Michael Groome

I live in an area of Beaverton surround by three named mountains, which include Bull Mountain, Cooper Mountain, and Sexton Mountain. All three have many homes where micro turbines could be installed to take advantage of the heightened wind intensity in the higher elevations. This is especially true for some of those massive homes sitting atop Cooper Mountain and overlooking the valley that is quickly being populated with townhomes and duplexes, along with the overly expensive high school that looks like a college building.

Ideally, a sustainable community will make it so that every action a person takes will have an equal or almost equal process in creating a renewable energy source to power that action. Like in the MSU video, methane can be gathered through organic material to power the electricity for the MSU campus. To achieve something like this, people would need to be willing to move away from non-renewable forms of electricity and towards renewable energy. Additionally, they would have to balance their use of energy to match what they are able to produce.

I found that there are many different forms of electricity generation that are not even focused around fossil fuels. These include solar energy, wind energy, geothermal energy, hydrogen energy, tidal energy, wave energy, hydroelectric energy, biomass energy, and nuclear power. All of these are dependable forms of electricity generation and most of them are safer and more sustainable than fossil fuels. 

I want to prioritize the act of making myself a stronger and healthier person both physically and mentally. Exercise and the foods I intake play a big part in this. Additionally, I want to limit my time spent with the material goods in my life as well. This includes limiting the amount of hours spent watching TV or playing video games or even using a computer in general.

North America is a very meat focused country when it comes to meals. Between fast food to home cooked meals, meat is usually the centerpiece of the meal with vegetables and carbs as sides, supporting the meal. To shift away from this culture that is very instilled in Americans, substitutions and other options need to be presented and pushed. Additionally, they need to be affordable.