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I grew up in Vinnytsia, a medium-sized town in Ukraine with a population of around 400,000. For 17 years, I traveled throughout Europe. When I moved to the USA, I had to adapt to many lifestyle changes. I have always been interested in sustainability and have diligently followed this topic online. It seemed that U.S. citizens discuss and share information about sustainability the most, which gives the impression that they are the most concerned.

My experience after moving here has revealed why this is the case. Living sustainably in the USA is quite complicated and needs to be consistently addressed, whereas in Europe, it tends to be a natural part of daily life, and people find it comfortable.

The first difference I noticed is the easy accessibility of products in the USA, which often leads to excessive consumerism. In the USA, you can get almost anything you want within a few days if you shop on Amazon, or even within minutes if you drive to a store. This is not the case in Europe, where the variety of products is more limited. If you’re looking for something specific, you may have to spend a lot of time searching for it and might eventually realize that you don’t really need it after all. And I think it is a good thing.

It helps prevent impulsive buying and encourages consumers to purchase only what they truly need.

The second difference is ways of commuting. Oh, how I miss my rides on trams, trolleybuses, and trains.

In Ukraine, teenagers typically do not own cars, and most families have only one car, at most two; there isn’t a separate car for each person. To be honest, people in Ukraine don’t need cars. Public transportation can take you anywhere you want to go, starting at 5 AM and operating until midnight. I used to travel alone on public transport to my music school since I was six years old, and I never had any issues with it. It is safe, comfortable, affordable, and widely used by our population. Additionally, public transport allows you to relax.

Driving makes me feel exhausted because I have to constantly focus on the road. In contrast, while using public transport, you can read a book, do some work, or even take a nap. This makes traveling within cities and between them much easier and less tiring. Moreover, cities in Ukraine and Europe are very accessible for bicycles.

We have bike lanes everywhere, which makes it even more convenient to commute. Additionally, most towns in Europe and Ukraine are extremely walkable, so you can easily get whatever you need within a short walk.

The fourth difference is waste management. Europe has actively promoted the concept of a circular economy, emphasizing waste reduction through recycling and sustainable practices. The EU has implemented various regulations and directives aimed at minimizing single-use plastics, encouraging recycling, and promoting the eco-design of products. These initiatives are designed to create a closed loop that reduces environmental impact while enhancing sustainable consumption and production

(ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES – Why Is Europe More Environmentally Conscious than the U.S.?” 2024). For instance, in Italy, waste is taxed, and individuals can face fines for improper separation of recyclables. In Ukraine, waste is also separated and recycled. Many people choose to shop with their own reusable bags, drink from reusable bottles, and bring their own cups to coffee shops when ordering takeout. Additionally, consumers must pay for plastic bags, and there is legislation that allows EU member states to ban plastic bags entirely (Casavant 2018).

I myself experienced firsthand how your surroundings shape your choices. For instance, when deciding what to eat, I find it much harder to resist the temptation of ordering fast food instead of making an effort to cook a well-balanced meal at home, especially when I am tired and short on time. However, it’s not just about your surroundings; governance and legislation play a crucial role as well, often even more so. The EU’s commitment to the Paris Agreement exemplifies a collective effort to combat climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions (UNFCCC, 2024). While certain states and cities in the U.S. have implemented progressive ecological measures, the lack of cohesive federal policies has hindered the country’s overall commitment to sustainability (“ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES – Why Is Europe More Environmentally Conscious than the U.S.?” 2024).

In my opinion, there are several reasons why people in Ukraine tend to be environmentally conscious. Personally, I never considered consuming only what you need and saving energy and water as sustainability practices; it’s simply how I was taught to live. I believe this attitude is largely influenced by Ukraine’s history. Living in a post-Soviet country, which has faced economic challenges, encourages people to turn off lights when they’re done using them, keep the water running only when necessary, walk instead of driving, and choose affordable food options, often from local markets. While many aspire to achieve the American dream, it’s important to recognize the trade-offs associated with that lifestyle.

In conclusion, since moving to the USA, I have had to adjust to many lifestyle changes. However, living in the Cottage has fostered an environment and community that supports and encourages me, along with others, to practice and learn more about sustainable living and keep each other accountable. Let’s be mindful of our actions and try our best to not allow our surroundings to dictate our choices!

Works cited:

UNFCCC. 2024. “The Paris Agreement.” United Nations Climate Change. United Nations. 2024. https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement.

“ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES – Why Is Europe More Environmentally Conscious than the U.S.?” 2024. Www.greenunion.co.uk. 2024. https://www.greenunion.co.uk/lifestyle/1621/ENVIRONMENTAL-ISSUES—Why-Is-Europe-More-Environmentally-Conscious-Than-The-U.S.%3F.

Casavant, Morgan. 2018. “5 Sustainable Living Practices Europe Teaches the Rest of the World.” YouAligned^TM. January 21, 2018. https://youaligned.com/lifestyle/sustainable-living-europe/.

 

As the cool brisk of autumn presses upon the oaks and they cry a silent retaliation, their leaves shift to a fiery orange.  As this cool brisk sinks among the lake and the icy water stills, the geese escape South. As this cool brisk conquers the air and the bugs find little warmth, the spider risks everything to sneak inside. As the cool brisk of autumn settles into our bones and the world alters, we flock to Spirit Halloween. 

Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love decorating, going to pumpkin patches, carving pumpkins, finding multiple costumes, dressing up, and celebrating Halloweekend with all my friends. For many of us at Furman (and other college students), fall reminds us of everything Halloween embodies. However, for most of the world (the environmental and human world) this is not a joyous time. Halloween embodies the worst of our sustainability issues. The scariest part about Halloween is how it capitalizes off cheap consumerism and how vast the environmental injustices of this holiday are.

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Halloween consumerism is especially harmful for many different reasons. Since Halloween is only one or a few nights of the year people aren’t willing to invest a whole lot of money in costumes or Halloween decorations. Because of this demand for costumes and decorations, producers will use the cheapest method to produce the costumes. This causes the use of exploitive labor, sometimes even slave labor, and many environmental consequences (Kennedy, 2024).
Exploitive labor most frequently happens in other countries that don’t have a whole lot of oversight in production facilities. This lack of oversight often includes but is not limited to little to no child labor laws, a lack of an appropriate minimum wage, and unsafe working conditions causing the vast majority of fast fashion workers to live below the poverty line (Ross, 2021).

Fast fashion production also has very serious implications for the environment. Mass production of costumes and decorations causes so much pollution. Just in the US alone, it is estimated that 35 million Halloween costumes are thrown away annually. The production in itself releases a lot of greenhouse gas emissions as well as transporting it across the world (Center for Biological Diversity, n.d.). When making these seasonal items they also use the cheapest material possible which is primarily synthetic materials with many harmful chemicals that pollute the surrounding environment (Kennedy, 2024). These synthetic, often carcinogenic, materials pollute local streams affecting the communities living around production facilities. These materials in costumes specifically also break down over time so even if you do not throw the costumes away, they will still cause waste (Kennedy, 2024). 

While costumes and decor cause a lot of waste during this time, so does the innocent task of carving pumpkins. When carving a pumpkin and scooping the guts out of it, it gets thrown away. Then, after carving the pumpkin is finished and it has been sitting out for a while and it begins to rot, it gets sent to the landfill. Pumpkin waste is particularly harmful because when it gets broken down in these landfills it produces methane, a greenhouse gas that is 25 times more harmful than CO2. Every year, nearly 80% of all pumpkins that are bought are just thrown away. In the UK alone, 18,000 tonnes of pumpkins get thrown away. Now in the US, since around 80% of pumpkins are wasted, imagine how many of the 900,000 tonnes of pumpkins produced are being thrown away. Pumpkin waste every year around Halloween has a haunting effect on global warming (World Economic Forum, 2019).

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When fall hits and we all get so excited for Halloween, we must remember the stark realities of this holiday for the rest of the world. As we galavant around on October 31st in our costumes worrying about getting good Instagram pictures– there is a person across the world, getting ready to work 14 hours for an unlivable wage in conditions so dangerous, that any slip-up can result in a lost limb or death. As you get ready and put on your Halloween costume you ordered off of Amazon, Shein, Temu, Fashion Nova, Zara, etc…– a little fish, a world away, is trying to do his daily business of protecting the coral formation he has claimed as his, with a little piece of plastic lodged in his gill impairing his ability to breathe. As you walk past a perfectly crafted Jack-o-Lantern this week– someone is sitting amongst rubble following a climate-induced hurricane trying to cope with their entire life having been destroyed. This is a spooky season indeed.

This is the harsh reality of Halloween however, I still celebrate and cherish it deeply. There are many ways you can sustainably celebrate Halloween!

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For my Halloween costumes I always thrift and make them! This year at the Cottage we are throwing a little Greenbelt Halloween party and we all are being Minecraft characters. This year, we are only wearing what we have in our closets with cardboard heads we made. My other costumes are pitbull, a leopard and a siren. For pitfall, I just used my mock trial suit, pantyhose, and eyeliner! For the leopard, I am doing a makeup-intensive costume so I do not have to order as many things. Finally, for my siren costume that I am most excited about, I am making a beaded top from scratch. I made the outline with chains from Michaels and the beads I had left over from

when I made beaded curtains! I also got some more beads from a second-hand craft store, Recraft in Greenville, that is super helpful for DIY Halloween costumes. For our Halloween decorations, we made a lot of

ours and brought many from our homes. We didn’t buy any of the commercial Halloween decorations!

We also carved pumpkins! We did this and made really yummy pumpkin seeds and composted the pumpkins. If you want to carve pumpkins at Furman without contributing to waste I urge you to bring them over to the Furman farm and compost them. This substantially limits the amount of greenhouse gasses that it releases into the atmosphere and it goes into the yummy food we eat at the dining hall. 

There are so many ways to celebrate Halloween sustainably! I have been able to celebrate all of the seasonal traditions while making minimal impact.

 

 

These are some of the final costumes!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Citation

 

The most glaring issue of sustainability that I’ve seen in my day-to-day living at Furman is the overuse of “recyclable” paper cups for coffee or tea in the dining hall. More specifically, people use disposable cups and then sit back down at a table rather than leaving. This wouldn’t necessarily be an issue if they were the only option available, but reusable mugs are literally inches to their right at the tea/coffee station.

The biggest problem stems from the production of these paper cups, these cups are dipped in a tiny layer of polyethylene or, in other words, regular plastic. The plastic surrounding the paper cups makes them excruciatingly difficult to dispose of sustainably. The single-use nature of these cups also promotes a culture of disposability within the dining hall, as I’ve seen people use them once and then throw them away instead of using the reusable mugs directly to their right or left. This “culture of disposability” increases the amount of waste generated by Furman and undermines the tautological nature of our sustainability practices.

A Commons article by Naman Bajaj states that “99.75% of disposable coffee cups can’t be recycled.” he then further speculates that, on average, America uses 146 billion coffee cups a year. The process by which these coffee cups could be recycled is, according to Foodprint, “both complex and expensive, [so] the cups are routed to incinerators or landfills for final disposal.” The point is that in the Dining Hall, they are marketed as “sustainable” and “recyclable” as they have green leaves printed on the outside of the cup, so people give them no second thought when using them. When in reality, they are hugely detrimental to Furman’s sustainability efforts. On top of this, hot beverages can cause styrene to leak from the plastic in these cups, “which has been linked to a host of health problems from impaired concentration and nervous system effects to cancer.” (Foodprint) I think it would be in good practice to dramatically decrease our use of these items, as there seems to be no benefit to them.

Relating this issue back to my experience living in the Greenbelt Community, I think because of the education about sustainability practices within this program as a whole has allowed me to be more cognizant of issues like this. Flashback to freshman year, the environmental impact of disposable cups would be the last thing on my mind. I think if people on campus knew the true consequences of using them, I think their use would be extremely diminished. Or even just offering them as only a to-go item and instead make people use the reusable mugs already out for use. Living in the Greenbelt has opened my eyes and ears to issues like this and the problems they pose from a local and systemic perspective. It’s important to bring education about topics like these to the majority of the student body, as most issues like this can be neutered by simple tweaks, by literally just using less.

 

Works Cited

Link, Kristen. “The Massive Impact of Your Takeout Coffee Cup.” FoodPrint, 11 Dec. 2020, foodprint.org/blog/environmental-impact-coffee-cup/.

 

 

While driving back to campus from work last week, a billboard caught my eye. It read, “Save water. Shower tomorrow.” This took me aback, because I don’t think I have ever in my whole life witnessed an encouragement to take less showers. In America at least, the rhetoric is always that you can never be clean enough. Bodily odors are looked down upon, and greasy hair is “gross”. Not showering is associated with several negative stereotypes, and many people I know feel like their day is incomplete without a shower. It is estimated that 2/3 of American adults shower daily. In fact, most people will swear by the benefits of this approach to hygiene, like containment

of body odor, removing dirt from the skin, cleansing of bacteria, and improved confidence. There are also general mental health benefits of having a routine to stick to, and many people use showers to wake themselves up in the morning or wind down in the evening. While these advantages are certainly something to think about, I couldn’t help but wonder what this billboard was getting at.

 

In addition to common daily showers, the average shower in the US lasts for 8 minutes, using 16 gallons of water, according to . This adds up to about 1 trillion gallons of water used yearly just for showers. Not only is that a lot of water, but it is also not necessarily good for you to be showering daily. Excessive showers is linked to dry skin. Dry skin can cause an increased amount of bacteria to be introduced into your body through the cracks, as well as a weakened immune system due to all the “good” bacteria being routinely washed off.

During the few days we were out of power here on campus due to hurricane Helene, I found myself wishing for a shower. The temperature was getting up there due to the lack of air conditioning. In the cottage, we did have access to indoor lighting because of our skylights, but we still needed our doors and windows wide open. Even with this attempt at ventilation, it was still getting hard to sit, unentertained, in a sauna. This period of time had me welcoming a cold shower (as if I had a choice – we had no hot water). While we do have regular access to hot water and air conditioning now, a cold shower need not be a temporary product of a situation. 

Not showering daily may sound extreme to some, and for certain skin and hair types, is just not doable. However, taking colder showers can be a great way to lessen the environmental impact of a person’s need to shower daily. This can encourage shorter showers due to less comfort, in addition to decreasing carbon emissions. Credibly Green reports that using cold water as opposed to hot water can save up to 3 times the amount of emissions. And you don’t have to jump straight into a cold shower. Decreasing the temperature just a little bit at a time can be helpful in acclimating, and a warm shower is better than a boiling hot one!

Are cold showers definitely not for you? That’s understandable. Another way to reduce daily water consumption is called the “navy shower.” These showers, which originated on naval ships where water resources were scarce, are actually not as unglamorous as they might sound. All you do is turn the water off in between steps of your shower!

This method uses only about 3 gallons of water total per shower, compared to the 16 gallon average in the US.

 

The use of reasoning like this is vital to creating environmental allies. If you present environmental protection as a hassle or work-intensive, people are less likely to make changes. This is exactly what WildAid has done with the billboard I saw, as well as many other initiatives out there, a gallery of which is available at https://www.theenvironmentexcuse.org/media/.

Contrary to the title, I do not actually believe in the merit of bad hygiene. However, mindful hygiene practices and simple habit changes are a stepping stone to a sustainable life and future. At the end of the day, we know our own needs best, so the routine that works for you is the one that you should follow. Even so, we should always be open to trying out a new approach, especially if there are possible benefits to it!

 

Works cited:

Media Gallery – The Environment Excuse. (2023, February 6). https://www.theenvironmentexcuse.org/media/‌

Shmerling, R. (2019, June 28). Showering daily — is it necessary? – Harvard Health Blog. Harvard Health Blog. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/showering-daily-is-it-necessary-2019062617193

(2023, February 16). Hot vs Cold Showers. Credibly Green. https://www.crediblygreen.com/2023/02/16/environmental-impact-of-hot-vs-cold-showers/

Stonestream. (2022, October 11). What is a navy shower?. StoneStream UK. https://www.stone-stream.com/post/what-is-a-navy-shower?srsltid=AfmBOorXpaPTDH4bKUL9594S5qtXXdUoBd3twNbLpK619tPzVrbGlnDL

 

Growing up I had a front porch. It wasn’t the coolest one on the block, and was by no means the most interesting, but it got the job done. When I moved to another part of the neighborhood in 1st grade, I got new neighbors, a higher squirrel population, and a cool alleyway behind the backyard, but unfortunately no porch. Fast forward to the current year, living in the Greenbelt cabin, has made me realize what I’ve been missing the past 11 years of my life. Porches and other outdoor sitting areas encourage you to spend more time around nature and use less electricity. As such, in this blog I’m going to articulate what exactly makes porches not only appealing, but quite sustainable as well.

As humans, we all want control in our lives, right? It seems to be the cause of much of our problems and, well, solutions to those problems as well. The temperature is 96 degrees out so what do you do? Stay in shade, drink more water, and maybe take the opportunity to go for a swim. Or retreat to your nice insulated home and crank the AC till the windows frost over. In our age of endless solutions, its much easier to pick the second option, and take control of your environment. What’s easy to forget, however, is the damages that much of these solutions can cause. Air conditioning, despite its easy fix to a hot climate, releases greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide into the environment. According to an article from UN Environmental Program, AC accounts for 20% of a given building’s power consumption. Not only this, but they are accompanied by the electricity costs of all of your other home appliances and environmental regulators, such as lighting, electronics, and so on. We know that these appliances all contribute to energy consumption as well as climate change, but we still use them out of a need for control over our environment. What am I proposing then, that we should all go live outside and surrender ourselves to the elements in order to minimize our impact on the environment? While this may be an appealing idea to some of you out there (I’m looking at you backpackers), it is simply not viable or particularly comfortable for the vast majority of people. What we all can do, however, is simply spend more time outside, something that a porch makes incredibly convenient to do.

 

  –  The Greenbelt Cabin Porch

 

Spending your time outside instead of in the enclosed comfort of your home doesn’t just benefit the environment, it also can greatly benefit your physical and mental health. According to an article from UC Davis Health, being outside and engaging with nature “has a positive effect on our bodies by reducing cortisol levels, muscle tension, and demands on our cardiovascular systems.” Not only can being outside reduce stresses to our physical and mental wellbeing, but it can also help your body produce extremely vital vitamin D. According to an article from the National Institute of Health, in the US “almost one out of four people have vitamin D blood levels that are too low or inadequate for bone and overall health.” Spending more time outside can help you reap the natural benefits of the sun’s rays, helping you to regulate your health and wellbeing.

There are many reasons why one may prefer the inside at a given time to the outdoors. It could be too cold, windy, or your neighbor’s car alarm could be wailing nonstop. Just being outside means you are giving up some of your control over your environment, and well, that is what makes it so appealing. In an age where we have increasing control over all aspects of our lives, it is refreshing to embrace the fact that in the natural world, we are not in control. Sure, our houses may remain the same temperature and never blow our hats off with a gust of wind, but the moment you step outside, anything can happen. It is because of this contrast with the stability of the rest of the house, that the porch has won me over. Not only is it healthy and sustainable to spend your time outside, but the porch provides a space to realize how connected we are with the environment, despite how distant it can feel behind closed doors.

 

 

References:

Air conditioners fuel the climate crisis. can nature help?. UNEP. (n.d.-b). https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/air-conditioners-fuel-climate-crisis-can-nature-help#:~:text=How%20does%20cooling%20contribute%20to,double%20burden%20for%20climate%20change.

UC Davis Health. (2024, October 1). 3 ways getting outside into nature helps improve your health. health. https://health.ucdavis.edu/blog/cultivating-health/3-ways-getting-outside-into-nature-helps-improve-your-health/2023/05

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Office of dietary supplements – vitamin D. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-Consumer/

People who don’t enjoy the gym don’t understand the way exercise quiets your brain. When you’re lifting weights, you have no choice but to focus on what’s directly in front of you. Either you complete your movement or drop forty-five pounds of iron on your face.

For me, even preparing for the gym is calming. I’ll come back from class in a whirlwind of agitation– and I’m sure anyone who sees me during that time would laugh. My phone’s blowing up: sorority business, club meetings, emails. There’s an exam I bombed in my backpack, and across the lake, a townie kid is screaming at the top of her lungs. I nearly trip on the stairs to my house.

But by the time I’m scooping my preworkout in the kitchen, that’s all long gone. For one hour, six days a week, I don’t have to think about anything but the feel of a barbell in my hands.

I’m not necessarily alone in this feeling: between scientific advancements and social media, gym culture is now more popular than ever. With this comes a rise in supplement use– synthetic vitamins and chemicals meant to enhance your workout experience.

Among the most popular supplements for gym-goers are preworkouts. If you’re unaware of how pre works, think of it as an energy-boosting Kool-Aid mix. Chances are, though, you’ve at least heard of it– because in 2023, the global industry was valued at over $19 billion.

Unfortunately for gym-goers, synthetic preworkout is anything but carbon neutral. Most of the ingredients in pre are amino acids. These chemicals occur naturally in the body; however, in supplemental form, must be produced via chemical processing. Production is energy-intensive and factory waste can pollute environments and even create biohazards. The vast majority of chemical processing plants in America run on fossil fuels, and they are responsible for close to 20% of the country’s GHG emissions (“Ammonia Production”).

Most preworkouts contain these 5 synthetically-produced amino acids: beta-alanine, anhydrous caffeine, citrulline, tyrosine, taurine, and creatine monohydrate. Whether it’s blocking the receptors in your brain responsible for fatigue or increasing oxygen delivery to your muscles, each and every one enhances performance. Chemical production processes for each and every one of these chemicals requires “high temperatures and pressures”– in other words, they’re extremely energy-intensive. (“Advances in the synthesis of β-alanine.”)

The waste from these processes can also be hazardous. Creatine phosphate turns to creatinine (a natural waste product) in the body, but creatine monohydrate has to be burned to be disposed of. This process of burning actually releases hazardous chemicals, which can affect both workers and the environment.

All of these supplements are helpful– even essential– to anyone who goes to the gym on a daily basis. But between the chemicals, dye, flavoring, and plastic packaging of preworkout, it’s entirely unsustainable. On top of this, pre can actually expire, becoming less effective the longer it sits. Its shelf life is only about a year, and once opened, it is generally recommended to use within 6 months. 

Worse, the environmental impacts of the industry have yet to fully be studied. In fact, preworkout is so new that its effect on the body isn’t fully known. The amount of caffeine per scoop typically ranges between 150-300mg, and there’s a common idea among hardcore gym-goers of “double-scooping” or even combining it with an energy drink. The effects of this intake, along with a cocktail of chemical powders, have not been studied longitudinally.

But if the entire industry is an environmental and public health risk, why buy into it? Some ideas to supplement are black tea or coffee and a “quick carb”– a slice of toast, a banana, or another light source of energy. Better yet, endeavor to eat clean. All of these amino acids are either already in your body or can be found in whole foods.

Easier said than done, right? How am I, for example, supposed to eat healthily? I’m in the PDen so often the workers know me by name. Why go to the dining hall when I have literal energy in a carton? I argue sustainability is not just about the environment– it’s about a lifestyle that you are able to support. And personally, preworkout significantly enhances my gym experience.

But the purpose of this article is to bring awareness to the preworkout industry, which is the first step to solving the problem. Choosing to opt out of synthetic preworkout is a solution, but at the root, consumers are not to blame. It’s the companies mass-producing it.

At the end of the day, it’s okay to stick with synthetic preworkout. But when a plume of smoke rises out of the tub as you open it, keep in mind its artificiality and remember that just because it’s the easiest way to get energy, it might not be the best.

 

Works Cited

“Global Pre-Workout Supplements Market.” Yahoo Finance, 16 Oct. 2023, https://finance.yahoo.com/news/global-pre-workout-supplements-market-180000537.html.

“Ammonia Production.” Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Department of Energy, 2001, https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/773773.

“Advances in the synthesis of β-alanine.” National Library of Medicine, 2023. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10639138/.

            On a steady note, the temperature is rising, and the once warm summers become unbearably hot. In the desert of Las Vegas, Nevada, the temperature reached an all new peak of 120 degrees and it is doomed to rise. In the South climate change is not only pushing forth a rise in temperature, but an increase in the number of natural disasters, contributing to events such as hurricanes like Helene and Milton. The irony of such a fact is that the natural human response to a rise in temperature is most always to combat such with AC. Whilst the home gets cooler the repercussions of constant AC usage are counteractive.

 

The basic actions of AC units aren’t particularly detrimental to the climate, they literally make the surrounding area cooler, but to do so they require power, and that requirement and production prove to be 

negative for the ozone layer. Measuring greenhouse gas emissions, the almost 2.5 billion number of AC units in the world contribute to about 3% of total emissions, and whilst 3% may not seem a lot, in the grand scheme of things, each minute percent counts. Especially with future projections, with the exponential rise in homeowners, and buildings, since in 2050 the number of units could rise to at least 5.5 billion, attacking this issue before it becomes too large to handle could prove to be more important than we could imagine in terms of reversing climate change.

 

 

Just ignoring the need for climate control within the house, especially for those in desert climates, isnt the answer and could lead to even more peril, so instead what is needed are sustainable, and climate friendly alternatives. One means of curbing the constant usage of electricity is to make sure that the energy used is being used in the most efficient way possible. In a study of AC efficacy in Ghana, over 85% of units ranked at the lowest level of efficiency on the SEER grading scale. Through fixing the crisis of poorly efficient units, less power would go to waste, greatly reducing the power needed to be produced. In the context of hot climate areas, such as deserts, researchers from McGill University, UCLA, and Princeton have found an inexpensive and sustainable alternative roofing material that radiates heat away from the building to regulate the heat inside. With this new radiating roofing, the building would contain less of a need for AC to regulate temp, and reduce the power used. Another alternative for the average, consumer 

purchased AC unit would be to invest in newer systems, rather than to keep to older model. One of the large issues with AC systems is that they tend to leak hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants which can be up to 2,000 times or potent and detrimental to the ozone layer. With new investments in manufacturers such as Daikin and Gree which have developed prototypical models that not only are more efficient, but use less harmful refrigerant, and systems that use alternative cooling techniques such as drying the air.

 

Taking in the collection of what has been stated, AC units if not addressed, could drive the climate into higher temperatures, instead of lower. Through addressing the efficiency, and enhancing the use of alternative cooling methods (i.e. drying air, roofing materials) the power usage could be lowered enough the help reverse climate change, and sustainably cool the earth. For future research, we must ask what must the government do to help, how could we mandate climate safe procedures, and how can we dig out of the hole we created.

Works cited:

Guardian News and Media. (2021, September 3). How to make Air Conditioning Less of an environmental nightmare. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/03/air-conditioning-climate-crisis-clean-tech-solutions

Ritchie, H., & Roser, M. (2024, July 16). Air conditioning causes around 3% of greenhouse gas emissions. how will this change in the future?. Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/air-conditioning-causes-around-greenhouse-gas-emissions-will-change-future#:~:text=In%20summary%2C%20air%20conditioning%20in,emissions%20when%20refrigerants%20are%20included.

ScienceDaily. (2023, October 30). A sustainable alternative to air conditioning. ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/10/231030110826.htm

Cold and scared, I gripped the side of a National Guard truck as we made the alarming exodus from our flooded home to shelter at the Houston Convention Center.

With water everywhere, and not a single point of illumination, I stared out at the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

At 13, I was already a veteran of flooding. At age 11, my Houston neighborhood experienced a 100-year flood — an extreme that was supposed to happen once in 100 years. (Leinfelder, (2018)

That day school was canceled so my sisters and I put on our rain boots and went outside to play in the water. I wasn’t too concerned. I was glad to have gotten this 100-year flood out of the way so young. 

But a year later another 100-year flood happened. (ClicktoHouston, 2019) This time our red Ford Focus was submerged in the street and water got into the engine. I was upset and confused.

“Why is it called a 100-year event if it happens every year?” I asked my parents.

A year later, Hurricane Harvey hit, my dad woke me up at 5 a.m and as I stumbled out of bed, I felt water under my feet. The water had finally made it past our front door. 

We moved to our living room and placed anything we could up high where we thought the water could never reach it. But the water kept rising.  I was scared for my grandparents, who lived next door. How could we transport two diminutive elders down a street filled with over 4 feet of murky water? 

Around 11 a.m., we moved to the second story of our neighbor’s house. I watched out the window as my elementary school across the street was submerged. The water kept climbing. Around 5 p.m., we were evacuated by open-air National Guard trucks. 

My phone battery was running out, but I needed to understand what was happening to me. 

I googled Hurricane Harvey, finding a news report that said something called climate change would continue to worsen floods (Gibbens, 2018). 

But surely nothing could be worse than this?  

After a restless night sleeping on cots with hundreds of people at the convention center downtown, the water subsided enough for us to leave, but we couldn’t go home. The water damage to our house was too severe. We moved into temporary housing while it was torn down and rebuilt. 

After two years I finally got to go home. 

It feels like I can’t outrun climate extremes. Three years ago, in February 2021, a historic freeze hit Texas, knocking out power for a week. I found myself sleeping next to my grandparents’ fireplace just to stay warm.

Now, at 20, one of the few places I thought might be safe from climate disasters — where I had hoped to settle down for the long term — has just been devastated by a hurricane, the likes of which the area has never experienced. (Schaper, 2024) No matter where I go, it seems like there’s no escape.

I can’t sit back and be passive when it comes to climate change. Not when it’s getting worse. 

Things are bad now but they’ll be worse for the next generation. When we burn fossil fuels it traps pollution in the atmosphere causing our world to overheat, which in turn exacerbates extreme weather. (IPCC 2021) We have to do something about it. Later is too late.

Children born today are already facing disproportionate increases in floods, heatwaves, droughts, wildfires, and crop failures due to climate change. Analysis published in Science warns that today’s newborns will face on average seven times more severe heatwaves during their lives than their grandparents (Thiery, 2021).

Last year, I became an intern for the nonpartisan, volunteer-powered nonprofit Citizens’ Climate Lobby and learned how to speak up for the future I want. One where all elected officials, regardless of party, enact laws that hold big corporate polluters accountable and work to prevent climate extremes from worsening.   

It lit a fire under me to become a climate voter in 2024 and talk about what this means for me through the Environmental Action Group and by being a Greenbelt student at Furman. Every candidate vying for my vote should outline real and effective solutions to reduce climate pollution. 

When young people like me think we have no voice and give up, when we don’t tell leaders what we want or sit elections out, we fail to hold our members of Congress accountable. That’s something we have the power to change. 

References:

Click2Houston Digital Staff. (2019, April 16). Look back at Houston’s 2016 Tax Day Flood. Click2Houston. https://www.click2houston.com/weather/2019/04/16/look-back-at-houstons-2016-tax-day-flood/

Gibbens, S. (2018, January 4). Climate change made Hurricane Harvey more deadly. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/climate-change-study-hurricane-harvey-flood

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (2021). Climate change 2021: The physical science basis. Contribution of working group I to the sixth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (V. Masson-Delmotte, P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S. L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, et al., Eds.). Cambridge University Press. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/

Leinfelder, A. (2018, May 24). Remembering 2015’s Memorial Day flooding in Houston. Houston Chronicle. https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Remembering-2015-s-Memorial-Day-flooding-in-12943900.php

Schaper, D. (2024, October 1). Hurricane Helene brings heavy rain and flooding, raising more questions about climate change. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2024/10/01/nx-s1-5133530/hurricane-helene-rain-flooding-climate-change

Thiery, W., Lange, S., Rogelj, J., Schleussner, C. F., Gudmundsson, L., Seneviratne, S. I., et al. (2021). Intergenerational inequities in exposure to climate extremes. Science, 374(6564), 158-160. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abi7339

In my last blog, I talked about how one can change their habits through cues and rewards. In this blog though, I’ll be talking about how one can begin to shift their lifestyle through small choices over time. The lifestyle that this blog will be talking about though, will be, how to make clothes last longer when properly cared for. Why should you take care of your clothes correctly? You should take care of your clothes properly so they may last longer and you will not need to get new clothes as often. As a bonus, as we all know, the fashion industry is a hot mess when it comes to sustainability, but by learning to care for your clothes correctly, you can become sustainable by protesting against the fast fashion industry in a very peaceful way by not buying new clothes as often. 

There are many different methods of taking care of your clothes. But before I begin, let me define what ‘proper’ means. Proper means, using the right amount of detergent, using the washing machine correctly, knowing how to read clothes labels, and knowing how to wash your clothes without damaging them.

Let us begin this journey of change as a college student. Most college students either learn how to wash their clothes when first going to college, or learn how to before college even begins. But did you know you could be damaging your clothes by not washing them properly? The most common mistakes college students, and others, make when washing their clothes are too much detergent, overloading the washer, not sorting clothes, and not checking the garment labels (Festiva Laundry). Each of these mistakes can take some life off of the garment, leading them to not last long. 

Using too much detergent can cause extra soap suds that do not completely rinse out of clothes, leaving behind a sticky residue (Bennett, 2022). But by measuring out the right amount, using only about 1 tablespoon per average weight load (Sanci, 2023), preventing detergent buildup is simple. To make this process more sustainable, try switching to a ‘cleaner’ detergent brand or make your own detergent.

The next common mistake that people tend to make is overloading the washing machine. Overloading a washing machine can cause performance issues mechanically, not clean your clothes, and tear clothes up (Buiano, 2023). The simple way to prevent your clothes and machine from being torn and overloaded is by decreasing the amount put in so that about the machine is only ⅔ full. You can also prevent your clothes from showing tears by using a delicate’s bag. A delicates bag is a bag where items that are more fragile, like silk, bras, or knitwear, can be put into to prevent tears from happening on the garment. Delicates bags have been shown to lessen the damage some garments might face. I can say this for certain through personal experience.

Next, not reading the garment label of your clothes before washing them can lead to disastrous consequences. Some of those consequences could be your clothes shrinking, getting holes, etc. But to properly take care of your clothes, reading the garment tags can instruct you how to wash your clothes properly. Checking the tag before washing your clothes can help preserve the longevity of your clothes (Buiano, 2023). Below is a stand guide of images that tell you how to wash your clothes. These images range from what temp and how to wash, bleach or no bleach, dryer or no dryer, etc.

https://static.wixstatic.com/media/68d051_3d1483f9ac114bd2a8e5a163649064c7~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1000,h_891/fcc_laundrylabels.png

 

Finally, the last mistake people tend to make is not sorting their clothes. Sorting clothes is important because it helps preserve the color of the garment. Think about it, you have a load of whites but you accidentally put one red sock in the load of whites. Now all of those whites are a pink color! Trying to revert the pink back to white would take a miracle. This is why sorting clothes by color is important. When sorting clothes, you’ll also want to think about the material of the garment. Is it delicate, is it linen, is it a sturdy material, etc. Separating by color and type of material is helpful because it can preserve the cloth. For instance, if I want to wash my linens, I would want to use hotter water because it can sanitize the linens better. But if I use hotter water when I wash my clothes, they tend to shrink. This is why separating is important because you can then give each category of garment or cloth the attention it needs.

In the end, learning how to properly wash and take care of your clothes can make them last longer and prevent you from having to buy new garments so often. 

 

References

Bennett, J. (2022, July 10). 7 Common Laundry Mistakes That Can Damage Clothes. Better Homes and Gardens. https://www.bhg.com/homekeeping/laundry-linens/tips-checklists/laundry-mistakes/

Buiano, M. (2023, August 30). 10 Common Laundry Mistakes That May Prevent Your Clothes From Getting Clean. Martha Stewart. https://www.marthastewart.com/common-laundry-mistakes-7853523

Festiva Laundry. (n.d.). 6 Common Laundry Mistakes College Students Make at the Laudrymat. https://festivalaundry.com/resources/6-common-laundry-mistakes-college-students-make-laundromat/

Sanci, E. (2023, September 19). Stop Using So Much Laundry Detergent. Wirecutter. https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/stop-using-so-much-laundry-detergent/

 

Most would agree that, within young adults our society has reached a new low in life satisfaction. The rise of mental illness concerns and lack of hope can be contributed to any number of things, a global pandemic during important formative years, high cost of living, an ultra-competitive job market, all leaving the younger millennial and Gen-Z generations with greater levels of stress and mental health concerns than ever. A recent post by the Guardian explored the viewpoints of multiple generations on the state of mental illness in Gen-Z. One psychologist emphasized that Gen-Z is struggling to find things to look forward to. There was undeniably an underlying lack of hope for a stable and satisfying life contributing to increased mental illness and burnout within younger generations. Professionals within the Guardian article highlighted the shift in values of the younger generations to better work-life balance, yet less prospects for anything of the sort to be achieved. 

It seems like an impossible task, curing entire generations of an underlying stress over their future, however I believe the slow living movement may be the societal shift that is vital to the well being of future generations. This movement emphasizes a shift away from the “busy” lifestyle we currently idolize in western society. Instead, it offers one where we prioritize satisfaction and the joys of daily life and community, rather than pursuing the highest salary or the largest home. The simplification of life and the slow living movement offers a way for the newer generations to cope with increasing cost of living, and the subsequent disconnectedness and anxiety that constant movement creates. There’s a strong historical significance of the movement, as before industrialization, most people lived a “slow” lifestyle. We were connected with nature, valued quality over quantity, and were completely “unplugged”. 

This lifestyle offers benefits for mental and physical health, and the health of the environment. DE-Influencing is a trend that has begun to touch on the heart of this movement, emphasizing replacing items when they no longer serve the function they are intended to, rather than buying a new product for the purpose of doing something more efficiently or being aesthetically pleasing. This serves both the environment, as the sheer amount of waste entering landfills decreases, the carbon footprint of shipping and transporting goods is reduced, and natural resources like oil used to make plastics or water used to make jeans is considerably reduced. The slow living movement also emphasizes a connection with nature, suggesting cooking each meal with intention and sourcing food as locally as possible, with the potential to grow part of your own food. The movement away from fast food and time spent in nature gardening pose a variety of health benefits, reducing the risk of diabetes and heart disease while also having proven mental health benefits. Simply seeing the outdoors for an hour a day can have benefits to mental health, and help reduce the disconnected feeling that constant technology and extreme sensory inputs from indoor environments produce. When people are more educated about and connected with nature they almost always place a higher value on the environment, which trickles down into political and social decisions. On a large scale, the slow living movement may help us save not only younger generations struggling with their health, but the environment along with it. 

 

Works Cited 

 

Franco, Lara S, et al. “A Review of the Benefits of Nature Experiences: More than Meets the Eye.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Aug. 2017, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5580568/. 

Solan, Matthew. “Taking It Slow.” Harvard Health, 1 Nov. 2022, www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/taking-it-slow. 

“What Is Slow Living & How Does It Correlate to Sustainability?” The Momentum, www.themomentum.com/articles/what-is-slow-living-how-does-it-correlate-to-sustainability. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024. 

“What’s up with Generation Z?” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 3 Mar. 2024, www.theguardian.com/society/2024/mar/03/whats-up-with-generation-z.