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April 3 - April 24, 2019
Keegan Curry's avatar

Keegan Curry

PCC SOC 228

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 698 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    1.0
    documentary
    watched
  • UP TO
    210
    gallons of water
    have been saved
  • UP TO
    57
    meatless or vegan meals
    consumed
  • UP TO
    160
    minutes
    spent learning

Keegan's actions

Food

Smaller Portions

#3 Reduced Food Waste

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

COMPLETED 19
DAILY ACTIONS

Electricity Generation

Watch a Video about Methane Digesters

#30 Methane Digesters (large), #64 Methane Digesters (small)

I will watch a video about methane digesters (also commonly known as anaerobic digesters).

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Reduce Animal Products

#4 Plant-Rich Diet

I will enjoy 3 meatless or vegan meal(s) each day of the challenge.

COMPLETED 19
DAILY ACTIONS

Land Use

Forest-Friendly Foods 1

#5 Tropical Forests

I will spend at least 60 minutes researching the impact of my diet to see how it contributes to deforestation.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Composting

#60 Composting, #3 Reduced Food Waste

I will start a compost bin where I live.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transport

Research and Consider Switching to a Hybrid or Electric Vehicle

#26 Electric Vehicles

I will spend at least 45 minutes researching and weighing my options to see if a hybrid or electric vehicle makes sense for my lifestyle.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates

#3 Reduced Food Waste

I will spend at least 20 minutes learning how to differentiate between sell by, use by, and best by dates.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Materials

Research Cement Alternatives

#36 Alternative Cement

I will spend at least 30 minutes researching cement alternatives that reduce the carbon footprint of concrete.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Materials

Install a Low-Flow Showerhead

#46 Water Saving - Home

I will save up to 15 gallons (56 L) of water a day by installing a low-flow showerhead.

COMPLETED
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?

  • 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?

    Keegan Curry's avatar
    Keegan Curry 4/24/2019 11:14 AM
    I think america in general has a problem with over portioning, and reducing the portion sizes may reduce your waste, and your waist! As this question states, there is a significant lag between when your stomach registers as full, and when your brain registers as full. You can always go back for a little more after waiting half an hour, but you can't put it back, at least not in a healthy way! 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Food Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates
    How does knowing the difference between use by, sell by, and best by dates empower you to make better decisions?

    Keegan Curry's avatar
    Keegan Curry 4/24/2019 11:11 AM
    Buying the foods that you know you will use by the time the expire will reduce the amount of waste you produce! Meats seem to be an especially problematic part of this equation, as their production impact is fairly large, and if it goes to waste then it's an even bigger drain on the environment as there was no net positive output by the food. 

  • Keegan Curry's avatar
    Keegan Curry 4/20/2019 10:04 AM
    I started watching Our Planet on Netflix last night. It is a beautiful documentary (as they always are by the company behind Planet Earth) with stirring imagery of Earths most biologically diverse habitats, but this time around the messaging of humans environmental impact is more prevalent, a change in presentation which I wholeheartedly appreciate.  For some of us, just watching a nature documentary can be enough to stir us into action to protect these places, but a little extra push to connect the dots between the consumption actions of our daily lives, and the far off lands at the poles and within rain forests may be necessary for some. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Food Composting
    Producing food that goes uneaten squanders many resources—seeds, water, energy, land, fertilizer, hours of labor, financial capital. Which of these kinds of waste most motivates you to change your behavior regarding food waste? Why?

    Keegan Curry's avatar
    Keegan Curry 4/19/2019 8:17 PM
    I think it is hard to separate one of these reasons from the other! They all contribute in one way or another to an environmental impact, though the most impactful ones are likely water, energy, land, fertilizer, and labor. To waste all of these things takes a huge toll!
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Electricity Generation Watch a Video about Methane Digesters
    What does your vision of a sustainable community look like? What would need to be changed in order for such vision to become reality?

    Keegan Curry's avatar
    Keegan Curry 4/14/2019 10:32 PM
    I honestly had no Idea that these are something that exists! A very cool idea and an amazing way to get more use out of the waste products produced by the agricultural industry.