(Late Post) for the 'talk to others' prompt I discussed this class with some friends! Architecture students almost always pick up a minor, and its almost always either Business or Sustainability. So I was talking with 5 classmates who were all majoring in sustainability and I recommended this class to them! they were interested in the creative opportunities.

(Late Post) For the explore my area prompt I hiked a mountain called pepper peak. Its a beautiful place about an hour from home. The hike took about 5 hours round trip and was 5300 ft in elevation. To be honest i was planning on doing this hike anyway. Its right next to a place called Eklutna Lake, which is really beautiful. You should google pictures of it.

(Late Post) For the 'sign a petition' prompt I signed the Justice for Breonna Taylor petition on Change.org. https://www.change.org/p/andy-beshear-justice-for-breonna-taylor?source_location=topic_page

I know the prompt says to sign a petition in my state but there really aren't any in Alaska frankly. Plus the BLM cause is worth it, I also contributed a little bit to the bail funds when the Minneapolis riots were really in full swing.

(late post) When I chose to learn about local issues, i found a particularly relevant issue regarding plastic bags. In 2019, the county banned the distribution of plastic bags and all the grocery stores switched to paper. Most people were in favor of this at the time and it was surprisingly bipartisan considering the area is usually so red.But now, do to the pandemic and lack of reusable bags being brought in, the city has moved to reimplement plastic bags in grocery stores. I would've gone to the city council meeting but nobody there was wearing a mask and i didn't want to get covid.

This week my ecochange will be to take public transportation, bike, walk more, or carpool.

SO I didn't actually do any of the challenges in the list recently, BUT I did/finished a couple of my own projects.
The one I'm most excited about right now is my Apple Cider Vinegar--which I just rebottled to continue the fermentation process. I have three types: 1 with a live vinegar starter as well as sugar, 1 with just sugar/apples/water, and 1 with agave/apples/water. I'm working on using all the food scraps I can, and sending the rest to the worms or the compost.

The next thing I need to finish up are my tomato seeds, which have been fermenting and need to be dried for planting next year. In order to save tomato seeds, they need to be fermented in liquid THEN dried and saved in a dark, airtight space. The viable seeds will sink to the bottom of the liquid, and the duds will float. (I also chucked some tomatoes out in the yard to see if they'll sprout). 

For food, I decided to watch Cowspiracy with my friend Thea!

She is staying at my house for a bit until campus is able to fill a work order in her dorm, so I figured it would be a good time to watch a food documentary. Honestly the only thing I was surprised about was how little "environmental advocates" knew, or were willing to talk about the impact of our livestock culture. There was only like one guy that would publicly comment on livestock being the root cause of 51% of the depletion on the rain forests, or how much they contributed to greenhouse gas production. A lot of these organizations just want to paint a picture that donors like, which doesn't include criticizing their diet. 

We gotta start being honest with ourselves. Thea liked the documentary!

Okay for Transportation, I have actually been working on this all term. 

OKAY. So my family doesn't have the best luck with cars. This sounds like a bad movie script, but this is all within the last five years. My brother ended up crashing his car, crashing the rental for his car, and crashing my moms car (turns out he had an undiagnosed sleeping disorder). My mom was rear ended in a camry, but no serious damage. She then passed the camry on to me ( I had been in a pt cruiser that absolutely fell apart AND WAS ALSO HIT IN THE PSU PARKING GARAGE, so I took over and made payments on the camry). THEN my mom was hit by someone driving an oil company work truck. Some not great things, and my mom is still waiting to get knee/shoulder surgery. After the camry was in my care, someone once again hit it in the PSU parking garage then drove off. THEN my grandparents got hit by a literal school bus. The driver ran the light and t-boned them (THEY ARE DOING GREAT NOW NO LONG TERM INJURIES). THEN I was in the crash in June (the camry) that I mentioned in class. Then someone hit my new (used) car while it was parked, and ran off. SO I got a rental and they fixed my car, which I got back about a month ago. Out of all of that, the only crashes that weren't the other driver's fault were my brother's.

Anyway now that everyone is caught up, I DON'T LIKE DRIVING. It stresses me out. At the start of the year I was parking my rental on campus, because it was the fastest way to commute. After sitting on it, I realized how big of a waste of money it was to pay for parking, and I started taking the MAX. Last week I switched to the bus so that I could enjoy some morning walks. I like the extra time to think, and I only use my car for work/getting to and from my job. ALSO TRANSIT IS BETTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND THAT'S RAD. It took me a minute to figure out how everything works, and I have to plan extra time for travel (which I'm kinda bad at), but I'm getting the hang of it :).

For Water, I decided to cut down on the amount of plastic bottles I use. 

I will be the first to admit that I can be really bad about my tea and coffee intake. Tired? Cool let me run and pick up something with caffeine. I hate admitting this, because I know they'e horrible for you, but I drink energy drinks fairly often (Hi-Ball, but still). SO this week I cut back drastically. I made my coffee at home, skipped the oat-milk matcha latte, and drank water when I would normally run and grab a tea. I found that when I have my reusable bottle on me, I am way more likely to be consistently drinking water, so that is a huge plus. It saves money, which was a plus. I was definitely missing the caffeine, but I don't think that is a bad thing. I will definitely try to remember to have my water bottle on hand, and I'll try to continue drinking *less* caffeine,

I've thought about potentially keeping a water heater and tea bags in my instrument locker :). 

Although I personally did not install the system, my whole neighborhood has solar panels on their roofs. It's a law in California that every new house be built with solar panels. The only decision you have is whether you want to buy them or lease them. With the solar panels, there have been times where my parents receive credit since so much energy was saved they didn't have to pay for any of the electricity used that month.