EcoChallenge.org

Drawdown EcoChallenge

April 3 - April 24, 2019

Marlaina Hunter

SunCommon RBK

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
814 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

30

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

540

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

35

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

22

plastic containers

not sent to the landfill

Marlaina's actions

Materials

Go Paperless

#70 Recycled Paper

I will reduce the amount of paper mail that I receive by 0.11lbs (0.05kg) a day or 41lbs (18.6kg) a year by opting into paperless billing, ending unwanted subscriptions and opting out of junk mail.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Materials

Research Cement Alternatives

#36 Alternative Cement

I will spend at least 10 minutes researching cement alternatives that reduce the carbon footprint of concrete.

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

Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates

#3 Reduced Food Waste

I will spend at least 10 minutes learning how to differentiate between sell by, use by, and best by dates.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Buildings and Cities

Go for a Daily Walk

#54 Walkable Cities

I will take a walk for 60 minutes each day and take note of the infrastructure that makes walking more or less enjoyable, accessible, and possible.

COMPLETED 9
DAILY ACTIONS

Women and Girls

Learn about the Need for Family Planning

#7 Family Planning

I will spend at least 15 minutes learning more about the need for family planning globally.

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 11
DAILY ACTIONS

Materials

Eliminate Toxic Plastics

#47 Bioplastic

I will avoid buying toxic plastics, including polycarbonate, polystyrene and polyvinyl and instead replace them with bioplastic or durable options.

COMPLETED 11
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Reduce Animal Products

#4 Plant-Rich Diet

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

COMPLETED 10
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 12
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Composting

#60 Composting, #3 Reduced Food Waste

I will start a compost bin where I live.

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 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?

Marlaina Hunter 4/17/2019 7:13 PM

Knowing that food is actually safe to eat beyond those dates is helpful! I can reduce my food waste. I was disturbed to read that the average American throws out 273 pounds of food a year. We need to appreciate our food more and waste less. Understanding use by, sell by and best by dates are the first step to reducing the waste.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Materials Recycle Everything I Can

How could you incorporate other "R's" -- reduce, reuse, refuse, repair, repurpose, etc. -- into your lifestyle? How does considering implementing these "R's" make you feel?

Marlaina Hunter 4/17/2019 7:04 PM

I make en effort to repair my damaged clothing. Some companies, like Patagonia, offer to repair their products free of charge - a great perk and one less garment in a landfill. I also try to reuse as many things as I can. If I purchase a beverage in a plastic bottle, I at least try to refill it and use it again after. A small thing, but one less bottle in a landfill. Recently, I have stopped purchasing cans of seltzer. I LOVE seltzer, but I was going through it like crazy. I feel better knowing that I have reduced my consumption of aluminum cans.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Women and Girls Learn about the Need for Family Planning

What did you learn about the need for family planning? Share some of the learning with your friends!

Marlaina Hunter 4/17/2019 6:58 PM

Family planning is about giving women the power to decide when they want to have a child - literally giving women the ability to plan when they want to start a family. I could not believe that in the US, 45% of pregnancies are unplanned! While the US still makes women jump through hoops to get contraception, other less developed nations have it even worse. If we could reduce the rate unplanned pregnancies we would be able to slow the population growth of the world and therefore reduce carbon emissions. Two problems, one solution.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Materials Eliminate Toxic Plastics

What single-use items (e.g. straws, coffee cups, vegetable bags, plastic bags) do you regularly use? What could be substituted instead?

Marlaina Hunter 4/07/2019 4:42 PM

I try my best to avoid single use items, but I am guilty of using the plastic vegetable bags. I need to invest in reusable produce bags, but I never think to purchase them until I'm at the store. Buying some now!

Read More
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?

Marlaina Hunter 4/03/2019 12:20 PM

In addition to the environmental benefits, smaller plates will reduce food waste and keep our waistlines trimmer.

Read More
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?

Marlaina Hunter 4/03/2019 12:19 PM

Water is a precious commodity, but we treat it like it is free. We need to start treating water like it were gasoline. There are places in the world that are in severe drought, we need to re-evaluate how we think about water.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Reduce Animal Products

In your opinion, what contributes to people in North America eating more meat than any other countries? What does this say about North American values and ways of living?

Marlaina Hunter 4/03/2019 12:16 PM

In North American and America, in particular, have more grassland and space to raise cattle. Plus, we have businesses like McDonalds that have been around for 60 years marketing hamburgers like gold.

Read More