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Edaena Maldonado-Vizueth's avatar

Edaena Maldonado-Vizueth

Capstone Spring 22

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 341 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    2.0
    miles
    traveled by bus
  • UP TO
    4.0
    pounds of CO2
    have been saved
  • UP TO
    330
    gallons of water
    have been saved

Edaena's actions

A Call to Sustainability

Start a Sustainability Journal

I will start a sustainability journal, capturing my thoughts, concerns and learning about sustainability issues.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Ecological Principles

Reduce My Footprint

I will calculate my ecological footprint and talk with my family or roommates about way we can reduce our negative enviromental impact.

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

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

Community

Join my Neighborhood Association

I will join my neighborhood association or another local group.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Use Public Transit

I will use public transit 2 mile(s) each day this week and avoid sending up to 4.03 lbs of CO2 into Earth's atmosphere.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Consumption and Economy

Track my Purchases

I will maintain a record of all my purchases.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Visions of Sustainability

Support a Sharing Economy

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

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

Install a Toilet Tank Bank

I will reduce the amount of water flushed and save up to 11 gallons (41 L) of water per day by installing a toilet tank bank.

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?


  • Edaena Maldonado-Vizueth's avatar
    Edaena Maldonado-Vizueth 5/27/2022 1:24 AM
    Sorry this is a bit late. This week's challenges were a bit hard! Though, I feel like promoting a sharing economy is something that I have been raised to do, and was inspired to write about. These past couple of weeks have been really hard on me and after our sustainability class today, I could tell that my professor and a lot of my classmates were also going through it, so I thought it would be nice to bring in doughnuts for the class. Sharing is something that has never come easy to me, but I always feel good after I share. This especially applies too food. I feel like I really needed that feeling today too. I am also excited to potentially join a community garden and share the hopefully bountiful harvest while connecting with the earth. I have a lot to learn about gardening be first, but sharing is pretty cool.

  • Edaena Maldonado-Vizueth's avatar
    Edaena Maldonado-Vizueth 5/19/2022 11:21 AM
    I have been keeping track of my spending through an app for a little bit. Ever since I started earning money, I have been keeping tabs on where my money goes to. I have found out that 1/2 of my spending goes to restaurants and food. I have come to a point where I need to really put in the effort and time into meal planning and prepping soon can't not only save money, and promote my health but also reduce my global footprint. I am in the works of reducing my eating out to once a week. It's very hard to make food when I'm already very hungry, so I am going to prepare more snacks. The rest of my money goes to gas, and loans. It would be beneficial to also reduce my car use when I can. I do not spend much money on clothes or other miscellaneous things. 

    • Yevelina Torgonskiy's avatar
      Yevelina Torgonskiy 5/21/2022 1:51 PM
      Hey Edaena!
      I think the app idea is a great thing! Since we all carry and use our phones daily it's easy to keep track of our activities. I'm in the same boat for meal planning. I know it's the better option, but it's hard and complicated at times to actually go through the planning and making. And I understand the snack! Sometimes I start making food when I'm really hungry, so I end up eating random stuff while I cook and then have too much food left over. So, sometimes I fill up with water before I start making food.  

  • Edaena Maldonado-Vizueth's avatar
    Edaena Maldonado-Vizueth 5/11/2022 10:50 PM
    Public transport is something I always use when going to Portland if I can help it. Not only does it safe me in gas and parking, I get to take a breather and let someone else hold the steering wheel for a bit. Pre-pandemic, that used to be at least twice a week. Post-pandemic, it is only once a week. As for rides, I am always carpooling with my boyfriend. We go every where together, except for work. Though, when we worked together, we would carpool then too. With the increase in gas prices, I would like to bike to the nearest store whenever we're in need of groceries. With gas prices being so high, we try not to travel more than we need to. But we still end up driving a lot. Mostly for work. In a month I typically drive 230+ miles. I wonder how much of that I can reduce by using a bike for leisure, and shorter distances. 

    • Vanessa Martinez's avatar
      Vanessa Martinez 5/11/2022 11:33 PM
      Hi Edaena, I carpool with my sister because we both work at the nearby mall just in different stores. It's great when our schedules line up and we take turns paying for gas because like you mentioned, gas prices have gone up and it is quite expensive. It's great that you have access to public transportation, and it seems like you've keep track of how much CO2 you've reduced.

    • Edaena Maldonado-Vizueth's avatar
      Edaena Maldonado-Vizueth 5/11/2022 10:52 PM
      I also reduce 4 lbs of CO2 but commuting to school by max!

  • Edaena Maldonado-Vizueth's avatar
    Edaena Maldonado-Vizueth 5/05/2022 12:11 AM
    This week, I checked in on my neighborhood association. It's called the Johnson City tenant collective, and I get newsletters every week but them. I live in as little mobile home park (technically it's own city) and have been living here for the past 16 years. My family continues to stay here because the rent is very inexpensive but the policies around here are very suffocating. Policies include not being allowed to own dogs, more than one cat, more than two vehicles, and more than 5 house decorations displayed on them exterior, and being in jeopardy of being evicted from the space, the tenants of this city are under high scrutiny by the property owners. The tenant collective was founded recently, and have already taken the owners to court to fight one of the policies and remain housed. The collective has also created more opportunities for us as neighbors to become acquainted with each other. I am appreciative of the collective, and they make the property owners sweat as little bit, getting a taste of their own medicine for once.

  • Edaena Maldonado-Vizueth's avatar
    Edaena Maldonado-Vizueth 4/28/2022 12:31 AM
    This week was super hard when it came to rejecting plastic bags at the store. I like to buy most of my foods in bulk, but I never know what else I can use as a bag to fill up my grains. I know that the Iady we watched who did the ted talk on living a zero waste lifestyle, uses cloth bags. part of mets worried the supermarket wouldn't like. Especially during pandemic days, I feel a little nervous about others getting weirded out by me. Though, the why bother article helps me reflect on my fears and focus on doing my part. Although I did not choose the toilet tank bank option, I do want to install them into the toilets of my house. I have been super water conscious and only use what I need for cleaning, showers, and dishes. I've also continued to use my reusable water bottle. This week has been pretty brutal and sad. But doing what I can makes me feel better.

    • Drasti  Patel's avatar
      Drasti Patel 4/28/2022 8:52 AM
      Hi Edaena, 
      I agree; this week was super hard. Saying no to plastic when you have no control over some things is difficult. However, don't feel nervous or scared because you are not doing anything wrong. You have good intentions in your heart. 

  • Edaena Maldonado-Vizueth's avatar
    Edaena Maldonado-Vizueth 4/21/2022 12:59 AM
    I chose to do the weekly meal planning because that has been a skill I have always wanted to keep up with. I tend to get frustrated because of the amount of pressure I place on myself to achieve "perfect" meal planning strategies where the food tastes good, can be safely stored and is healthy with a variety of nutrients and vitamins. When those goals aren't being met, I get discouraged and opt for eating out more. What we are being taught in class continues to remind me that obliging by the needs of the planet also benefits my own health. Though something that has been hard in the past is finding time to cook all of the preconceived meals. Maybe I would be better off to do one meal a day? Something else that would help is sitting down to brainstorm with my partner because as a woman raised in traditional gender roles, I have accepted taking the burden of the endless cycle of thinking of what to cook for dinner. Thankfully, my mom-in-law cooks most days and she feeds us, I will need to hone in on my meal planning and prepping skills before moving out. While we are at home, my boyfriend and I eat all the leftovers in the house because my mom-in-law gets tired of eating the same food everyday and gets tired of clutter, she will discard a lot of food if it makes her feel better. We try and talk her out of throwing away the food, and she concedes a lot of the time. I am very thankful for the time we still have with our parents.

    • Yevelina Torgonskiy's avatar
      Yevelina Torgonskiy 4/21/2022 2:25 PM
      Hi!
      I understand the frustration of missing preparing food and then feeling like I failed to keep up with a "diet" by eating something processed. I also think implementing planning into food preparation is beneficial as it would help ensure that the food you eat is seasonal and nutritious. Cooking and baking are not my strong suits, and I think, no matter who you are, everyone needs to know how to get, make, and store food. Because we will know the cost and waste if we involve ourselves in the process. It may also encourage us to be more sustainable and choose better eating options. 

  • Edaena Maldonado-Vizueth's avatar
    Edaena Maldonado-Vizueth 4/14/2022 12:22 AM
    For this week's eco-challenge I decided to re-valuate my global footprint. I have done this test before, and I remember the results being a lot less severe than what I got this time around. My results said that if everyone in the world lived like me, we would need 2.1 earths to sustain us. I gagged! I think my footprint mostly comes from the amount of meat and dairy I eat, as well as the distance I have to travel for my job. I am not someone that buys a lot of things, but I will buy a lot of food. I think that my eco-change really helps me with my footprint because I do enjoy eating a lot of animal products, so I am grateful to be required to practice more mindfulness towards my animal product consumption, as well as my footprint in general. Also exciting is that the change in a one day a week vegetarianism will be followed by members of my household, so that is even more people participating in this mindfulness. I am going to record this in my sustainability journal as well, and re-evaluate my score in one year, after maintaining and hopefully expanding the amount of dinners/meals I eat with at least no meat and possibly no dairy products.

    • Olivia Carrillo's avatar
      Olivia Carrillo 4/14/2022 9:41 AM
      Hi Edaena, I think it's awesome that you will record your current score and future scores in your sustainability journal. It will be interesting to find out how it changes in the next year when you decide to minimize the amount of meat consumption. It's really difficult to change your diet especially if it's one that you have been raised with. But I am glad you are taking the steps to build new habits that are more sustainable for the environment!

    • Edaena Maldonado-Vizueth's avatar
      Edaena Maldonado-Vizueth 4/14/2022 12:27 AM
      I forgot to mention but my footprint makes me think about the ted talk by Lauren Singer speaking on living a zero waste lifestyle... I wonder how many earths we would need to be sustained if I practiced a similar lifestyle?

  • Edaena Maldonado-Vizueth's avatar
    Edaena Maldonado-Vizueth 4/06/2022 11:35 PM
    To be honest,  I chose to start the sustainability journal because it was one of the more convenient actions to choose from this week. I did not anticipate for the eco challenges to require my own will to seek out information. I thought that there would be a list of convenient links to look through, so I was a bit caught off there, but I think it will be nice to have a record of my sustainability journey. I guess this is a reflection of how I have previously tackled sustainability. The lack of convenience prevents me from participating in sustainable behaviors. I want to change that, I want to learn, and put effort into this, and help others learn and put effort. This weeks reading has helped my doomer attitude in reminding myself that my actions do make an impact on this world and they are not in vain. I am going to try and make my own recycled journal for this task, but for now I will continue to write electronically. I am also excited to fill up the pages so I am going to come back to the challenges for session one and record my progress.