Vandana Gupta

Everyone Doing their Bit

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
268 TOTAL

Vandana's actions

Food

Keep Track of Wasted Food

#3 Reduced Food Waste

I will keep a daily log of food I throw away during the EcoChallenge, either because it went bad before I ate it, I put too much on my plate, or it was scraps from food preparation.

COMPLETED 2
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.

UNCOMPLETED
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.

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

Land Use

Buy Bamboo

#35 Bamboo

When they are available, I will purchase products made from bamboo instead of wood, plastic, or metal.

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
Buildings and Cities Online Energy Audit

What are your next steps for saving energy?

Vandana Gupta 4/24/2019 10:52 AM

to explore and instal solar energy devices .

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Vandana Gupta 4/24/2019 6:12 AM

It was good to be a part of this challenge, made me more conscious of many aspects of life which impact the environment.
And its not just this period that I need to take up tasks, but continue to make them a lifetime activity.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Keep Track of Wasted Food

An average American throws out about 240 lbs of food per year. The average family of four spends $1,500 a year on food that they throw out. Where would you rather use this money?

Vandana Gupta 4/24/2019 5:55 AM

While my food waste works out to much lesser than the American average, I am conscious of the fact that there could be more effort in utilising a food item in better ways. ( using it at its freshest , and using as much of it as possible....for example, the peels of some vegetables can be used and not thrown away, thereby maximising their usage.
Any saving can be directed towards procuring more environmentally friendly products and processes.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Materials Choose Recycled Paper

Good job on choosing recycled paper! How can you take your action a step further?

Vandana Gupta 4/22/2019 8:58 AM

Sourcing recycled paper as per my requirements has not been very easy, so have tried to reuse as much of paper as possible.
I will source this in the long run, and continue to reduce and reuse as much as I can.

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Vandana Gupta 4/20/2019 8:59 AM

"Earth can survive without us, we cant survive without the planet", this quote has been on my mind ever since I read it.
I have seen changes....loss of green cover, changes in weather, mounting garbage....to name a few. Its my responsibility to act, be the change I wish to see, return something to this earth which is my home. some activities have been a part of my life before the challenge, and now I have some more goals set!
The actions I chose were more on the basis of what I could do given that we have a time frame of 3 weeks. I am inspired to take on more, and hope to contribute in the long run!

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- Poonam Kasturi 4/22/2019 3:53 AM
  
  The end of this challenge is just a start, Vandana. Hopefully we can do a lot more in the coming years and inspire lots of other communities and people as well :)
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Materials Mulch the Base of Trees and Plants

Name some of the human activities impacting the health of water systems, both locally (your watershed) and globally (freshwater and oceans). What can you do to improve the health of water systems?

Vandana Gupta 4/08/2019 8:17 AM

My city is on the banks of the river Ganges. Religious activities are at the forefront here. Rituals like floating lit oil lamps, floral offerings, etc, are among some of the many pollutants. Untreated sewage, industrial effluents, motorised boats....they contribute too.Then there is plastic which directly or indirectly reaches the river. Similar problems abound elsewhere, oceans or freshwater. Unplanned growth, indiscriminate use of resources...the list can be endless.
I think awareness is a major factor in solving this issue. Workable alternatives are the need of the hour. (Adequate STPs, for example)

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- Poonam Kasturi 4/08/2019 10:20 PM
  
  Vandana - hope the challenge is making you think about interesting ways to approach the problem
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Land Use Buy Bamboo

Are bamboo alternatives readily available in your community? If not, what are other sustainable alternatives?

Vandana Gupta 4/08/2019 7:59 AM

Its not very easy, but i have managed to source some products like bamboo toothbrushes from elsewhere. Besides using them myself, I have been gifting them to friends and family , hoping to get them to use them regularly. There is still the issue of the bristles being synthetic, but its a step away from plastic.
I remember using neem twigs for brushing teeth, in my childhood, and maybe its time to go back to that!

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