As we get closer to the end of this course, I have started to reflect all of the readings we have completed and the material we have learned throughout these four weeks. Overall, I have found this course to be very interesting and informative about how we can make a difference in our everyday lives to be more sustainable. From class last week, the TED Talk by Leyla Acaroglu had some great insight about  environmental folklore and what simple solutions we can make to increase sustainability. The main topic I took away from this video is that the majority of man made objects come from nature and most of these items end up in landfills and are hurting the environment and the wildlife. A major factor to these landfills is food waste. As stated in the video, 40% of food purchased is thrown out and wasted, which we believe is mainly caused by refrigerators. For the western values reading, I was assigned to the NO article and it was about how western values, ethics, and dominant paradigms are not compatible with sustainability. I mainly took away from this reading that a lot of what was provided is based on facts. For example, the quote “Reorganizing infrastructure to support walkable neighborhoods and public transit could lead to a dramatic reduction in road transportation–which pollutes locally, contributes about 17 percent to total greenhouse gas emissions, and leads to 1.3 million deaths from accidents each year” is purely factual and is used to try and convince the audience that there is no compatibility with sustainability. The Fashion and Sustainability reading I found very interesting because it was about what the fashion industry will look like in the near future and in what ways we can make fashion more sustainable. I really enjoy learning about this topic because I am majoring in merchandising and I feel it is important to change things up that are beneficial to the environment and is not significantly different, such as the quality of materials. From the lecture last week, we learned that biophilia is the love of life or living systems. This urges people to live a more sustainable life because when they experience biophilia, they want to help keep the environment from harm. During Activity 3, I have learned a lot more about the increase in tariffs on imported and exported goods and how it affects the fashion industry. One thing I did not exactly know before doing some research is that not all businesses are affected by the increased taxes. Ever since the start of this class, I have put more of an effort in being more aware of my carbon footprint. I have been trying to save energy whenever I can and I have been paying more attention to the current events in the world today.