Sidney Anderson

Now that the course is almost over, here are some books I have enjoyed and have furthered my education on sustainability:
Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor by Rob Nixon 
Great New Wilderness Debate by J. Baird Callicott, Michael P. Nelson
Long, Long Life of Trees by Fiona J Stafford
Unchopping a Tree by W.S. Merwin

Here is a link to my Eco Change final presentation video. The video shown in class was corrupt so hopefully this works.
DO MORE

The past few weeks I haven't really been doing anything exciting. The term is almost over so I have been busy with school work and my jobs which have been taking a lot out of me. My goal this week is to go outside and be in nature more. Yesterday I went for a walk on the beach and was able to go cloud hunting like the Tedtalk we watched in class. I have been learning to value experiences over material goods to change my consumer habits.

The weather this week has made me just want to stay inside and watch movies all day. I found some cool documentaries about capitalism and consumer culture. The first is a website called Story of Stuff that has multiple videos and short films about conservation. The last film I watched was on Netflix called Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things which I enjoyed because I need to change my relationship with the consumer to be more considerate of the things around me. If you need any recommendations for things to watch, I recommend these!

Last week I started on my project and it was a bit harder than I anticipated. I use to do pottery when I was in High School and I guessed it would be easy to make the clay pots. I struggled to make the pieces of plastic stick to the clay and form the clay without them falling off. My first batch of pots and dishes turned out okay but most of the plastic fell off. I hope I can glue the piece back on but I have to find a good glue to use.  I plan to do more this week and test out a new method of making the pots.

This week I have been really busy working. Since I didn't have the time to work on my project, I decided to reflect on the way I think about my goal of reducing my plastic waste. I thought about why I even chose this goal in the first place, and the first thing that came to mind was for the environment. More and more I have seen the beaches in my backyard be bombarded with litter and it makes me sad. I really wish I could yell at all the tourists and tell them to pick up their garbage but I really don't want to be that person. So instead I have been practicing my patience and cleaning up the beach even if I didn't make the mess. I think the whole "I didn't make the trash so I'm not going to clean it up" needs to end in 2021. I hope this year will be better than the ones in the past so pick up trash people (with gloves on, of course)!!

Hey all! I found this website, TerraCycle that is a mail-in service that will recycle difficult plastics. Since my goal is to limit my plastic waste, this was perfect! I have been collecting little bottles and make-up containers now for a month so I hope I can send my first package soon. 

This week the weather was amazing, so I had to go outside. I decided to go to a local beach, called Roads End, and picked up some trash. This was difficult because the only trash was small pieces of plastic. It was hard to tell the plastic from the shells but I ended up filling half my bag. I picked up as much as I could by hand but next time I plan on bringing a shift to make it easier! As for what I'm going to do with the plastic, I have no clue. I was thinking of finding some pottery clay and making little dishes to give or sell. Hopefully, I can get back out there and try to clean up as much as I can. I also got to watch the best sunset this month so it was totally worth it!

This week I am focusing on my local community and purchasing habits surrounding food. I don't really go out to eat much but when I do I always go to the same place called Olde Line Lanes in Lincoln City. Luckily for me, this is a restaurant that limits their waste, makes all the food in house, and supports local farms. I use to work at this bowling alley/restaurant so I'm friends with the owners. Working here has taught me a lot about local farmers as well as cooking within the season. Instead of going to the store to buy bread, I have made it a goal to only purchase bread and bake-goods from here. The baker/co-owner, Danelle, has been a baker for like 10+ years. Her french and sourdough bread is the BEST I've ever had so this goal is pretty easy to achieve. They make the best pizza in a stone oven and even have to-go cocktails! If you ever are in Lincoln City I 100% recommend going to Olde Line to eat and hopefully bowl when things clear up. 

This week I focused on establishing my goal for sustainability. The main problem I would like to fix in my own life is my consumption and waste behaviors. By the end of the term, I hope to have reduced my single-use plastic consumption and support local businesses with healthy waste management. One of the biggest steps I hope to take is to replace all my hygiene products with reusable or home-made substitutes. The first step I will take is to use up all the products I have left before purchasing the sustainable option.