Molly Oudekerk- Virginia Tech
Greener
One habit I would change is the reliance I have on my car. I do keep track of my gas mileage, and
I notice how much it goes up when I’m at school and driving in a town. I try my best to carpool wherever
I go, however I know that I could be using my bike more often or also I could walk more often. Global
warming is one of the greatest threats harming our planet today, and cars are one of the main creators
of this issue. I think if I make this change would not only decrease my carbon footprint and lower the
greenhouse gas emissions from my car, but it would also help me to be healthier personally. It’s really
important to not only understand how important a healthy environment is, but also to connect with the
environment every day and experience fresh air and sunshine on your skin. This reminds us to
appreciate a healthy environment for our own personal health.
Reflecting on these ideas helps me realize how important it is to protect our environment, and
how that change starts with me. Therefore, I will commit to making this change in the next month.
One key to success in this change is to create an area around my home and commit myself to
only walking or riding my bike to places within that area. For example, I often go to Food Lion for various
items throughout the week, and this could be somewhere I should commit to only walking or riding my
bike. Creating a set area in which I will not use my car doesn’t make this a goal that is too lofty for me to
reach. It helps my change be incremental and easier for me to gradually get used to the idea of walking
or riding my bike and to eventually create a larger and larger area, therefore using my car much less.
Another key to success for this change is to allot myself a budget for gas every month. If I lower
the amount of gas I can use in my car, I’ll have to compromise, carpool, or use my bike when I reach the
end of the allotment for gas. I think making this change will make me realize how much I overspend on
gas and use my car more often than necessary. I think I will eventually see that I can easily continue on
with all my daily routines using less gas and thereby using my car less often.
Molly Oudekerk- Virginia Tech
Another practice I could change is to recycle more products. Currently, the city where I live only
does curbside pickup of cans to be recycled, therefore the only item we recycle in my household are
cans. I know that there are way more products I could be recycling, such as cardboard, glass and plastic.
Recycling prevents landfill waste, which is a problem because items in landfills do nothing except for
degrade and release toxins into the environment. When items are recycled, we create less waste and
prevent more toxic release into the environment.
I will commit to recycling more items in my house in the next 30 days.
One key to success for this change is to buy more containers I can use to recycle various items
in. I currently only have a recycling container for cans and I need a container for cardboard, paper, glass
and plastic. If these containers are placed right next to my trash can, it’ll be a visible reminder to recycle
all materials that can be recycled.
Another key to success for this change is to find out where my community’s recycling drop-off
center is so I can take my other recycled materials there. As I was completing this challenge, I actually
looked up the center and discovered that it is right across from my house. This is why I am enjoying
doing this challenge so much. I had it in the back of my mind for over a month now to find the recycling
center and begin recycling more materials, but I didn’t have the push to actually do that until right now.
This challenge makes me realize how many aspects of my life that the environment touches and how
easy it is for me to change so many small things in my life that will, overall, make me live more
environmentally friendly and sustainable. I have also, doing this specific challenge, realize that the
recycling center is within walking distance of my house, so making these two small changes in my
routine, I can recycle and lower landfill waste amounts, and also walk to the center and lower
greenhouse gas emissions. This is a very exciting change toward sustainability in my life.
Letter A marks the recycling drop-off center in my
community, which I will now be walking to on a weekly basis with as many recyclable materials as I can
gather.