Noel L

Community Team

"Living mostly plastic free and zero waste, continually trying to reduce my impact on the planet. Slow and steady."

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
699 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

36

gallons of water

have been saved
UP TO

42

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

1.0

tree

planted

Noel's actions

Materials

Become A Master Recycler/Composter

#55 Household Recycling

I will sign up for a Master Recycler/Composter program in my area.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Buildings and Cities

Plan to Insulate

#31 Insulation

I will find out how to make my home more energy efficient through better insulation and weatherization.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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 17
DAILY ACTIONS

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

Land Use

Plant Trees

#15 Afforestation

I will plant 1 tree(s) in my community, public parks, or backyard.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Electricity Generation

Support Companies Leading in Green Energy

#8 Solar Farms

I will use my spending power to reward companies leading in purchasing green energy and incentivize others to invest more in green energy.

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

Food

Reduce Animal Products

#4 Plant-Rich Diet

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

COMPLETED 14
DAILY ACTIONS

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 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?

Noel L 4/21/2019 10:22 PM

On a holiday.

Was doing quite well with just kitchen scraps and a bit of wated native spinach from my balcony. Then, I discovered a whole carton of expired eggs. Fail. So sad. 🐣😔

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Materials Become A Master Recycler/Composter

What could you do differently to waste less?

Noel L 4/13/2019 12:54 AM

I went to a 3 hour workshop today on mending and repairing clothing. Learned buttons, snaps, hems, and repairing fabric holes. I have a sweater that got a few moth holes - now it is almost impossible to see where the holes were. Learned heaps. Shocked that something like 85% of clothing purchased ends up in landfill within a year. 😲 We can do better. We have to do better. I am aiming to buy most of the clothing I need in 100% natural materials and hopefully 2nd hand.

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- Stephanie Goulet 4/14/2019 2:33 PM
  
  Thanks for the link, Noel - I'll check it out!
  
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- Noel L 4/13/2019 7:21 PM
  
  Thanks Stephanie. Yep, I mainly went to learn how to mend holes in sweaters and fabic but definitly learned better ways to do buttons and hems. My workshop was offered by a local Council (local government), but there are other organisations offering similar events. Fashion Revolution week is coming soon, so there is more scheduled at the moment. You could try fashionrevolution.org for events or general info or google fasion revolution in your area. Good luck.
  
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- Stephanie Goulet 4/13/2019 9:02 AM
  
  That's amazing! I'd love to find a workshop like that near me. I mend and repair my clothing already, but I haven't really learned the "proper" ways to do it, so they don't always look as good as they could. Would definitely help me out - great idea!
  
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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?

Noel L 4/11/2019 12:42 AM

All of the above, plus looking after our farmers. If they grow something edible, it should be eaten and they should be paid for it. I start my produce shop in the 'imperfect' aisle. Stuff that is smaller or larger than average, touched a branch while growing, or lonely bananas. Farmers should not have to throw out perfectly good food because shopper demand a certain size or look. 💕🚜

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- Noel L 4/13/2019 1:05 AM
  
  Thanks Judith. I definitely used to be like that. Only changed relatively recently. Australia has a tv mini series called War on Waste and in one episode they showed mountains of perfectly good food getting thrown out at the farms because it didn't meet the narrow requirements of most consumers. I don't think I ever thought about the realities and variety in real food at a large scale before. Ignorance is not always bliss, but knowlede is definitely power.
  
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- Judith Lapadat 4/12/2019 9:20 AM
  
  I used to live in a place where I had fruit trees in my yard. I grew beautiful, organic apples and pears. However, there was too much fruit for my family. But I couldn’t give it away. Even if I picked it delivered it to people, they mostly didn’t want it because the fruits didn’t not look perfectly shaped and sized like grocery store fruit.
  
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Noel L 4/09/2019 8:29 PM

Finalised my new investment accounts with Australian Ethical. My $ will not be used for mining or killing The Reef. 💕🌏🐠🐢

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- Noel L 4/13/2019 7:30 PM
  
  Thanks for sharing Stephanie! Sooo cool. I love seeing individuals around the planet all moving in the same direction (and some companies). The ripples are spreading and getting bigger.
  
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- Stephanie Goulet 4/13/2019 9:11 AM
  
  That's awesome!! I had a hard time finding something similar in the US for a while, but finally found the online bank Aspiration. If someone reading this is in the US, check them out: https://my.aspiration.com/
  
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- Noel L 4/12/2019 12:46 AM
  
  Thanks Addy. I'm in Australia, so unless someone intentionally seeks sustainable investments and banks, odds are their money is funding mining, fossil fuels, and other non-renewables. Super easy to find sustainable options and change, costs nothing, and has a big impact.
  
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- Addy Davidson 4/11/2019 9:57 AM
  
  Oh, good for you! I love to hear these kinds of actions.
  
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Noel L 4/08/2019 6:12 AM

Not sure if it counts, but I planted a blueberry plant today (not a tree). Also planted 2 strawberry plants. Hoping to keep them all alive and use the plants to get edible berries. I have mostly stopped buying berries at the shops due to the standard plastic packaging.

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- Noel L 4/13/2019 7:39 PM
  
  Addy - very impressive! I actually have a balcony, no yard. My plants have to be able to survive the intense Australian western sun, with the lack of an ozone layer. I am moving toward native edibles. Trying for berries and a few other edibles I now generally avoid due to plastic packaging. Fingers crossed.
  
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- Addy Davidson 4/11/2019 10:03 AM
  
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- Addy Davidson 4/11/2019 10:02 AM
  
  I just picked 4 artichokes today. These are BIG plants, and very nice looking in a landscape, if your climate is right for them. The fruits aren't much given the size of the plant, but they would certainly fill a front yard right up!
  
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