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"My Journey Towards Sustainable Living: A Month-Long Sustainability Volunteering Challenge"
Hello, I am Shubham Sharma, currently a sophomore in New Jersey. As a child, I developed a keen interest in airplanes which later evolved into a passion for aerospace and nuclear engineering. Driven by my research on planes and sustainable energies, I aspire to make innovations that contribute to a sustainable future and combat climate change. Recently, I participated in Gift Gabber's Sustainability Volunteering Challenge, which inspired me to take small yet impactful steps toward reducing my carbon footprint and adopting a more sustainable lifestyle. In this blog, I want to share my experiences and insights gained from the challenge, hoping to inspire others to join the fight against climate change.
Initially, I didn’t know what to expect or do with this project. Yet, I started off small. I started by using paper more effectively. I had a small stack of scrap and instead of directly throwing them for recycling I used the back sides of scrap papers to do my work. I solved math problems, wrote miscellaneous information and small details, wrote my SAT answers for practice tests, and did anything that could be done to fully use the sheets to their fullest extent. Using scrap paper was one small step and as I continued to print my documents for my history class I realized that I can save paper, ink, and money. I changed the page setup by decreasing the margins of my documents from 1 inch to .25 inch, using 11 size font at Times New Roman, single-spaced lines, and printing double-sided. This allowed me to fit more words on each page and printing double-sided saved more paper. Now, these steps didn’t work all the time such as when I had to write MLA formatted papers, but they have saved me a lot of pages from the start of this project to now. Call me cheap if you want to, but these steps saved me printer ink and paper for months when I printed only 4 pages for an 11-page document on every history assignment I had while helping work towards a cleaner planet. Although you don’t have to follow the exact steps I took, you can modify them to your preferences and work more efficiently with paper.
Next, I saved my gasoline usage by a variety of different steps. My first step was to take steps to my home; yea quite literally. I walked home after school whenever I could. My house was a mile away from the school and some days it was tough to walk home as I had to carry my euphonium (band instrument) home and some days I had to carry a box or two for my Science Olympiad project. Sometimes I did take car rides from my friend only if my house was on the way to their home. Walking home saved gasoline. I saved more gasoline by asking my dad to turn off the car at traffic signals. Putting the car in park or neutral does not help with saving gasoline and although the transmission isn't in gear, the car is still running. Therefore, I realized that running the car off at long traffic signals I faced every morning going to school preserved more gas. Sometimes, I had after-school activities that normally would last an hour or so and when I spread the word to my dad that I was in this challenge he aided me by not going home and staying in the parking lot for an hour. He did this for 3 main reasons: firstly, he received my word of helping our planet. Secondly, it saved him gasoline because dropping me off, then going back home, then going back to pick me up, and then going back home would have burned almost 17 miles of gasoline and we saved approximately 8 miles by my dad staying back. Lastly, it saved him time because it would take him 15 minutes for the one trip and he would only have 30 minutes at home which wasn’t much for him as he could attend meetings in his car too.
My last major step was saving water and electricity. For saving water, I would turn off the water while showering when it was not needed. Even spending less than 10 minutes in the shower can save a lot of water and turning it off when you are just rubbing soap or shampoo can preserve even more water. Additionally, I saved electricity around my house. I used a work-efficient source of light in my room. I changed the main light in my room with a more energy-efficient bulb and sometimes I even used the table lamp on my desk. At night, I changed the thermostat settings to only run when the house temperature was dropping below a certain point and it would only run for 15-20 minutes per hour. My house was still at a warm temperature during the cold months while conserving energy.
In addition to the above, I also undertook other sustainability initiatives during the challenge. I grew three succulent plants, which not only added a touch of greenery to my surroundings but also contributed to purifying the air. I also shared my experiences and the importance of sustainable living with my friends, spreading awareness and inspiring them to join the cause. Writing this blog itself is part of my efforts to showcase my voice and express my experiences during this sustainability journey.
Participating in Gift Gabber's Sustainability Volunteering Challenge has been an eye-opening experience for me. It has made me realize that small, everyday actions can collectively make a significant impact in the fight against climate change. Through this challenge, I have learned to be more mindful of my choices and to make sustainable decisions in my daily life. I encourage everyone to take similar steps and be part of the solution to combat climate change. Together, we can create a better, more sustainable future for ourselves and future generations. Thank you for reading my blog, and I hope it has inspired you to join the movement toward sustainability. Now, I challenge you to do something innovative in order to step up against climate change!
Shubham Sharma
April 4, 2023
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