Mason Gensman

Got a great start to the day by replacing some time inside with a 100 flight of stairs workout. Afterwards I had a delicious vegetable scramble for breakfast and now I'm heading to a meeting at the Wild Salmon Center downtown with Matt Sloat the centers resident ecologist!

Stopped by a local fruit vendor in Hood River and scored close to 20lbs of different fruits all grown in the Gorge and as an added bonus I had a conversation with the owner about switching from plastic to paper bags for their produce. He seemed really into it!

After hearing about our challenge from SOC 228 I decided to step it up and add a couple one time challenges to my list since those can be easier to complete (sometimes) and usually are pretty fun too! Tonight I had a couple people over who are not nearly as interested in fish as I am to watch a great documentary on the harm farmed salmon cause in the ecosystems around them. The documentary is called Salmon Confidential.  Well worth a watch and very likely to make you question some of your fish eating habits if you have any...

Got swamped yesterday (no pun intended) between doing 2 Salmon Surveys  and trying to navigate the horrible portland traffic made worse by the rain. I failed on eating at least 1 meat free meal yesterday but on the other hand my Survey teams collected 2 30 Gallon trashbags of recyclable materials from Johnson Creek each which was a challenge in itself but one that was also quite fun!

One of the challenges was to visit a wastewater treatment facility so of course I accepted it! I decided to go out to the Tualatin river after class to fish for a while (below where cleanwater services drains their water) and while I didnt land any fish I did enjoy thinking about the water surrounding me and the recent processes it undertook mere miles from me. It really gives you a better perspective after a visit and tour like we had today!

Today after our Information Festival I went out and enjoyed a small lunch surrounded by my fishy friends in the Learning Garden. I've been making it a habit to spend some time there each week instead of doing homework in the library or eating lunch inside which has worked well for one of my challenges which is to spend 30 minutes typically spent indoors outside.. Plus my friends laugh when I tell them I still get to hang out with fish on campus!

I just took out my garbage and recycling and I noticed how empty my trash can was.. My recycling didn't look too different but I have noticed a decrease in my generating of waste. I am usually pretty good about single use plastics and rarely purchase plastic bottles because I carry my water bottle everywhere but yesterday I caved and bought a coke from the vending machine in the CC.  I noticed when I checked my bank account today that that soda cost me $3.50 for a 20oz coke. On one hand I cant help but wonder if thats in an effort to reduce the consumption of sugary drinks/ single use plastics or if thats just the school/ vending company nickel and diming me even further. In any case it was a great reminder to stay away from those machines!

HEY Y'ALL
Apparently if you score 200 points NWEI gives you a free 90 day subscription to the Chinook Book App . This app is pretty cool, it gives you coupons to use at local sustainable and green businesses. Pretty sweet, and a nice little incentive to challenge yourself a little extra and get a few more points!

One of my challenges was to express my support for an environmental issue and today was the last day to submit comments to the EPA regarding the decision on the pebble mine currently being proposed for Bristol Bay in Alaska. This bay is one of the most salmon rich ecosystems in the world and the construction and mining of this area would result in untold damage to both the salmon populations of that region and the populations of our own. I wrote a few page essay in which I deconstructed why a decision to allow this mine would be a slap in the face to the indigenous peoples, natural ecosystems and America itself by allowing a foreign company to destroy our ecosystem, our economy and one of our nations greatest natural resources. I also sent this essay to a few different Oregon government officials and asked they please support the denial of the proposal. I have previously received correspondence from Sen. Ron Wyden about issues I wrote to him about so I am hoping this may warrant a response as well. 

if youre interested in adding your name to the long list of opposers and helping fight the pebble mine proposal you can do so very easily through an organization called Trout Unlimited (figures I'd be affiliated with them huh)

https://www.tu.org/action-center?vvsrc=/campaigns/53572/respond 

It was quite difficult to not have some fresh salmon with every meal today but I refrained during dinner instead opting for a vegetable stew that I have been saving for another cold night but since Im staying in my cousins house here in Bend I wont be nearly as chilly as the last 2 nights!