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Ashley Landis's avatar

Ashley Landis

Capstone winter 23

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 256 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    2.0
    miles
    traveled by foot
  • UP TO
    11
    pounds of CO2
    have been saved
  • UP TO
    21
    plastic bottles
    not sent to the landfill
  • UP TO
    5.0
    neighbors
    met
  • UP TO
    420
    minutes
    spent outdoors

Ashley's actions

Visions of Sustainability

Support a Sharing Economy

I will create or support a sharing economy with family, friends, and neighbors.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Consumption and Economy

Buy Only What I Need

I will not buy anything except items required for health and safety.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Walk Instead

I will walk 2 mile(s) each day this week instead of driving and avoid sending up to 10.55 lbs of CO2 into Earth's atmosphere.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Meet My Neighbors

I will meet 5 new neighbor(s) this week.

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

Food

Weekly Meal Planning

I will reduce food waste and save money by planning a weekly menu, only buying the ingredients I need.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Ecological Principles

Practice Gratitude for Earth

This week, I will spend 60 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

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?


  • Ashley Landis's avatar
    Ashley Landis 3/08/2023 11:00 PM
    This week I supported a sharing community by making brownies to share with my apartment floor. I found this to be supportive of a sharing community and also simply a way to build community, as my building only houses students so it is a valid excuse to say that it is because of a school project. Everyone was super happy to get some nice warm brownies, and I had the chance to talk to most of my neighbors for the first time. I got to pet cute dogs and cats as well, which was a major plus. Overall, it never hurts to knock on your neighbor's door if you have any leftover food! :)

    • Vinny Taylor's avatar
      Vinny Taylor 3/11/2023 4:40 PM
      Hi Ashley, this is such a lovely idea! I don't know most of my neighbors, this would be a fun way to meet them and also introduce sharing to the community

    • Osvaldo Rios-Sabalza's avatar
      Osvaldo Rios-Sabalza 3/09/2023 8:16 PM
      Good to hear that you were able to share your brownies! It is so common to not share food with other people because of the fear of contamination and germs, especially since COVID. Usually, my mom is very cautious when we receive food from neighbors, and I've also taken on that habit. I wonder why we expect such terrible things to happen from good actions.

  • Ashley Landis's avatar
    Ashley Landis 2/28/2023 1:42 PM
    This week I committed to buying only what I needed to lessen waste. A major way that I contribute to overconsumption is getting fast food. It is unsustainable for your health and the to-go packaging is extremely wasteful. With this in mind, I really focused on not purchasing take away drinks or food, and instead making it at home. My boyfriend and I had the chance to cook a really nice breakfast scramble together that we would have likely just ordered otherwise. I also had the chance to learn a new way of making breakfast potatoes through doing this, which I had a lot of fun doing. As I've mentioned in class, I feel as if it is difficult to make "extra" purchases when in college because I am already low income as it is. Food is the number one thing I can limit my overconsumption of.

    • Osvaldo Rios-Sabalza's avatar
      Osvaldo Rios-Sabalza 3/01/2023 12:47 PM
      Is getting fast food easier than making food at home? I've always wondered this because it seems like quite a bit of time to get to some fast food place, or I'm just really impatient. Have you tried making homemade versions of the foods you like at fast food places? It might cost more, and take more time and energy, but I think that's the point of sustainability, willingness to sacrifice convenience.

  • Ashley Landis's avatar
    Ashley Landis 2/22/2023 6:26 PM
    This week I decided to walk to both school and the downtown Safeway to reduce my carbon footprint. With just two miles walked each day, I prevented 11 pounds of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. I really enjoyed how the Ecochallenge website provides statistics like this because it helps conceptualize your impact. This term has been the first in a while that I have not bought a parking pass for school. I live about a mile from campus, so it has always been walkable, but I have bought parking passes in past terms for safety, since some of my classes didn't get out until after dark. It has been rewarding walking to campus this term not only in terms of sustainability but also for my personal health.

  • Ashley Landis's avatar
    Ashley Landis 2/14/2023 4:01 PM
    This week I pledged to meet 5 new neighbors in my building, which I was intimidated by at first, but it proved to be super easy. I live in a large apartment building that is also connected to another sizable building, all housing students from any school in the Portland area. Every time you go downstairs using the elevator, someone else is either on it or getting off as you get on. I have found that the easiest way to meet new people is to give them a compliment. I am usually being super observant in my head when folks pass by (example: omg I like their hair, pants, etc.) and it was easy just telling the person and sparking up conversation that way. I have also found that animals are a great thing to bond over. Every time I saw someone with their pet, I would say hello and ask about the animal. People love talking about their pets! This challenge helped me branch out and spread some positivity into my apartment community's lives.

    • Osvaldo Rios-Sabalza's avatar
      Osvaldo Rios-Sabalza 2/15/2023 12:26 PM
      I would have never thought of completing that challenge that way. My first immediate thought was to have a very awkward conversation with 5 people. Even though I have lived in the same house since I was born, I rarely talk to my neighbors. The only ones I have ever talked to moved out when I was younger.

    • Diane Tran's avatar
      Diane Tran 2/14/2023 5:24 PM
      Great job fighting that social anxiety! I hope to do so at some point too. My neighbors all have different schedules from what I see, but maybe I'll bring some gifts and knock on their door sometime!

  • Ashley Landis's avatar
    Ashley Landis 2/08/2023 9:37 PM
    This week I decided to stop buying plastic water bottles and to take my hydroflask to school instead. I typically buy them in bulk packs, so it was awesome yet coincidental when I ran out a couple of days before the week started. I think it has been really interesting talking about water this week, and when I think about plastic bottle usage, it makes me think of price gouging at events for necessities like water. When I attended a music festival last September, a bottled water was $17, and there were only four water refill stations on the campus. It just seems wasteful, pricy, and over consumptive to discourage folks to bring their own bottles when the refill stations are so few. I loved moving to Portland and attending Portland State to see their water refill stations in many of the buildings. I have felt it has been easy and accessible to keep my water bottle refilled on campus and it only took the minimal effort of finding my water bottle to get the trend going! :)

  • Ashley Landis's avatar
    Ashley Landis 1/31/2023 10:01 PM
    This week, I decided to plan out my meals and only purchase the ingredients needed to make them. It required a lot of planning within my busy schedule, but I started with three meals. I also planned for two of them to be meatless and veggie-filled. I decided to make the ones with the most produce earlier in the week, as these items typically go bad in the fridge and that is what greatly contributes to waste in an average home. I always find it hard to use all of the produce I buy in a week, especially if I buy something I'm interested in without having an idea of a recipe for it. Overall, it was really fun to focus on my food and not only strategize while doing it, but also eat filling, homemade food.

    • Osvaldo Rios-Sabalza's avatar
      Osvaldo Rios-Sabalza 2/01/2023 12:19 PM
      I also eat food that will likely good bad the quickest, it's probably the waste saving tip I followed. It can be hard trying to find a recipe for something you like though, especially because some recipes themselves have so much waste. I sometimes just make smoothies if I can't find any way to cook or eat it. Have you looked at recipes that produce little waste?

  • Ashley Landis's avatar
    Ashley Landis 1/24/2023 5:58 PM
    For this week's ecochallenge, I decided to practice gratitude for the Earth by spending 60 minutes outside each day. During these reflections, I would sit outside either on campus or somewhere along my walk home and first try to find all of the pieces of nature I could find. This includes birds, squirrels, plants, insects, etc. I would go down my list of observations - the temperature, the people nearby, the sounds around me, and the impact that humans have had on that specific area. I made sure to be mindful and grateful of what the Earth was providing for me in that moment, and to acknowledge the history that has occurred in order to get us to where we are today. I chose this because I find myself getting caught up in work and school quite often, and it is nice to be able to take a pause and appreciate the beautiful Earth surrounding us. This relates to our Capstone course because it draws attention to the appreciation of nature and the acknowledgement of how society has an impact on it.

    • Osvaldo Rios-Sabalza's avatar
      Osvaldo Rios-Sabalza 1/25/2023 12:40 PM
      Your post reminds me a lot of one of the readings we've done, which mentions that in order to realize that nature is a system and not a thing, we must spend time in nature. Personally, I find nature, specifically the weather to be a nuisance and not something that I will always be a part of. Even at this moment of writing this comment, I am a part of nature. I thought of doing this challenge but it sounded like it would've been distracting to my school work which proves that I treat nature as a thing still.

  • Ashley Landis's avatar
    Ashley Landis 1/18/2023 2:37 PM
    For this eco-challenge, I decided to explore a new area and take a walk. My partner and I drove to Noble Woods Park, where I have never been before. It's quite easy to find places that are new to me, though, because I am originally from AZ so everything is foreign. This nature walk was one of the best I have ever been on. All of the pathways that are over water let you hear the water under the rocks below you, and I found it really pleasant that they had signs in certain areas telling folks to keep out for animal/plant sake. I wouldn't necessarily call it an obstacle, but something to note is that we did drive to the park as opposed to using a more sustainable method of getting there. One bonus that I love about the PNW is that many parks are accessible via public transit, and this one is too! Overall, it was an amazing chance to take a mental break from school and appreciate the very accessible and beautiful nature surrounding us. :)

    • Ashley Landis's avatar
      Ashley Landis 1/23/2023 9:17 PM

    • Stacey Alcott's avatar
      Stacey Alcott 1/20/2023 9:26 PM
      Hi Ashley, we don't see a photo only an icon where it shows that a picture might be. Way to get out in nature to enjoy yourself. With the cold I find nature very unwelcoming. I've never understood those that can go hiking during this time of year. I think it is great that they can. Truly, way to go.

    • Kailyn Mckeown's avatar
      Kailyn Mckeown 1/20/2023 4:20 PM
      Hi Ashley,
      I am also from out of sate, SoCal. The difference in climate is incredible, and I'm still finding my new places as well. One of my favorite things about the PNW, besides as you point out the accessible public transit, is how green and alive everything is here. Growing up in a desert, especially around a lot of wild fires, the doom and gloom of the world was easy to see, but here, it feels more attainable to become sustainable.
      It is a bummer than the transit couldn't take you to the park, I also wish there was a train that lead to Multnomah Falls, as it's one of my favorite areas because it has so many falls!
      Thanks for sharing!

    • Ashley Landis's avatar
      Ashley Landis 1/20/2023 9:59 AM
      Hi, yes, I did take a photo! I am seeing it on my end attached to this post, but let me know if you are unable to view it. :)