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April 3 - April 24, 2019
Heather Kennedy-MacNeill's avatar

Heather Kennedy-MacNeill

Comox Valley Unitarians, Comox United Church & Friends

"The antidote for despair is action and community."

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 1,003 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    30
    gallons of water
    have been saved
  • UP TO
    95
    minutes
    spent learning

Heather's actions

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

Land Use

Choose Better Wood Products

#38 Forest Protection

I will only purchase wood and paper products from ecologically certified sources like Forest Stewardship Council.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Use

Forest-Friendly Foods 2

#5 Tropical Forests

I will replace or remove the palm oil, coffee, and cocoa products in my current diet that are known to contribute to deforestation.

COMPLETED 4
DAILY ACTIONS

Land Use

Forest-Friendly Foods 1

#5 Tropical Forests

I will spend at least 15 minutes researching the impact of my diet to see how it contributes to deforestation.

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

Electricity Generation

Learn More about Wave and Tidal Energy

#29 Wave and Tidal

I will spend at least 10 minutes learning more about the energy generation potential of wave and tidal energy.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Electricity Generation

Learn More About Geothermal Energy

#18 Geothermal

I will spend at least 15 minutes learning more about the energy generation potential of geothermal energy and consider investing in this technology.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Learn More about Silvopasture

#9 Silvopasture

I will spend at least 15 minutes watching videos and/or reading about the environmental benefits of silvopasture.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transport

Explore Other Transport Solutions

All Transport Solutions

I will spend at least 20 minutes researching other Drawdown Transport Solutions.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Contact your Elected Officials

#23 Farmland Restoration

I will contact 4 elected officials to voice my opinion on the importance of restoring farmland in my region, including both public and private land.

UNCOMPLETED
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

Materials

Properly Dispose of Refrigerants

#1 Refrigerant Management

I will spend at least 10 minutes learning how to properly dispose of my refrigerator, freezer, and other refrigerants at the end of their useful lives.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transport

Test Drive an Electric Bike

#69 Electric Bikes

I will test drive an electric bike at a local distributor to see if it makes sense to use one in place of my car, or to extend the area I can cover by bike.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Learn More about Regenerative Agriculture

#11 Regenerative Agriculture

I will spend at least 10 minutes learning about the need for more regenerative agriculture.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transport

Improve a Bus Stop

#37 Mass Transit

I will improve a bus stop in my neighborhood by posting the stop schedule, adding seating or shelter, adding art or flowers, picking up litter, or implementing some other small improvement.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Social Justice

Express My Support

#54 Walkable Cities

I will find out who in my city makes decisions that impact neighborhood walkability and express my support for better walking infrastructure.

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?

  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Land Use Forest-Friendly Foods 1
    How is your diet currently impacting deforestation? What can you do to decrease your negative impact and increase your positive impact?

    Heather Kennedy-MacNeill's avatar
    Heather Kennedy-MacNeill 4/16/2019 4:21 PM
    I’m going to really have to research this because I didn’t think I was ingesting palm oil or food that contributed to deforestation.  It was amazing to read the articles “Learn More” - with lists and lists of different names that palm oil uses or different products that have palm oil including an amazing number of personal hygiene products that have palm oil.  This is definitely worth reading with great resources....
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Food Learn More about Silvopasture
    Had you heard of the term "silvopasture" before now? After learning more about it, what do you think is the biggest advantage of silvopasture?

    Heather Kennedy-MacNeill's avatar
    Heather Kennedy-MacNeill 4/07/2019 12:19 PM
    I hadn’t really heard about it before and I’m so impressed given that it is ranked as #9 of climate change solutions.  Planting certain types of trees in a grazing pasture  instead of just treeless fields sequesters 5 to 10 times as much carbon.  That’s the biggest advantage, but then there are the advantages of shade & better life for animals, helping with drought conditions, and allowing farmers to plant more types of crops such as mushrooms and tree crops.  I’m going to ask our CVRD to start free training programs for farmers or owners of acreage. 

    • Heather Kennedy-MacNeill's avatar
      Heather Kennedy-MacNeill 4/08/2019 9:24 AM
      Trying to figure out how to reply to Kasia’s comment...since there isn’t a “reply” feature on her response.  So this is a test before I ask Ecochallenge captains for a solution!

    • Kasia Stepien's avatar
      Kasia Stepien 4/07/2019 9:42 PM
      Wow, great action idea Heather! And thank you for summarizing silvopasture for us... I don't have time to read it all.
  • 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?

    Heather Kennedy-MacNeill's avatar
    Heather Kennedy-MacNeill 4/07/2019 11:53 AM
    Certainly weight loss is a great side effect,  but I also find if I limit especially our dinner portions,  I really save time in the future by having more leftovers, or I’ve been routinely making sure we have leftover salad for lunch the next day, and just have to add some greens to expand it.  Makes lunches easier and more nutritious. 
  • 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?

    Heather Kennedy-MacNeill's avatar
    Heather Kennedy-MacNeill 4/03/2019 8:18 PM
    That was so interesting...I will definitely change my habit about this.