After 30 days I can finally say that I have completed my sustainability challenge and walked to and from college everyday! I’m relieved that now on rainy or cold days I have the option to take the bus but I will definitely continue walking on days that aren’t so bad. The walk has both physical and mental benefits as well as reducing my carbon footprint and helping the environment so it’s something I definitely want to continue as it helps both me and the others around me. At the start of the 30 days I didn’t think I could stick to the challenge completely but I’m proud of myself for managing to get there. I learned a lot about myself when it comes to making change and how disciplined I can be when I put my mind to something. 

After 27 days of my sustainability challenge I haven’t managed to make any massive ripple effect on the people around me. The only change made by one of my friends is that they’re going to try and walk to college on days that are dry and not too cold. Although this is only a small change it still proves how our actions can influence the people around us. The main ripple effect I’ve noticed has been in my own actions. From reading my classmates blogs I’ve been picking up on some of their habits for example having shorter, cold showers or trying to limit my plastic use. It has only been small changes so far but is definitely something I want to improve on in the future.

Through this I’ve noticed that change doesn’t have to be forced. At the start I had to force myself to get up and walk to college instead of taking the bus but now it’s second nature to me. Since this was the focus of my challenge there was never any pressure on me to reduce my plastic use or take shorter showers but I still decided to give it a go. 

Before I began my sustainability challenge I definitely didn’t view it as a small commitment to walk to and from college everyday. At the start I didn’t view my challenge as impossible to complete and I certainly don’t now as I enter the final week of it. The first few days were probably the toughest as I wasn’t 100% sure on the route I had to take or which way was the quickest but I quickly established that within the first few trips. At certain stages throughout the challenge so far I questioned my belief in myself to stick to to it and force myself to walk on days that I’m tired or when it’s raining but at this stage I have full faith in myself that I will complete the challenge. I still believe that it would be unfair to put expectations on myself to walk/cycle home from the train station every weekend as the journey would be an hour without considering my bags extra weight and unfortunately, there are no bus routes that bring me any closer to my house so private car is the only option. As well as that, the infrastructure isn’t as developed as the infrastructure in Dublin and it wouldn’t be the safest of journeys home. 

So far in my sustainability challenge the most challenging part of my challenge was finding the will power to walk to school in the rain! It was only raining two days the past week so I can’t complain too much but the temptation to take the bus was definitely strong. I’ve learned a lot about my classmates and their commitment to their challenges. As I read their blogs and see how determined they are to stick to their challenge it motivates me to do the same. In terms of stretching my challenge I’ve already been walking everywhere when possible so stretching it further is a little difficult. I’ve been trying to encourage some of my friends who take public transport to college to try and walk instead but so far only one of them has decided to give it a go. 

Halfway through my sustainability challenge and I can still say I’m enjoying it but certain aspects are getting harder. In a certain sense I’m lucky that the weather stayed dry this long considering I’m in Ireland but today was the first day I had to walk in the rain. It wasn’t very heavy rain but after a 30 minute walk my jacket was fairly soaked. Another thing that is effecting my challenge is that it’s still dark when I have to get up making it a little harder to stay motivated. Other than that I can’t complain as I’ve still been enjoying the various aspects of the walk that I’ve mentioned in my previous posts. 

I always try and stand up for what I believe in whether it’s related to sustainability and the environment or just football debates with my friends. One small discussion I did get into with a classmate was about energy sources. In Longford there is a lot of peatland which is trying to be converted into an area for windmills which has sparked outrage and debates with the locals, many of which burn turf as an energy source. My classmate argued that the peat should be cut and used until it runs out before a new energy source is necessary whilst I tried to explain to him that it would be doing more harm than good. He was fairly adamant on his stance. We didn’t speak about it for long at all because I realised his opinion wasn’t going to change no matter what I said so I decided to leave it. It definitely helped me realise how different peoples opinions can be on certain topics.

Two weeks into my sustainability challenge and I’m clearly starting to notice the systems in place to aid people travelling around the city no matter what mode of transport they use. They range from bus and taxi lanes to cycle lanes or even just the availability of footpaths or walkways throughout the area. Considering my challenge involves walking to and from college I’ve been more aware of the footpath systems. Overall they provide all the infrastructure necessary to walk to and from college but one thing I have noticed is that in certain areas along my regular route the footpath is in poor condition. This isn’t too much of an inconvenience for but for a cyclist it may cause problems and may be a reason why people would not want to cycle around the city. One way in which I could try and influence this system would be contacting the county council and alerting them to the problem but change would only occur of they seen the problem as large enough to require investment which could link in with the economic system and the funding available to improve transport links. Other than that I cant fault the system in place in Dublin as I’m still yet to face any structural challenges as I reach the halfway mark of my challenge. 

After 12 days of the challenge walking to and from college is starting to feel normal. As I said before, I’m enjoying the benefits of the walk itself and I am staying motivated as I know what I am doing is helping the environment. Due to this I’ve decided to try encourage some of my friends who take the bus to college to try and walk instead. I’ve explained to them how it helps the environment and also how they can benefit from it themselves. So far only one of my friends has decided to try and walk to school a few days a week but I’ll keep encouraging my other friends to give it a go. Although this seems small I’m hoping that by changing one of their habits they’ll be more in tune with their other everyday habits and start to make more small changes to their life in relation to sustainability. The small changes they could make could unknowingly have a greater impact on the sustainability goals of our college. I’ve still managed to avoid using any public transport at all throughout my challenge and since we’re approaching the halfway mark it’s something I’m very motivated to stick to!

Thanks to the dry and mild weather sticking to my challenge hasn’t been overly difficult. At the start of my 30 day challenge the walk felt like a chore whereas now I’m starting to enjoy it every morning. The fact that it helps the environment keeps me motivated but I’m also enjoying the physical and mental health benefits of the walk itself. One thing I have noticed is how much easier it is to walk to school in Dublin than in my home county. So far I haven’t faced any major challenges when trying to stick to my challenge as all the infrastructure necessary is available. At the moment my goal for the 30 days is to not use public transport at all so I’m hoping the weather stays good enough for this to be possible, so far so good!

For my sustainability challenge I have decided to walk to and from college as much as possible. This is obviously weather dependant so any days where walking is not possible I will take public transport as opposed to driving or getting a lift off my friend. So far the challenge is going well as its not too cold or wet at the moment. Its only a small change to my everyday life but eventually the small things add up to make a big difference and hopefully by completing my challenge it will show others that it doesn’t take much effort to make a difference.