My Pledge.

On the eve before we departed Sydney we all sat down together and wrapped up an amazing adventure/vacation together... We all made pledges in which we promised to follow through with once we arrived back at home and got back into our routines. I pledged to help spread the word about sustainability, shorten my showers (and just reduced water consumption as a whole); and on a bigger scale reduce my consumption and become more sustainable!

Since i have arrived at home i have been on a mission to help people understand sustainability and teach them the things that they can change in their everyday lives to help the environment. My family has been really receptive we have cut down our waste a lot, as well as continue our recycling. I am working on getting a compost for my house, which im sure would make Max and all of our friends at Crystal Waters very proud! (:

I have started to wash all my dishes by hand, shortened my showers a lot, and have continued to pressure the ones around me to do so as well.... all while making sure they understand the importance of doing so.

I have also cut down my driving a lot!!! before i leave the house i make sure i have all of my errands written down so that i dont forget something and have to go right back out again (which being forgetful old me happens often).

This J-term trip was amazing and i got a lot more out of it than i ever thought possible... it changed the way i think about my actions and the way that i do things completely. I guess it gave me a whole new mindset, and i am sooooo thankful for that!!!

Pledge For More Sustainability

Ahhh! Australia was wonderful... and life changing. It is also surprising when you think about the 1 1/2 weeks that I have been back (still feel the need for more sleep) and what has changed because of my time in Australia.

First, Rescue Dave's comment (from the Manly Environment Centre) about not eating as much fish and if you are going to eat fish, eat low on the food chain, has really stuck with me. His concern is that if everyone on the planet ate fish, the oceans wouldn't have any fish left. His comment about eating low on the food chain has to do with pollutants in our oceans and rivers. Contaminants such as heavy metals intensify up the food chain... a tuna that has eaten cod, that has eaten a herring containing mercury will have a lot more mercury built up in its system than the herring. So it is healthier to eat the herring. Rescue Dave recommended eating sardines (small fish) if you eat a lot of fish... they don't live as long in the mercury poisoned water and don't have as much mercury built up in their systems.

Also, while I was following up on the whole mercury/sardine issue I found information on how bad farmed fish are for the environment. Most fish farms employee practices that degrade the water quality and the farmed fish are a species mutation that can actually destroy a species by mixing with it. Most are fed meal or pellets from ground up fish that have been caught by abusive factory trawlers so you probably kill more wild fish when you eat a farmed fish than when you actually eat a wild one.

Here is the link about this New York Times article: http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/14/mark-kurlansky-on-sustainable-seafood/

My pledge to live more sustainably involves never buying farmed fish again, having reduced my garbage pick-up at the house to once per month, trying harder to always remember my reusable shopping bags, and to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).

I have researched local CSAs. Zestful Gardens wants $550 up front at the beginning of the season. That one is not in my budget. Terry's Berrys only requires $150 to start an account and they have two sizes of baskets, a small one for $18 and a large one for $30. Chrissy Cooley also told me that she could get me a 10% discount on a CSA that delivers to PLU.

I do wish that more was being done in America to live more sustainably, but it is kind of comforting and inspiring knowing what is being done in Australia. Janet

Pledge Update

Last time I wrote that my pledge would be to buy only organic products from the grocery store...this has been a little more difficult than I had expected! I went grocery shopping today and did my best to buy organically but ended up with merely some fruit and a few dairy products...so I suppose next time I go grocery shopping I might do some research on grocery stores with large organic sections rather than take a chance on a store with a very small organic section like this one! I have also been doing pretty well with reducing my water usage and have been hand washing my dishes and taking shorted showers. Hopefully I can keep this up and maybe become a little more successful at shopping organically!

That's a wrap!

This trip has been amazing. I will never forget it. Of course I have the permanent scar on my knee to remind me. But my end of the trip sustainable act is to cut down on my water use, including shorter showers. I will check back in a couple of weeks to see if I kept to that promise.

Coming Home; Applying what we've learned

After an extra week in Syndey, I was getting ready to come home. While Australia is an amazing place, traveling constantly takes it's toll, and I was tired of living in hostels. It's also hard to be away from family and friends for so long. However, this was the best trip I've ever taken. Traveling across the world and seeing things that most people only see in movies was incredible. During our last extra week, we experienced the Contemporary Art Museum, Australia Day, Chinese New Year, and The Magic Flute at the Opera House. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to travel this month, and I'm sad to see it end. We'll always have irreplaceable memories, and I couldn't be happier about that.

Before the entire class left, we made some pledges about what we could do as individuals to reduce our impact on the environment. The whole trip I talked about how I couldn't wait to drive my car again. Someone suggested that maybe my impact could be not driving as much; and therefore I have been trying to walk or longboard everywhere rather than use my car. It's a little cold and wet, but besides reducing emissions, I'm getting exercise and fresh air, two things that often like in a college lifestyle. We learned tons of valuable ideas on our trip, and hopefully we can learn to employ more things into our everyday activities.

Straws only suck because you do-Pledge Blog

After some excellent "deep snorkels" with eco-diver Dave in Manley Cove and Cabbage-Tree Bay my sustainability pledge evolved a bit...

Amidst the sea horses, octopi, cuttlefish, in your face blue groupers, wobbegongs (sharks!), sponges, corals, and other spectacular sea critters we saw under the sea, there was an unfortunate amount of rubbish. I had my collection bag filled almost as soon as we started collecting. We targeted high risk items such as fishing gear (line, lures, rope, etc), plastic bags (can be seen as a jelly and will be eaten by an unsuspecting animal, possibly chocking it-sea turtles especially), and slushy lids (Because these lids are clear, an animal can unknowingly swim through it but have it get stuck on an animal's neck-like a cone you would put on your pet to keep it from licking itself only this will not help the creature heal, it will kill it). But, we also picked up shoes, hats, sunglasses, coffee lids, plastic bottles, glass bottles, candy wrappers, cans, ziplocks, and the list goes on. It was a pretty powerful experience especially when Dave assigned the challenge of seeing how many straws we could pick up. Since our bags were full, all we could use was our hands. I easily ran out of hand-space before I ran out of straws to pick up. In a collective 15 minutes, Dave and I picked up 384 straws from a relatively small area. It was insane and inspired a new goal- Never use a plastic straw again!

This however has been much more difficult than my previous goal of reducing my shower time (Thanks Manly Environmental Center for my handy dandy little 3-4 min sand timer).

I ordered a frappuccino at Starbucks not really thinking about the lid or straw. When my order was called, the straw and lid were already in place. This is when I first realized that you have to be very intentional about requesting no straw, and I have added a no lid as well. (We did pocket knife the lids in half so if they did end up in the sea, they would be less dangerous).

My next concern was for smoothies. I feel like I have been fairly socialized to think that a straw is necessary for the consumption of such potentially messy things but I figured I would give it a try at the Sydney Airport the morning of our departure. "One strawberry, banana smoothie, no straw, no lid please." And that is exactly what I got. Done, easy as that... well almost.
My next no straw, no lid, attempt was at a Wendy's drive through for a frosty en route to enjoy on of these sunny February days Washington has been having. No lid, no straw, and no spoon ended up being a confusing (probably unheard of) request to communicate over the intercom but the waitress finally realized what we wanted. Up at the window however, habit took over and she snapped a lid on before handing over the first frosty. We were able to remind her before she handed us any straws and before the second lid went on. She apologized saying she forgot which I think supports just how accustomed we are to not only providing, but also utilizing these unnecessary plastic items. But wait! Drinking a smoothie or milkshake without a straw must be soooooo messy right? Not necessarily. A subtle shake of the cup can position the delectable slush just so, in order that one may enjoy these frozen treats with dainty elegance in the absence of a straw. On the other hand, without a straw and lid you can really get your nose in there and delight in a beverage mustache. I forgot how fun this could be, maybe you have too?

Finally there is restaurants. Being back has called for the gathering of friends around food to catch up and oh the straws. I guess it depends on the place, or maybe now I am just so much more conscious of my straw consumption, but I didn't think that a straw would come with a simple glass of water. Back to intentional ordering. One night having returned to the same pizza place with a new set of faces, I was sure to ask for no straws with the waters. This went well with the waters but didn't hold true for the rest of our drinks. Everything else got strawed. Turns out it's a lot of work to be straw free. My newest approach has been to suggest straws upon request only on provided comment cards. We'll see what comes of that.

Until then, maybe those of you who read this post will question the necessity of your next straw, lid, or any bit of unnecessary plastic that comes your way (plastic bags perhaps?).

Homestay Example of Sustainable Living

This weekend I had the opportunity to bus over to Canberra, the capitol of Australia, to visit some second cousins. While there, I was absorbed in the awesomness of meeting new family, especially Erica's two kids Fred/Freddie/Freddo (3 yrs old) and Tilly (8 months) but reflecting back, this visit was another opportunity so see sustainable living in action. There is no doubt that these kiddos kept everyone very busy and one might think that sustainable practices would be neglected however, this was not the case.

The first night I was there I was brought out to the garden to pluck our evening greens and some rhubarb that was baked into the best swedish pie I have ever had. The garden for Erica was a practical and economical way to provide lettuce and other goodies (strawberries, yes!). Erica was explaining how a flat of lettuce seedlings is about 3 dollars and lasted her all season, so thinking about all of the three dollar bags of lettuce I have ever bought in my life and how the majority of the time they go bad half way through makes having a garden just make so much sense. Take what you need for tonight and still have fresh stuff for tomorrow, Brilliant! I would also note that the garden provides a learning experience for Freddie. We had a quick mulching session before I had to leave for the bus granted it did turn into Freddie and I rolling mulch snowmen that shortly flew the air as mulch missiles...I still have grass in my hair. This is to say that not only is a sustainable practice like having a garden an economic and educational opportunity, but it is a source of FUN too!!!!

Another exemplary moment of sustanable living was going to the market. Reusable bags in hand we entered a fabulose mecca of fruits and fish and grains galore. I'm just saying, if a busy mom and her brother can remember their bags, so can we. Pre shopping, we stopped in for a coffee drink and sat down for some foamy glory. I had this thought while on my busride back about how nice it was to sit down and take this extra 15-20 minutes to enjoy our beverages and eachothers company. Sustainable plus side, intentional or not, was that taking this extra time cut out the need for a disposable cup, lid and straw. If a morning cup of coffee is something you value and if it can be done with the added bonus of company it should be a no brainer that this is worth it. Of course, if we must be go go go at all times and you know that you're caffiene dependent, the obvious solution is to always tote a mug! ( ...a nice segway to one of my goals coming out of this trip which is to only purchase a hot beverage if it comes in a washable mug, or if I can provide one of my own. If I am in a situation where this is not possible, I have decided that I will just have to live without).

Having a simple garden, remembering reusable bags, and/or utilizing a mug instead of something disposable (the last two particularly) are just a handful of the many fantastic ways to start making a difference. Some practices might be a hard habits to break at first, or may take a bit of initial investment but they are easily worthwhile and you can make them a convenient thing to do. Happily, I am getting to the point where I would treat my reusable bag like a cell phone and am obsessed with making sure I have it especially since this is as easy as clipping the caribeaner connected to my reusable bag to my purse or backback.