I found the EPA website to be very surprising since huge swaths of my city had good environmental indicators. I had more luck comparing those results to the state version of an environmental indicators mapping tool and that was more helpful since it broke it down at a more detailed level. https://oehha.ca.gov/calenviroscreen/report/draft-calenviroscreen-40
There are many waste recovery sites and industrial sites located near the local Air Force Base which was interesting to me. 

I am very into sharing economies and mutual aid. I love the idea that everything someone could need already exists in the world, and alternative distribution systems such as sharing economies can get that resource to that individual in a way that is free and impactful on the earth since it reduces the amount of virgin resources used. I enjoy the idea of "we help us" and communities supporting and strengthening eachother. 

If I was only to eat what is season locally from now on, the hardest to give up would be coffee. I did some research and coffee is only harvested once a year depending on what side of the equator the producer is on. This leads me to believe that some of my coffee is from different parts of the country depending on year. I am fortunate to have a farmer owned coffee cooperative nearby that I can visit to find exactly which country the current coffee is coming from. Otherwise, I feel fortunate that almost all of my fruit and veggie diet is impacted by seasonality. I only eat summer squash in the summer, only eat spaghetti squash in the winter, only pomegranates in the winter; peaches in the summer. Okay, I thought of one other thing that would be hard to give up: LEMONS. As a kid I thought they were summer fruit but a few years ago I learned citrus season is in the winter! 

COVID-19 helped reduce the number of flights I took. While it's a bummer to not see my family for the holidays, it gave me the opportunity to spend more time in my local area and have very relaxing, non-rushed holidays. 

A sustainable water future in Carlise would require a lot of work. To start off with we need increased permeable surfaces, Carlisle has a tendency towards swampiness- because Carlisle much like D.C. once was a swamp. This means that we have a lot of flooding over the impermeable surfaces in Carlisle. We also need green roofs and systems for sustainable water collection and redirecting, to allow it to reach the water table as well as to prevent erosion. 

Polluting, washing clothes that have microplastics in them, both of these practices contaiminate water systems. Washing clothes that do have microplastics in them less frequently or buying clothes that are made of more organic materials are a couple of ways to minimize your impact on water systems! Picking up trash or garbage prevents it from being washed into drainage systems that often lead to local water supplies!

Practicing simplicity requires that you think outside the box with what you already have! If you can think through ways to make what you need out of what you already have then you don't have to buy it! For example making a reusable bag out of an old t-shirt, or making a scrubby out of old foam that came as packaging, or turning old shirts into rags- there are so many ways to reduce spending, buying and increase creativity!!!