UW La Crosse

I vowed to commit multiple goals for the EcoChallenge 2016 and can honestly say I achieved each one with not too much difficulty. I walked to campus for my classes so the daily walking and transportation goals were not too difficult for me to meet but I was curious as to how I would meet the goal for exploring a new nature trail/walk. I...

This challenge was difficult for me at first since this is my first year with a car and it is really convenient to just drive to pick up items I might require. To combat this challenge, I planned ahead in the week so that I would only make one trip every week.  By planning ahead I found this challenge to be not as difficult as a result.

I learned that it isnt so hard to help make a difference. Even taking a little shorter shower helped to save over 300 gallons of water. This to me seems like a very large amount of water saved and i feel pretty good about that.   

In addition to saving water during showers I also made an effort to save water from my kitchen sink.  I use my kitchen sink quite a bit for dishes, drinking water, and I also use it for defrosting food.  I let the water run to defrost my food and at the same time I do all of my dishes.  Otherwise, I would run water from my sink for both of...

For my EcoChallenge I chose to help the environment by using at least 1 reusable bottle of water per day. It wasn't a challenge for me to pertain to this goal for me because I usually am drinking water out of a reusable bottle. Building off this goal I also tried to reuse the bottle for a few days before buying a completely different bottle. I...

For my EcoChallenge I chose to shower for less than 5 minutes and to turn off the faucet while brushing my teeth. It was a challenge to get in and out of the shower that fast and to use shampoo, conditioner and body wash during that time period. Turning off the faucet while brushing my teeth however was easier to accomplish yet difficult to...

Taking on this Ecochallenge, I perceived completely replacing disposable water bottles with 1 reusable water bottle as a much easier task than it actually was. Using on average 4 water bottles a day, sometimes not finishing then and wasting the rest of the water just to open a new bottle, proved to be EXTREMLEY wasteful. For one it costs more...

Hey everybody! For my EcoChallenge, i decided to use my bike not only to get to and from class but also to get around town in place of driving my gas guzzling truck. I biked to my friends house and then to the grocery store to pick up a few things. I found that with a little organization and determination, you can go almost anywhere you want...

Not only am I saving a considerable amount of water everyday by taking 5 minute showers, but I also am being more financially responsible because my water bills should be lower. Win win.

After a day we recently had in class where I got to see just how much wattage I was using every time I plugged things in, I was much more motivated to go through with the "turn it off" challenge. I'm usually pretty good with turning light off when I'm not in rooms, however, I did  keep a fan running in my room and a string of lights...