Samantha Contreras Leos

Under the "consumption and economy" tab I chose to not buy anything except items required for health and safety. This went quite well for me I believe. Since the start of this class, I have really been able to lower my ecological footprint by lowering my food waste, etc. and this next step helped even more. I used to shop quite a bit and for stuff I did not need. So, this challenge was very helpful. It felt quite satisfying to only buy what was absolutely necessary. I was able to also save a significant amount of money which will be able to help me in the future.  I am quite thankful for these challenges over the past 4 weeks. Now I can continue to challenges myself in others ways as well.

Hello Class!

For this week's eco-challenge I chose to meet one new neighbor (which was under the "community" tab). I recently just moved dorms and thought this would be a good challenge for me to see who lives around me. Due to COVID and it being the summer term there are not many people who live on my floor. In the hall I live in there is like 4 people out of what I would say is 20 rooms meant for 2 people each. Luckily I do have neighbors to both sides of me. I knocked on both doors but was only able to meet my neighbor to the right. Her name is Tatiana and is majoring in Business. I am glad to have met my neighbor as now I have another person close by to talk to if I would like. During this school year, I meet my neighbors and it helped build a better sense of community. I hope by taking steps to meet my neighbors we can start building a community here too.

Hi everyone!

For this week's eco-challenge I chose to reduce food waste and save money by planning my meals for the week and only buying the ingredients I needed (which was under the "food" tab). This task was an incredibly easy task that helped me reduce food waste and save money.

Previously, when my boyfriend and I would go grocery shopping we would just get whatever we wanted and we ended up having a lot of waste. Creating a list and sticking to that list made shopping faster, more effective, and cheaper. By thinking of what we wanted to eat and purchase ahead of time we were also able to plan for meals with similar ingredients. Doing so helped us use all the ingredients we bought and didn't leave us with half-used cans of food or other half-use ingredients. This is something I will for sure incorporate into my life going forward. I always felt so guilty about food waste but by planning ahead I can almost completely eliminate my food waste and that brings me a lot of joy and relief.

Hello class!

For this week's eco-challenge I decided to explore an area around me (which was under the "a call for sustainability tab"). As a busy student, I often do not get the chance to explore and enjoy nature very often, and I thought I could change that with this challenge. Over the weekend I did just that and had the chance to visit one of the beaches at Sauvie Island. It was so refreshing to enjoy the cool water during such a bad heatwave especially since I have no A/C. As well the views and wildlife that I was able to spot when more people left the beach. Visiting here reminded me of how important it is for me to value nature and take care of it in any way I can. I caught myself picking up people's trach before leaving so that it didn't further harm the area. I hope I can visit again soon and that more people reflect on the importance of these areas and the need to take care of them.