Vanessa Wissler

Something that I enjoy most about Portland is its abundance of buy-nothing groups. I picked contributing to a few local buy-nothing groups as a means of supporting a sharing economy this week. In the beginning of the week, I gifted a few articles of clothing to a local group, and was also gifted a microwave from someone who had to clear out their apartment in preparation for a move.
My mutual aid group had about 15 extra meals from our weekly food/supply distribution night on Thursday, and I managed to make sure they didn't get wasted by posting the free meals on a buy-nothing page.

This week, I only made necessary purchases. I made note of the unnecessary items I was tempted to buy, and questioned why I felt tempted to buy them. I re-framed what I considered to be essential, and this resulted in making way fewer purchases than I initially would have. I've also used a lot of discretion when making my item choices too, being mindful of the types of packaging my purchases come in and being aware of the materials they are made of.
I only bought groceries this week; here's a meal I made from some of them!
This is pan fried tofu with sautéed vegetables and brown rice.

This past week, I walked whenever feasible to do so rather than taking my car. I chose this action because it seemed like the most effective way for me to implement a challenge immediately. I noticed how many destinations I could fairly easily get to on foot that I had previously only traveled to by car out of convenience. The pleasant weather has added a big incentive for me to walk as well!

This past week I continued a carpooling habit I had taken a hiatus from for about 6 months. A friend and I began carpooling together to complete errands earlier in the pandemic as a way to mitigate covid exposure risk (my friend was reliant on public transportation at the time and was therefore exposed to a lot of people on a regular basis.) We're trying to get back into this routine and went grocery shopping and to the laundry mat together. Carpooling for errands specifically has been a great way to both reduce carbon emissions and ensure that necessary tasks get done by having someone else to keep me accountable and motivated.

This past weekend, I shopped local at People's Co-Op, which I haven't been to in years! I'm trying to move away from supporting corporations where I can, which is difficult to do when it comes to food. I'm trying to get back into a more simplified, whole food diet, and buying basics such as grains, vegetables, and legumes can be done on a tighter budget (though it takes some planning in advance and craftiness.) Unfortunately I don't have any photos (I meant to take one of the front entrance of People's, which is beautiful, but completely forgot.)

Eco Challenge Session One

For this week’s eco challenge, I collected reusable plastic food containers that I plan on using for my mutual aid group. I found it difficult to retain enough steam to consistently collect my plastic, wash it, and store it, but think this habit can be maintained through practice. Session two of the text sites that 9.1 billion percent of plastic has been manufactured in the last 13 years alone (Choices for Sustainable Living, 40.)