Based on the last 30 days, I am overwhelmingly happy with myself and how I have grown and changed as an individual. This is mainly due to the fact that I was able to cope very well with being on the bus, so much so that I now have little to no issues with it. What I care deeply about in myself and others are the most important core values to me personally. Responsibility, honesty and open-mindedness I view as important core values in myself as I will always hold myself accountable for my own actions, I will always tell people the truth, no matter how big or small, and I always want to listen to new and different perspectives from others about certain topics, as it would further broaden my knowledge and understanding of said topics. 

From what I’ve learned in the past 30 days, I now know that I am very capable of changing my habits, as not all change in life is extremely daunting and difficult. In fact, a lot of changes in life are quite simple, as long as you put your mind to it. 

So the question still remains. Will I continue with my challenge going forward? Absolutely, because now that I have gotten into a routine of getting the bus, it would be very jarring if I suddenly decided I didn’t want to get the bus anymore. 

Now that I have finished my 30 day sustainability challenge, here’s hoping to the future in that I create more positive change in myself and the people around me.

During my challenge, I don’t think I’ve created any ripple effects in others, as most people already get the bus to and from college. 

Besides that, I’ve learned that most change happens slowly and gradually, and thus you must be patient when it comes to change, as it doesn’t just happen overnight. It takes time and effort. As well as that, change/changes in an individual can indirectly create change in others around them, which can then lead to further and more widespread positive change in communities and in turn, society.

When I started this change experiment, I thought it was going to be very challenging. In particular, I was very nervous about getting public transport late at night. I also worried that I wouldn’t like getting the bus to and from college. Thankfully, what I initially believed at the start of this challenge to be true, is now false as I enjoy getting the bus, whether it’s during the day or at night. 

I’ve noticed that I favour the «find the flaw» background conversation in my head the most. I tend to think that I can’t change a certain aspect of myself or habit as I would find it too difficult. This would then be followed by quickly going back to my normal routine. For example, I feel that I will never be able to go on a completely vegetarian diet as I would find it too hard. Then I would just fall back into my old habits and eat what I would normally eat before I decided to switch my diet. Now that I’m almost done my sustainability challenge, I will definitely reconsider the way I view things in life and in turn, try to limit my assumptions/beliefs that are preventing positive change.

The most challenging parts of my challenge so far would be when I’m on the bus during rush ours, as I struggle a bit with small, crowded spaces. On the other hand, the best part of my challenge so far would be when I simply chat with others on the bus, even if it’s just small talk or asking how they’re getting on at the moment. I have learned from other participants that even the smallest changes in your everyday life can create change in others around you, which can in turn, lead to bigger and more widespread impact that would lead to more people living sustainable lifestyles.

If there was one way I could stretch a little bit more out of my comfort zone, I would try to only use public transport to go to as many places as possible.

Personally, I haven’t found my challenge to be particularly difficult. I am currently on week two of my sustainability challenge and so far, it’s actually been going really well. 

In terms of standing up for something I believed in, there was this one time in secondary school where we were asked in Religion to give feedback about the subject. In particular, one of the questions related to what topics we wanted to learn about in that class. I, and most others in the class, wanted to learn more about other Religions (e.g Buddhism, Hinduism etc.) as we knew nothing about them. Unfortunately, the school said that they couldn’t do that, so we just accepted it and moved on with our lives. 

Other than that, I hope that my challenge goes smoothly for the next few weeks and that I don’t give up in the end, but instead adopt my experiment into my everyday life.

While I have been enjoying my challenge thus far, I wish there was a bus stop that’s closer to my home, as the nearest bus stop is at Rathfarnam Castle, which is about a 30 minute walk from my home. Thankfully, this is only a minor inconvenience for me personally, so I don’t really mind. 

However, I would prefer it if there were better and more efficient bus routes put in place, as well as bus stops that would be in close proximity to my area and other locations also. That way, more people may choose to use public transport instead, which would in turn, mean that the general public would be adopting a more sustainable lifestyle. 

I have talked about my experiment with others whenever it has come up in conversation. I don’t think that my challenge would have a major influence on others as most people get the bus by default. It wouldn’t influence my parents either as they would just prefer to use the car instead, as that’s what they’re more comfortable with. 

I have also been asking how my friends are doing in terms of their challenge. Personally, after hearing about their experiments, I would like to be more open to trying foods that would otherwise be considered unusual by most people.

As I’m writing this blog post, my challenge has been in line with my expectations, in that I would be able to get the bus to and from college with little to no problems. The only thing I could think of that happened which I didn’t expect was when, one day, I had to get on the bus right behind us, as the bus I was currently on at that point was ahead of schedule, which would have messed up the arrival times for the other buses.

In the past, I generally preferred to do my own thing and not follow along with what others around me were doing. Nowadays, I try to keep up with what people are currently talking about, whether it’s the latest TV show, film or video game. I like doing this as it gives me something to discuss with the group and also helps me to broaden my interests a little bit more (which is another personal goal of mine that I’m trying to work on).

Personally, I haven’t gone into autopilot and forgotten about my challenge. This is probably due to the fact that I don’t have my own car, which would in turn, make it harder for me to fall back into my original routine. I have noticed that I am a lot more mindful of my surroundings when I’m on public transport, whereas when I was driven to college, I wouldn’t have to keep track of where I’m going, I could just zone out.

On the other hand, I have been pleasantly surprised with myself. At first I thought I was going to be extremely anxious going to and from college on the bus, but actually it has been quite the opposite. For almost all the bus journeys so far, I’ve been very calm and relaxed. It just goes to show you that not every change in your life will be big and overwhelming. Early on, it will take time to adjust, but once you get used to it, it’s not as bad as it may seem. 

I’ve tried to change many bad habits in the past. Specifically, I’ve been trying to get into a better sleeping routine for the past few years. Since my early teenage years, I have struggled with getting enough sleep as I’ll spend way too much time watching Youtube videos late at night, leading me to go to bed at either 1am or 2am in the morning. Currently, I have been aiming to go to bed at 23:30, and so far, it’s going well. However, there have been many times over the years where I would have a good sleep schedule, only to then fall back into that bad habit again and get barely any sleep. Therefore I find changing habits to be a bit frustrating, as it’s very easy for me to go backwards on an old habit, even after a long period of time where I have had a good routine going. This is probably due to a lack of willpower, but I digress. 

Besides that, I have been thinking a lot about my challenge. I really want to get used to being on a bus as this will help boost my confidence and independence, which I’ll need both of for the rest of my life. 

For my challenge, I will be using public transport to go to and from college, as well as taking shorter showers and conserving water while showering. I am using public transport not only because I want to live more sustainably, but also for my own personal growth as I will gain more independence by the end of the month. I also want to get into a better habit of having shorter showers and wasting less water, as this will bring me closer to living a more sustainable life. While having shorter showers will be easier, going on public transport will prove more difficult as I will be stepping way out of my comfort zone (as I’m not used to being on my own in a bus surrounded by strangers). The main qualities I admire in others would be kindness and honesty. Kindness because I should be kind to everyone I meet, regardless if I know them or not, and honesty because I will need it in order to talk about the things I struggled with in this challenge over the next few weeks.