Matthew Cooper

"Looking to find everyday actions that will decrease my environmental footprint while also helping me in other areas of my life (physical/mental health, finances, etc.)"

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
417 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

16

disposable cups

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

15

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

13

plastic containers

not sent to the landfill

Matthew's actions

Food

Reduce Animal Products

I will enjoy 1 meatless meal(s) and/or 0 vegan meal(s) each day this week.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Energy

Heat and Cool Naturally

I will naturally heat and cool my house, office, or dorm room by opening or closing my windows, curtains, and blinds, and by using fans.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Use a Reusable Mug

I will avoid sending 1 disposable cup(s) to the landfill each day by using a reusable mug.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Water

5-Minute Showers

I will save up to 20 gallons (75 L) of water each day by taking 5-minute showers.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Reduce Single-Use Disposables

Historically, marginalized and low-income communities live closer to landfills, contributing to a multitude of health problems. I will find out how I can limit single-use items and do my best to limit the waste I generate.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

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?

Matthew Cooper 10/22/2019 8:08 AM

This weekend I've been fighting a pretty nasty cold and have definitely fallen behind on my ecochallenges. What this has shown me is how often life's conveniences oppose a lot of these challenges. For instance, when you're feeling miserable it's so much easier to order delivery, which of course comes packaged in a plethora of non-recyclable materials. I'm feeling much better today so I'm hoping to make up for several days of inaction for these final couple of days.

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- Michael Wzorek 10/22/2019 9:14 PM
  
  I totally understand. I got my wisdom teeth extracted on the third day of eco-challenge. Though the smoothies helped cut down on my meat intake, the lack of energy impacted my ability to be assertive against simple environmental threats. McDonald's has pretty soft food. This seems intentionally.
  
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Matthew Cooper 10/13/2019 9:55 PM

I think I do a pretty good job with avoiding hot water when doing laundry. Normally I use the "warm" setting unless I am doing a load that mixes lights and darks, in which case I'll use "cold". With the Ecochallenge in mind, I decided to do both my loads today using cold water. It's such a small change but it's great to think that something seemingly small and inconsequential can have a positive impact!

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- Lydia Connolly 10/14/2019 7:12 PM
  
  This is awesome! I usually use cold water for my laundry as well but I'm putting in the extra effort to use it all the time. Definitely a small change that can have a big impact!
  
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- Annamarie Pas 10/14/2019 2:50 PM
  - Love seeing this!! Proud of you.
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- Hector Cervantes 10/14/2019 10:04 AM
  
  YES. Congrats on switching over to cold water to do laundry. I did that switch last week and it is something I will contiune to do. One other perk to this is clothing will not shrink and not damage as much as using warm water.
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste Reduce Single-Use Disposables

Bringing your own bags and containers to the grocery store, and even to restaurants for leftovers, are a couple of ways to reduce your waste. What single-use items (e.g. straws, coffee cups, vegetable bags, plastic bags) do you regularly use? What could be substituted instead?

Matthew Cooper 10/13/2019 9:47 PM

I think I normally do a pretty good job of reducing waste when I pack my lunches. I recently ran out of Ziploc sandwich bags and rather than replacing them have been relying even more on tupperware. This was from 2 days (also note I packed my own fork to prevent myself from using a plastic one)

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- Hector Cervantes 10/14/2019 11:38 AM
  
  Nice work I find it more cost effective to when you buy Tupperware. Not only are you saving the environment, Tupperware is more durable and lasts longer as opposed to sandwich bags that can break easily.
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Energy Heat and Cool Naturally

What are other ways you could use the power of the sun to reduce your own environmental footprint?

Matthew Cooper 10/13/2019 9:44 PM

This hasn't been a particularly difficult challenge since it's fall now and it isn't warm enough to require A/C. However, my room was quite warm when I came home this evening and I resisted the urge to pop on the A/C for a few minutes to help regulate. A very small sacrifice of convenience and comfort, but a much larger issue in mind :)

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste Use a Reusable Mug

Maybe you've heard how good it is to switch from a single use coffee cup to a reusable one, but it's just hard to make the switch. What stands in your way of making this a habit? By identifying the challenges, you can begin to work through them to have better success in taking this action. Knowing the difference you are making, how does it make you feel?

Matthew Cooper 10/10/2019 7:16 AM

I'm not a person who stops for coffee every morning -- it's much cheaper and more efficient to brew my own at home. I use travel mugs if I don't have time to finish my cup at home, but when I drink coffee at work I have the tendency to use disposable cups. Our break room doesn't have a sink, so using mugs isn't the most convenient thing in the world, requiring a trip to the bathroom/drinking fountain to awkwardly wash it. Since I had way too many mugs at home, this week I brought one to keep at the office on both campuses -- this way I'm keeping disposable cups out of the garbage and not having to worry about making mugs 100% spotless for others to drink out of.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Water 5-Minute Showers

Five minute showers are an impressive step toward reducing your water footprint. What is the next step you can take?

Matthew Cooper 10/06/2019 9:21 PM

Thus far, this has been the most challenging part of the EcoChallenge. I'm known to take really long showers (I've always found it to be relaxing and a good way to de-stress; I'm also just sluggish and lose track of time), so when I saw this challenge listed, I thought it would be a noticeable change with noticeable consequences.

On my first day, I just showered normally and timed myself so that I would have something to compare everything else to. This clocked in around 14 minutes. Both times that I have since tried to shower quickly, I ended up showering for about 5.5 minutes (with room for error, as it takes time to step into the shower and to wipe yourself off when you get out).

These shortened showers (close to the goal but not quite there) have felt a bit rushed, but it hasn't felt as significant as I thought it would. I am eager to finally get my time down to under 5 minutes.

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- Barbara Willard 10/08/2019 3:38 AM
  
  Way to go! I have found so many students have a hard time with shorter showers and choose this challenge. Keep up the good work.
  
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