EcoChallenge.org

Drawdown EcoChallenge

April 3 - April 24, 2019

Rebecca Lange

VM Community

"Helping the community and environment one little step at a time. "

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
884 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

1.0

documentary

watched
UP TO

1.0

donation

made
UP TO

15

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

385

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

1.0

person

helped

Rebecca's actions

Land Use

Learn about Temperate Forests

#12 Temperate Forests

I will spend at least 30 minutes learning more about the environmental services provided by and the environmental issues affecting temperate forests.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Use

Local Perennial Biomass

#51 Perennial Biomass

I will spend at least 30 minutes finding out if anyone is working on perennial biomass projects in my region and how I can get involved.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Women and Girls

Support Women-Owned Businesses

#62 Women Smallholders

I will spend 20 minutes each day researching women-owned businesses I can support when shopping.

COMPLETED 7
DAILY ACTIONS

Women and Girls

Help Girls Overcome Health Barriers

#6 Educating Girls

I will donate 1 Femme Kit(s) to help girls overcome health and sanitation barriers to being able to attend school.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Women and Girls

Research Barriers to Participation and Representation

#6 Educating Girls, #7 Family Planning, #62 Women Smallholders

I will spend at least 60 minutes learning more about the barriers to women's equal participation and representation around the world.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transport

Explore Other Transport Solutions

All Transport Solutions

I will spend at least 30 minutes researching other Drawdown Transport Solutions.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Reduce Animal Products

#4 Plant-Rich Diet

I will enjoy 1 meatless or vegan meal(s) each day of the challenge.

COMPLETED 15
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

Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates

#3 Reduced Food Waste

I will spend at least 30 minutes learning how to differentiate between sell by, use by, and best by dates.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transport

Use Muscle Power

#49 Cars

I will cut my car trip mileage by only taking necessary trips, and I will only use muscle-powered transportation for all other trips.

COMPLETED 17
DAILY ACTIONS

Action Track: Social Justice

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.

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 16
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Composting

#60 Composting, #3 Reduced Food Waste

I will start a compost bin where I live.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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 17
DAILY ACTIONS

Land Use

Learn about Local Indigenous Practices

#39 Indigenous Peoples' Land Management

I will spend at least 60 minutes learning how local indigenous tribes are caring for the land by attending a training, workshop, or presentation.

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?

Rebecca Lange 4/21/2019 3:27 PM

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Rebecca Lange 4/17/2019 2:52 AM

One of the busiest shopping districts in Tokyo and everyone basically took public transportation to get there. Clocking in over 20,00 steps a day for the last 5 days in addition to taking local/express trains to different districts in Tokyo was a learning experience. Walking around all day made eating the delicious food worth it.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Women and Girls Help Girls Overcome Health Barriers

In what other ways could you help girls overcome health barriers to being able to attend school?

Rebecca Lange 4/17/2019 2:25 AM

By making health education more available and less taboo in certain areas, it would allow for women to be more comfortable to attend school. This also includes educating their male counterparts to become more supportive of the necessity of women attending school. While it will take some time to encourage this sort of practice, any little bit can help.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Women and Girls Support Women-Owned Businesses

Globally, women typically invest a higher proportion of their earnings in their families and communities than men. How can you better support communities by supporting women? Can you share any past experiences that may help others take action?

Rebecca Lange 4/17/2019 2:22 AM

Economically speaking it is great to help businesses managed by women since they do in fact invest a higher amount of their earnings into their business. By supporting them, we can allow for these operations to flourish and make wiggle room for the owners to invest their earnings into more than just their business. This could be a turning point for a growing market and persuade others to hop on board with opening small businesses. In return we would have more individuals helping stimulate the economy.

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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?

Rebecca Lange 4/17/2019 2:09 AM

After traveling to japan, I found their recycling programs to be quite amazing. Most public areas that have a disposal area (regular trash cans are hard to come by) usually will have a few different containers all wrapped into one unit for sorting the recycling products. This portion allows for products to be not added to landfills and potentially repurposed into other products in the future. This particular practice I have in place at my apartment and is implemented at my work as well. Their recycling program also encourages people to reuse their plastic bags from stores for other uses and reducing waste. I have done this for some time as an easy method to save on buying garbage bags or using more bags at the grocery store. The R’s can take some time to fully implement, but when you do...it can make a difference. Heck, a city such as Tokyo with a population greater than NYC has much cleaner streets and recycles just about everything. If they can have a more eco friendly lifestyle, why can’t we?

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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?

Rebecca Lange 4/17/2019 1:57 AM

Mainly it’s due to our lack of emphasis on the importance of healthy foods and portions. After spending a few days in japan and having foods prepared so many different ways (some not including meat, I feel that the heavily commercialized fast food industry is seen as a convenience rather than a special outing hence introducing us to unhealthy foods. Here our country has made an emphasis on quantity versus quality. Meats can be consumed, but because we have made it the center piece of most every meal. Rather we should introduce other proteins to our diets to allow for variation and healthier options. Starting this at an early age like the Japanese can potentially reduce our meat consumption over time. I do feel that our country does need to ensure the accessibility to said alternatives.

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Rebecca Lange 4/17/2019 1:44 AM

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Land Use Forest-Friendly Foods 2

How difficult or easy was it to change your diet?

Rebecca Lange 4/04/2019 3:58 PM

This is surpisingly easy as I have opted for different beverages than coffee and eliminated chocolate from my diet to help with weight loss. Hopefully I can keep this up.

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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?

Rebecca Lange 4/04/2019 3:56 PM

The dates provided allow me to be more aware of what I am purchasing and of how much I am using. Knowing that the confusion between dates has caused a lot of waste on my part as well as wasted money is quite saddening. Now I can start to change my habits to reduce waste and save a buck along the way.

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Rebecca Lange 4/04/2019 11:04 AM

Day 2: A new recycling bin was put into my kitchen this morning and later I will be walking to the store to grab a small compost bin. Fortunately the walk is only about a mile.

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