EcoChallenge.org

Drawdown EcoChallenge

April 3 - April 24, 2019

Kim Braun

Green Electronics Council

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
567 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

0.0

gallons of water

have been saved
UP TO

15

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

765

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

90

minutes

spent learning

Kim's actions

Buildings and Cities

Go for a Daily Walk

#54 Walkable Cities

I will take a walk for 45 minutes each day and take note of the infrastructure that makes walking more or less enjoyable, accessible, and possible.

COMPLETED 17
DAILY ACTIONS

Buildings and Cities

Online Energy Audit

Multiple Solutions

I will complete an online energy audit of my home, office, or dorm room and identify my next steps for saving energy.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Buildings and Cities

Research Heat Pumps

#42 Heat Pumps

I will spend at least 30 minutes researching heat pumps to see if installing one makes sense for my home/building.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Materials

Fix Leaky Faucets

#46 Water Saving - Home

I will fix faucets or report leaky faucets to facilities that have been wasting up to 9 gallons (34 L) of water per faucet every day.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Materials

Choose Recycled Paper

#70 Recycled Paper

I will plan ahead to only use paper products made from post-consumer recycled paper for my home or office.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Smaller Portions

#3 Reduced Food Waste

I will use smaller plates and/or serve smaller portions when dishing out food.

COMPLETED 18
DAILY ACTIONS

Materials

Recycle Everything I Can

#55 Household Recycling

I will recycle all materials that are accepted by local haulers or drop stations in my community.

COMPLETED 15
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Reduce Animal Products

#4 Plant-Rich Diet

I will enjoy 1 meatless or vegan meal(s) each day of the challenge.

COMPLETED 15
DAILY ACTIONS

Transport

Explore Other Transport Solutions

All Transport Solutions

I will spend at least 60 minutes researching other Drawdown Transport Solutions.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Materials

Mulch the Base of Trees and Plants

#46 Water Saving - Home

I will prevent water runoff and increase absorbency by mulching the base of trees and plants in my yard.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Participant Feed

Reflection, encouragement, and relationship building are all important aspects of getting a new habit to stick.
Share thoughts, encourage others, and reinforce positive new habits on the Feed.

To get started, share “your why.” Why did you join the challenge and choose the actions you did?

Kim Braun 4/24/2019 10:40 AM

I feel a tiny bit guilty for taking a point for reducing animal products for my dinner on Monday - it was vegetarian, but a lot of milk went into the making of that super yummy strawberry shake from Burgerville. Yes, I could have ordered a salad as we rolled in after my son's baseball game at 8 pm, but a milk shake sounded like a much more satisfying meal after sitting in the rain for two hours and watching his team get shellacked. Tofu is on the menu for the entire family tonight to atone.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Smaller Portions

Fun fact: Your brain and stomach register feelings of fullness after about 20 minutes of eating. While dishing food out, we tend to load our plates with more than we need. Using smaller plates helps to mitigate this. Aside from the environmental benefits, what other benefits might come out of eating smaller portions?

Kim Braun 4/23/2019 2:24 PM

This challenge to use smaller plates helped me with my portion control, which had been creeping up. I used physically smaller plates for dinner, using my shallow bowls instead of full dinner plates, and found that I could load more dishes into the dishwasher. I ended up being able to hold off and add breakfast dishes before running the dishwasher. So weight loss and one more meal of dishes to reduce water, energy, and detergent use were all added benefits.

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Kim Braun 4/22/2019 2:25 PM

Ugh, I had a very meaty weekend that stretched into leftovers for today. I'll get back on the daily meatless meal train tomorrow. Also need to get my rear to the hardware store to finally fix the shower faucet before this challenge ends. The slow drip has been driving me crazy and we need the points!

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Kim Braun 4/18/2019 12:27 PM

This morning I took some time on my way in to recycle some things that had been piling up. I took the Styrofoam to https://www.agilyx.com/ off of I-5 and 72nd Exit on Hwy 217. I then dropped off two paint cans with super old, rusted paint to Sherwin Williams. This weekend I need to mulch and fix a leaky faucet in the kids' tub...wish me luck!

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Kim Braun 4/08/2019 9:30 AM

for my Choose Recycled Paper challenge - I needed to print some documents today and we were out of printer paper at home so I hit Office Max this AM and what should have been a 15 minute errand turned into a 30 minute errand as I explored the FSC vs Green Seal certified paper (some had both, others one but not the other) and only two options in the whole store that also had recycled content (why so few?!). The one I really wanted because it had greater recycled content only came already 3 hole punched, which seemed silly as most of our printing isn't destined for notebook storage so I finally found one that had 10% Post Consumer Waste and FSC certified virgin. Phew, that was a lot of work for a little purchase. Happy Monday all!

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Kim Braun 4/05/2019 9:08 AM

Very interesting article a friend shared this AM - “do brands need to pander to unconscious bias and affirm masculinity or use stereotypically masculine elements to positively move the needle in environmental impact?”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolyncenteno/2019/04/03/what-if-toxic-masculinity-is-the-reason-for-climate-change

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- Liz Hardee 4/05/2019 11:35 AM
  
  It's an interesting point, because when I think of the world I'd like to see in the future, it is very stereotypically "feminine" in that it's way more nurturing! :)
  
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