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April 3 - April 24, 2019
Ashley Levins's avatar

Ashley Levins

Starbucks

"Our future is our planet and our people, our future is all of us together."

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 368 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    90
    minutes
    spent exercising
  • UP TO
    30
    plastic containers
    not sent to the landfill

Ashley's actions

Materials

Research Cement Alternatives

#36 Alternative Cement

I will spend at least 20 minutes researching cement alternatives that reduce the carbon footprint of concrete.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Buildings and Cities

Express My Support

#59 Bike Infrastructure

I will find out who in my city makes decisions that impact bike routes and express my support for better biking infrastructure.

UNCOMPLETED
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.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transport

Research and Advocate for High-Speed Rail

#66 High-Speed Rail

I will spend at least 25 minutes researching and advocating for a comprehensive high speed rail network in my country/region.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Learn More about Silvopasture

#9 Silvopasture

I will spend at least 20 minutes watching videos and/or reading about the environmental benefits of silvopasture.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Buildings and Cities

Go for a Daily Walk

#54 Walkable Cities

I will take a walk for 15 minutes each day and take note of the infrastructure that makes walking more or less enjoyable, accessible, and possible.

COMPLETED 6
DAILY ACTIONS

Materials

Share Bioplastic Disposal Tips

#47 Bioplastic

I will spend at least 45 minutes researching how to properly dispose of bioplastics in my city and share this information with 25 friends, family and/or colleagues.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Support Nutrient Management

#65 Nutrient Management

I will research and support local farmers who have made the decision to not use synthetic nitrogen fertilizers.

UNCOMPLETED
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 6
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 6
DAILY ACTIONS

Materials

Launch a Recycling Program

#56 Industrial Recycling

I will set up a recycling center at my workplace or school.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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 6
DAILY 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 6
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Composting

#60 Composting, #3 Reduced Food Waste

I will start a compost bin where I live.

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
    Materials Share Bioplastic Disposal Tips
    What concerns you the most about how we are affecting the planet? Consider both local and global actions.

    Ashley Levins's avatar
    Ashley Levins 3/27/2019 6:03 AM
    I am concerned about how much waste we throw away into landfills, and how much we rely on cars for transportation. Instead of walking or riding a bike to nearby locations, or maybe even carpooling at the least, people feel the need to drive individually to every place they go to. Also, I am concerned about how little people reuse and compost materials and products; Many of us simply throw things away when we are done with them, then we buy new products. It's the easiest and most convenient thing to do. What is most concerning to me, I think, is how some people are not concerned or even aware of these problems.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Buildings and Cities Go for a Daily Walk
    What have you noticed on your daily walks? What have you enjoyed? What infrastructure changes could make your walks more enjoyable or possible?

    Ashley Levins's avatar
    Ashley Levins 3/26/2019 12:44 PM
    When I walk my dogs, which is most days, I always love seeing the low branches of trees, the bits of green growing anti-symmetrically, the flowers sprouting without any pattern or limit. However, it is so hard to find a place that is so natural as this, as many neighborhoods cut down trees and pull up plants to make room for more cement, houses, and grass. Instead of the natural greenery that once grew in my neighborhood, there are scraggly trees planted in straw and surrounded by bricks, there are large plots of cement for wide sidewalks.There are plenty of things that could be improved, some less practical due to the increasing number of homes being built, but nonetheless there could be change. Maybe if neighborhoods would leave the more natural greenery uncut where possible, and making sidewalks more narrow to avoid the amount of cement being used.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Food Support Nutrient Management
    How does environmental quality influence your sense of community?

    Ashley Levins's avatar
    Ashley Levins 3/26/2019 12:35 PM
    Seeing or feeling a clean environment makes me feel as if the people in my community care for their future and our planet. It makes me so happy that, in an environment that is being cared for, others share the same compassion for their surroundings that I do. The only way to have good environmental quality is by a whole community working, whether together or individually, to be more conscious about their decisions and their impact. That kind of community creates such a bond between people, as they all must look past their own benefit to see that change is necessary for the benefit/livelihood of the people as a whole, and therefore these people think not only about themselves, but about others. This idealistic scenario constantly keeps me motivated to encourage others to join the movement, to come together as one.
  • 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?

    Ashley Levins's avatar
    Ashley Levins 3/25/2019 8:31 AM
    There are plenty of ways that we can reduce the amount of waste we thrown away, the plastic that we use, and the amount of gas emissions we produce. Ways we can do this are composting food and other waste products, buying plastic-free products (such as foods from your local farmers market), biking/walking to close distances instead of driving, and taking a tram instead of a plane, if possible. Also, repairing is an "R" we should all adopt, as we all throw away so many clothes that are ripped, chairs that have peeled paint, and so many other things we refuse to fix. Taking a little time out of your day to sew up that shirt, to repaint that chair, or to even fix that phone (to reduce e-waste), we can reduce a huge amount of excess, unnecessary waste.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Materials Launch a Recycling Program
    How can you take your commitment to sustainable living beyond yourself? How can you, personally, work toward broader change?

    Ashley Levins's avatar
    Ashley Levins 3/25/2019 7:08 AM
    The obvious answer to moving past sustainable living for just myself is advocacy. But there is so much more that I can to make change, locally and globally. I can create compost for my neighborhood, plant flowers, trees, and herbs all over my town through groups, donate to global organizations that provide cleaner living situations for people in other countries, and so much more. Even though teams of people can make big differences, so can one person, it just takes effort.
  • 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?

    Ashley Levins's avatar
    Ashley Levins 3/25/2019 6:57 AM
    Eating smaller portions of food allows us to reduce the amount of food that we buy, therefore decreasing the amount of money spent per week/month. This provides a larger fund for other things, such as education or savings. In another scenario, if we were to still buy the same amount of food, but reduce our portion sizes, extra food could be donated. Either way, there are so many benefits to reducing portion sizes to healthier, but still nutritious amounts.
  • 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?

    Ashley Levins's avatar
    Ashley Levins 3/24/2019 5:54 PM
    I tend to use a good amount of plastic sandwich bags to pack food for my lunches, but I know that there are metal lunch containers on the market that could eliminate the need for plastic bags. Thinking about this definitely motivates me to invest in a few metal containers so to eliminate all of my plastic bag usage, and I think that instead of using paper napkins in my packed lunches, I could definitely start using fabric, reusable napkins.
  • 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?

    Ashley Levins's avatar
    Ashley Levins 3/24/2019 5:37 PM
    Working at Starbucks and seeing the amount of uneaten/unused resources has motivated me more than anything to look to compost instead of waste. When we throw away coffee/espresso grounds, we are throwing away plant food... viable, perfectly acidic soil boosters that support flowers and fruits. Also, a lot of recent news has displayed land becoming uninhabitable and toxic for use, mostly due to landfills. If people composted everything decompostable instead of throwing waste away, there would not be a need for such a large amount of landfills. Things such as these motivate me to work harder to reduce waste. For example, every chance I get, I take coffee grounds from our store to a local horticulture club or plant nursery.
  • 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?

    Ashley Levins's avatar
    Ashley Levins 3/24/2019 5:04 PM
    Money that is too often spent on excess food could be saved up for education, for donations to local organizations, even for spending a little extra money on eco-friendly products. Personally, I would rather save up that money for buying eco-friendly packaging, clothing, and household products. If more people did this, it would reduce the incentive for food companies to produce as much food as they do, it would reduce food waste, and we could start switching to healthier products/food.