanical oven thermometer to control the temperature better. The heating elements could also be replaced. One of the most common air leaks in homes is the entrance door, so I checked its door sweep to make sure it's not cracked or too old. All my lighting is already LED.
This was just sort of a quick check to make sure all the little details I have changed/improved in the apartment were still in working order. For sure the apartment stays warmer longer and the heater hardly turns on during the day with these small changes (especially the door sweep fix).

Eco Challenge #7: For this eco-challenge I watched the documentary "Fantastic Fungi." It is an interesting documentary about the benefits of mushrooms and their history in society. I especially enjoyed the footage of the mushrooms growing. It is a good introduction to the fungi world and I liked that it makes it accessible for other people to learn more about their medicinal/nutritional properties. Overall, I'd recommend it for someone curious about mushrooms.

Week #6: I took advantage of the snow storm and decided to park my car for two days. During this time, I walked to the store for groceries. Something I noticed is that I take more time to decide if I buy an item when I have limited carrying capacity. Instead of taking extra things that I might crave while shopping, I opted for more necessary items such as nutritious food vs. taking junk food. The excercise provided by the walk also helped and it was nice seeing how much snow there was all over the neighborhood. I will most likely start walking more to shop for items that I can carry since the store is close by and I could use the extra exercise.

Eco-challenge #5: For this week I decided to sign a petiton on change.org . The petition is "Pass Universal Background Checks for Gun Sales" ( https://www.change.org/p/president-of-the-united-states-pass-universal-background-checks-for-gun-sales-f6ed9bde-1c3c-4d69-9070-c8db19ac7ff7 ). My opinion is that if the country does not want to get rid of having access to guns, then the least that can be done is to have stricter regulations and requirements to acquire them. I don't think everyone should have access to guns, especially if the person has a history of mental illness or violent crimes. Everyone's situation is different so I don't think a complete ban of all guns is the solution, but stricter gun laws would help.

For this week's ecochallenge I decided to fix a leak in the bathroom. I cleaned up the area and scraped up the old caulking around the leak. I then used waterproof epoxy to seal the leak. It seems to have slowed the amount of water leaking, but it has not fixed it entirely. I will have to inspect the area to see if there is another leak.
I also already use reusable aluminum water bottles, this is a challenge I took on a few years back when I realized I was using about 24 water bottles (the bottle packs) a week. This type of behavior is very common in the desert city I'm from (kind of strange thinking about it now), so I have been using reusable bottles since then. On top of less waste, I have also saved money and the water stays fresher.

I looked up a documentary about urban sustainable farming and found "Singapore’s Bold Plan to Build the Farms of the Future" ( https://youtu.be/2ueVw83Plec ). It is a short documentary about Singapore's urban farming efforts since it is one of the countries in the world that is 100% urbanized. Less than 1% of their land is suitable for farming so most of their food has to be imported. The co-founder of Edible Garden City explained the difficulties and successes they have trying to create a sustainable urban farming ecosystem in Singapore. I personally like this idea since it would reduce the destruction of forests in favor for agriculture. This also brings back green spaces to very urbanized areas, cools down cities, reduces green house gases caused by long transportation times, healthier/fresher food options, lowers food insecurity, and can instill a sense of community/purpose. As we become more urbanized, these types of projects are going to be needed in order to be able to feed the world the best possible food that is least processed.

For this week's ecochallenge I decided to go with something I already practice in my daily life: recycle as much as I can. Besides the most common items to recycle such as cans and bottles; I also recycle cooking/motor oil, cardboard, shreded paper, some plastic (only the recyclable type). I wait to collect enough recyclable material before I take it to its corresponding recycling centers. It can also be a bit hard to find recycling centers for some materials such as cooking oil since places like SeQuential have decided to remove their public oil drop off container. I am in search of an easier and accesible way to recycle cooking oil.
I will probably take a closer look at what other things I can recycle but it can be hard figuring out what can be recycled especially with all the different types of plastics and guidelines available.

I watched a documentary on Youtube titled "Briquettes Made From Coconut Waste Could Reduce Deforestation" ( https://youtu.be/meBd1GHC2yg ). Alhaji Siraj Bah, a young entrepreneur from Sierra Leone in West Africa, invented a new type of briquette made from coconut husks. The inspiration came after a tragedy in his life where he lost his adoptive family to a mudslide. He researched how these mudslides happened and what could be done to prevent them. He found out that deforestation was one of the causes. The roots of the trees hold the ground together, but with the trees gone then mudslides are more frequent. One of the main reasons for this deforestation is people cutting trees to use for heat or cooking in their homes. Alhaji came up with the idea of using the coconut husks, which are waste from coconut vendors, to make briquettes people could burn at home instead of wood.