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Romi Watson

Capstone summer 22

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 294 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    21
    plastic bottles
    not sent to the landfill
  • UP TO
    2.0
    documentaries
    watched
  • UP TO
    2.0
    neighbors
    met
  • UP TO
    1.0
    petition
    signed
  • UP TO
    210
    minutes
    spent outdoors

Romi's actions

Community

Meet My Neighbors

I will meet 2 new neighbor(s) this week.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

Say No to Plastic

Plastic bags and small plastic pieces like straws are most likely to get swept into our waterways. This week, I'll say "no" to plastic bags at the store and plastic straws in all of my drinks.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Ecological Principles

Practice Gratitude for Earth

This week, I will spend 30 minute(s) each day outside, practicing gratitude (prayer, meditation, journaling, etc.) for Earth and the nature surrounding me.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

A Call to Sustainability

Sign a Petition

I will sign petitions in support of an environmental or social initiative in my state.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

Use Reusable Bottles

I will use a reusable bottle and stop purchasing bottled water, saving 3 disposable plastic bottle(s) each day this week.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

Watch The Story of Bottled Water

I will watch The Story of Bottled Water to learn more about bottled water's impacts on the environment.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

A Call to Sustainability

Watch a Documentary

I will watch a movie about a sustainability issue I would like to know more about.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

A Call to Sustainability

Explore My Area

I will explore at least one new hiking trail or nature walk in my area.

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?


  • Romi Watson's avatar
    Romi Watson 7/14/2022 9:37 AM
    For this ecochallenge, I decided to say "no" to all the plastic bags for my groceries and all the plastic straws for my drinks this week. Before, I'd use plastic bags for my groceries without thinking twice. The only thing that bothered me about them was the $0.05 charge for each bag, but what should've bothered me more is the impact that each plastic bag would have on the environment after I threw them away at home. I know a lot of grocery stores now advertise their plastic bags as "reusable", and I'll agree that the plastic bags have seemed to get more durable like they can be used more than once. However, my issue is that I never remember to bring them with me to the store. If I did, I'd just buy cloth tote bags rather than reuse plastic bags. It's a continuous cycle of buying plastic bags to use them only to transport my groceries home before they end up in the garbage--a mere hour of use at most. It's the same issue with plastic straws where I'd only use the straw for the duration of my drink and then it's garbage. It's wasteful and most people do these things without thinking about it. I think most people don't think about the impact of their decisions because the impact isn't right in front of their faces (i.e., landfills, polluted waterways, air pollution, etc.); out of sight, out of mind. If the problem were in our backyards, I think a lot more people would be vocal about our waste issue. We're lucky that the US has the resources to manage waste and/or send it overseas, which is morally wrong to do to people living in other less developed countries that don't have the resources to deal with it. Saying "no" to these products felt liberating to know that I wasn't contributing to sending my garbage overseas and to the escalating waste issue plaguing our planet. I went to the grocery store twice this past week and spent money on fast food a couple times. I counted and tracked how much plastic waste I'd saved on, and I saved about 10 plastic bags from my two trips to the grocery store and about 4 plastic straws from fast food drinks. I didn't take any pictures of this ecochallenge because there wasn't anything to photograph. I used my reusable water bottle and other sustainable products in place of plastic bags and straws (e.g., paper bags and drinking from the cup). Avoiding products, like plastic bags and straws, allows me to make more conscious decisions about what I buy and where it comes from. Ecochallenges like this force me to analyze my lifestyle in a different perspective and make noticeable changes that will (hopefully) last a lifetime and create intergenerational habits with my children. 

    • Madison Scruggs's avatar
      Madison Scruggs 7/14/2022 11:46 AM
      This is great Romi! I also found that this class made me analyze how I'm doing things!

  • Romi Watson's avatar
    Romi Watson 7/12/2022 10:25 AM
    For this ecochallenge, I decided to meet some neighbors in my new apartment complex. I figured since I just moved a couple weeks ago that I could take the opportunity to meet my downstairs neighbor. I hadn't met her yet, but I'd seen her come and go from her apartment before when my boyfriend and I were moving stuff. She's nice and about our age. I found out that she has a dog also, which is awesome because I have two myself. What's even cooler is that her dog is a vizsla and one of mine is a German shorthaired pointer, so they're almost exactly the same dog. Their energies and personalities match a lot from what I can tell from the short time I met her dog. I'm hoping maybe we can get our dogs to meet one day (I didn't feel like it was appropriate to knock on her door to introduce myself with two dogs).
    I also happened to run into the neighbor that lives adjacent to me when I was on my way home after work one night. We met each other in the stairwell, which was unexpected but nice to know who lives next door to us. He's a middle-aged man who apparently has a wife, but she wasn't with him at the time. He doesn't have any animals like we do. I shared a bit about how my boyfriend and I just recently moved in and where we moved from, and we talked a bit about what it's like living at this complex. I gathered good vibes about living at this complex from our conversation. 
    Overall, I enjoyed this ecochallenge because now I have familiar faces to talk to when I see them. It's always nice to have positive relationships with the people around you, and I'm grateful I had this opportunity because I didn't really know my neighbors at my previous apartment complex. I obviously didn't take any pictures during this ecochallenge because that would've been awkward, but it was fun getting to know my neighbors on a surface level!

    • Gabe Dicenzo's avatar
      Gabe Dicenzo 7/14/2022 5:27 AM
      Hey Romi, thanks for sharing! I live in an apartment complex too so I definitely understand the challenge aspect behind reaching out to new people. Hopefully I'll take a note from you and do a better job of introducing myself to our new neighbors when we move to AZ later this summer. 

  • Romi Watson's avatar
    Romi Watson 7/07/2022 11:11 AM
    I chose to spend about 30 minutes outdoors every day this week just enjoying nature and hanging out with my two dogs. This ecochallenge didn't even seem like a challenge because I love being outdoors so much (the dogs definitely can't complain either). A majority of those days were spent at Thousand Acres, which is a huge, unleashed dog park in Troutdale. It's like a dog's paradise with trails, forests, a river and lots of other dogs! I love spending time there because it's so big that I can walk for a couple hours and not finish all the trails. That, and it's a great workout while the dogs get to play. Places like this that are practically in my backyard remind me how lucky I am that I live in this area. I used to live in Southern California as a kid, and they don't have areas like this to take your dog off leash and run for miles--not even at the beach, which is where I took my dogs in the last photo. It surprised me when I took my dog to Southern California to visit some family a few years back and I couldn't really find anywhere to take her besides fenced-in dog parks. There was an unleashed dog beach, however, it was a few hours away and not very accessible. Getting to let my dogs off leash at the beaches here in Oregon and watch them run wild reminds me why I'll probably never leave. Living in the Pacific Northwest and it being so dog-friendly is definitely a treat, plus it's arguably one of the most beautiful regions in the world. Checking new places off my mental list of "must-see's" is rewarding, especially when you venture out a little further to find that hidden gem. This ecochallenge gave me some new perspective on how to recognize and appreciate the outdoors in a new way that I hadn't practiced before. It makes me happy that I can incorporate gratitude for my surroundings into what makes me happiest; my dogs and the outdoors.

    • Kevanna Doolittle's avatar
      Kevanna Doolittle 7/07/2022 1:52 PM
      Thank you for sharing the pictures, Romi!

      I agree with you - the challenges to go outside don't really feel like challenges. However, for me the hardest part is getting outside. I forget how much I love it until I am outside. 

      I love the sound of Thousand Acres! My dog would be so thrilled. It is a distance from me and a part of me would feel guilty driving the distance from Beaverton just to let my dog run around. I hope I can find something similar on the West side of Portland. 

      Thanks again for sharing. 

  • Romi Watson's avatar
    Romi Watson 7/07/2022 10:39 AM
    I decided to sign a petition pertaining to the catch and release for wild steelhead salmon in SW Oregon because I believe it's important to sustain salmon populations in our state (link: https://www.change.org/p/oregon-department-of-fish-and-wildlife-catch-release-for-wild-steelhead-in-southwest-oregon?signed=true). This petition is regarding wild steelhead salmon located "in coastal watersheds of southwest Oregon from the Elk River south to the Winchuck River, including the Rogue Basin". According to the petition, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) are considering allowing wild steelhead harvesting for the foreseeable future despite not knowing their population estimates. Harvey Young, the person who created this petition, asks ODFW to implement catch and release regulations for wild steelhead in SW Oregon until they are aware of their population estimates and how many are returning to the area. Young lists all of the reasons why he started this petition, but the one that resonated with me the most is that wild steelhead fishing has apparently been really tough the past few years due to "multiple years of drought and rough ocean conditions" paired with "recent large-scale habitat disturbance resulting from the Chetco Bar Fire". I don't fish, but I know wild steelhead are vital to our rivers and the ecosystem and without them, it creates major disequilibrium. I appreciate nature enough to understand that eliminating one piece of the system (the steelhead) can cause the entire thing to fall apart (the ecosystem), which was my biggest reason for signing this petition. In my opinion, ODFW shouldn't be allowing unregulated wild steelhead harvesting without appropriate knowledge of how it may affect the ecosystem. Young claims that the last comprehensive status review of native fish populations in Oregon was in 2005, and that there hasn't been a comprehensive status review of wild steelhead in the SW zone to date. I think most people would agree that the comprehensive status review for wild steelhead in SW Oregon is a little past due. I think ODFW should conduct another status review, gather accurate numbers on wild steelhead populations in SW Oregon and decide from there what the most sustainable and economical choice would be. I know that's easier said than done, but regulating catch and release allows wild steelhead populations to sustain themselves and it gives more anglers a chance to successfully catch one when the populations aren't dwindling. 

  • Romi Watson's avatar
    Romi Watson 7/05/2022 11:26 AM
    I chose to use my reusable water bottles for this ecochallenge in an effort to reduce my use of bottled water and how many water bottles I send to the landfill. According to this website, I saved 21 water bottles from ending up in the landfill just from using my reusable water bottle this week. I think that's amazing considering it takes about twice as much water to produce a single water bottle than how much water is in the bottle itself (according to the textbook). A standard water bottle holds about 16.9 fluid ounces, which means that I saved about 709.8 fluid ounces (or about 5.54 gallons) of water from being turned into plastic waste by switching to a more sustainable option. It feels good to know that I can make a big impact by reducing my plastic waste by making such a small change in my life.
    I've found that it's also a lot easier to carry a reusable water bottle and a water filter when hiking and backpacking than gallons of water or tons of little water bottles that'll only add to the weight I have to carry and the plastic waste I'll dispose of at the trailhead. All I have to do is unzip the water filter from its case, set it up and pump water into the bottle, which takes a mere 5 minutes at most. This ecochallenge wasn't very difficult for me because I've already grown a deep appreciation for being outdoors, so I already had various reusable water bottles on hand. However, this challenge did open my eyes to understanding just how many water bottles and plastic waste I save by making more sustainable choices. It makes me wonder in what other ways I can make an impact by simply changing to a more sustainable option. 
     
     

    • Bella Solorzano's avatar
      Bella Solorzano 7/06/2022 4:17 PM
      Romi I love how you laid out the benefits! I forgot the stats from the textbook but they are super impactful! I appreciate you bringing up waste at the trailhead b/c I am always surprised to see so many plastic waste bottles. I personally like the weird gritty taste of the water purification tablets :P Also love that you use a Yeti bottle (much better insolation vs hydroflask) did you notice that's the same bottle I gifted my friend for this challenge also!! FUNNY!!!

    • Gabe Dicenzo's avatar
      Gabe Dicenzo 7/06/2022 12:04 AM
      Hey Romi, glad someone else is taking part in this. I chose this challenge too and while the environmental benefits are pretty obvious I feel like the health benefits are there too. Doing this has not only cut down on my usage of disposables but also reduced my consumption of processed drinks. I like how you incorporated the hiking benefits cause that's something I relate to very much. Happy trails!

  • Romi Watson's avatar
    Romi Watson 6/27/2022 9:56 AM
    To complete this ecochallenge, I walked around this nature trail behind my new apartment complex. The entire trail is about a mile and mostly flat, so it took me about 10-15 minutes to walk the entire thing and to stop and take pictures along the way (posted below). I love how accessible this trail is and how it’s a mere 2-3 minute walk from my apartment. The trail is paved with gravel and has a few wooden bridges scattered in. There’s a bigger river that runs adjacent to the trail and small pond, so maybe the river feeds into this small pond? I saw some nutria along the shoreline, which I didn’t even know existed until yesterday! They look like beavers, but without the long, flat tail; theirs is more rat-like. I also saw a breeding pair of herons nesting high up in a tree above the water. I thought that was cool and such a perfect place to build a home for their babies. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get good quality photos of the animals I saw because they were far away. This small pond and the surrounding habitat seems to be home for a large variety of birds, fish and small mammals. It’s small, hidden gems like this nature trail that makes conservation work and sustainability practices worth every effort. However, there are some changes I’d make to this nature trail if possible, like adding in more benches for enjoying the view and trash cleanup. I noticed some litter scattered here and there along the trail, which is sad because it’s such a beautiful little place! There seems to be only one park bench along this entire mile-long trail, which may seem sufficient enough, but it’s not. Other than that, I really enjoyed taking the time to explore this trail because I’m not sure if I would’ve done this on my own time in any other circumstance. I love being outdoors, but I wasn’t aware this nature trail existed near my new apartment until this class challenged me to do something like this. I’ll be on the lookout for more areas to explore.

    • Romi Watson's avatar
      Romi Watson 6/28/2022 5:41 PM
      This trail is kinda public. You can access it, but it’s tucked away in a private neighborhood that you have to meander through. I only found it because of this assignment, which I’m grateful for because it’s basically in my backyard! Here are the coordinates because the trail doesn’t seem to have a name: 45.3943237, -122.8023600. It doesn’t surprise me that nutria are invasive, they didn’t look very natural in that habitat and there were quite a few of them. I would’ve much preferred to see beavers, but the trail is gorgeous regardless! 

    • Kevanna Doolittle's avatar
      Kevanna Doolittle 6/27/2022 3:23 PM
      Romi, the trail near your looks beautiful! I'm glad you found time to explore your surroundings. 

      I didn't know nutrias existed either. I saw one 2 years ago and I thought it was an otter. I was really excited and discovered a few weeks later that it wasn't an otter. 

      I have noticed many nature trails in the city covered in litter as well. It's extremely disheartening. Also, I have never considered the number of park benches on paths. I don't use the benches but I know there are many people that need it (such as my grandmother). Thank you for opening my eyes to an accessibility issue for nature trails - I will think about this on my next few walks and ponder a possible solution.

      See you in class tomorrow!

  • Romi Watson's avatar
    Romi Watson 6/26/2022 4:34 PM
    I watched the video “The Story of Bottled Water” to better understand the water industry in the US. The woman narrating this video states in the beginning that “when we start to understand the system, we start to see lots of places to step in and turn these problems into solutions.” The system this video pertains to is the water industry and its effects on our environment. 
    The biggest takeaway for me when I watched this video was the method water industry companies, like Nestlè, use to shape consumer decisions about water consumption. According to the video, manufacturing demand is the key economic factor driving our country’s perceived need to purchase bottled water. Soft drink companies in the 1970s began noticing stagnating profits, so they started contemplating ways to make more money off of consumers. Their idea was to scare consumers from drinking tap water and encourage them to purchase bottled water through a series of calculated ads and emotional manipulation. As we’ve seen in subsequent decades, their tactic—scaring, seducing and misleading consumers—proved to be extremely effective in getting consumers to believe that tap water was unsafe to drink and to instead purchase safe, clean bottled water. 
    I think it’s ironic that Nestlé at one point put out a full page ad claiming that “bottled water was the most environmentally responsible consumer product in the world” considering Nestlé has one of the worst environmental reputations among companies. Being one of the largest producers of bottled water, Nestlé contributes a massive amount to our growing plastic pollution issue. Also, some higher up individuals in the company don’t believe that water is a universal right, which monopolizes a vital resource and limits access to a basic need. 
    It’s unfortunate to me that 80% of water bottles end up in landfills to sit and break down for thousands of years or are thrown into an incinerator to burn and release pollutants into the air. I think recycling is a huge intergenerational habit that many of us need to consider getting into because the way we currently deal with plastic waste is unhealthy for us and unsustainable for the planet. It’s also unfair that a majority of our plastic waste gets sent to other countries when they might not have the resources to deal with it like the US. I hope future generations acknowledge the plastic problem and continue to find creative and/or innovative solutions before it becomes irreparable. 

  • Romi Watson's avatar
    Romi Watson 6/26/2022 2:13 PM
    I chose to watch the documentary “The Minimalists: Less Is Now” on Netflix starring two childhood friends, Joshua Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus. The purpose of this documentary is to “guide typical consumers on how to downsize their way to happiness”; in other words, how to live intentionally using the resources you have available. Millburn explains in this documentary that you can do a lot with few resources if you deliberately use them, and that’s the key to minimalism and not producing inessential waste.
    Americans love to collect stuff because we have such easy access to it (e.g., online shopping and retail stores) and we can have almost anything at our doorstep in 24 hours or less. However, a guest speaker in this documentary (name not listed) argues that an over abundance of stuff contributes to our discontent in many ways because it replaces the things that truly make us happier. Dave Ramsey appears in this documentary and he states that “marketers are really impressive at their ability to manipulate the mind and their ability to create a need—or perceived need—out of something that was a want.” I heavily agree with this and it’s noticeable in everyday life from billboards to online advertisements. Marketers use deficit advertising to target consumers, and the purpose of this advertising is to make us feel like we’re inadequate without a certain product. Online advertisements constantly bombard consumers with messages that we’re “not enough”, but we can be with ___ product. This relentless feeling of inadequacy drives consumers to purchase more unnecessary stuff and contributes to the growing waste problem not just in the US, but around the world.
    According to this documentary, the annual total spent on advertising in the 1950s was about $5 billion compared to the $240 billion in 2020. I think the massive jump in advertisement funding has a lot to do with the internet and social media, both of which didn’t exist in the 1950s. Algorithms that target what we watch, where we go and what posts we interact with online can make us feel like we need this or that to feel good/adequate enough. Minimalism forces people to only retain items that serve a purpose and add value to their life. I think most people would be very surprised at how many inessential items they keep around their house and what they truly don’t need sitting and collecting dust. This documentary taught me that we can substantially reduce waste in landfills and increase our sense of happiness if everyone made a more conscious effort to declutter and find purpose in the items we actually need in our lives.

  • Romi Watson's avatar
    Romi Watson 6/20/2022 9:24 AM
    I am taking this course because sustainability is something that I believe everyone (and the planet) can benefit from! I have little knowledge on sustainability practices except for small lifestyle changes I have made recently (e.g., switching from single-use plastic straws and bottles to reusable metal straws and bottles), which is why I thought that this course would have a lot to offer me. I feel like sustainability is often seen as a hobby or environmental interest, but in  my opinion, it should be taught throughout schools and used to develop intergenerational habits that make a difference. I am hoping to learn new habits from this course that can not only change my lifestyle to help the planet, but also provide me with the knowledge to inform others about how they can help make healthier, more sustainable choices. 

    • Kevanna Doolittle's avatar
      Kevanna Doolittle 6/20/2022 11:37 AM
      Hi Romi, thanks for posting! I am taking this course for a similar reason. I have made many small lifestyle changes but I feel like it is not enough. I am excited to learn more so we can help change the world!