EcoChallenge.org

Drawdown EcoChallenge

April 3 - April 24, 2019

Adam M Maurer

Seattle Colleges Siegal #2

"Lead a life of continuous progress toward a more sustainable lifestyle."

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
504 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

1.0

documentary

watched
UP TO

24

miles

traveled by bike
UP TO

50

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

40

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

14

pounds of CO2

have been saved

Adam M's actions

Buildings and Cities

Go for a Daily Walk

#54 Walkable Cities

I will take a walk for 10 minutes each day and take note of the infrastructure that makes walking more or less enjoyable, accessible, and possible.

COMPLETED 5
DAILY ACTIONS

Buildings and Cities

Go by Bike

#59 Bike Infrastructure

I will commute by bike 6 mile(s) per day and avoid sending up to 3.39 lbs of CO2 into Earth's atmosphere.

COMPLETED 4
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

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

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

Materials

Launch a Recycling Program

#56 Industrial Recycling

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

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

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 5
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates

#3 Reduced Food Waste

I will spend at least 20 minutes learning how to differentiate between sell by, use by, and best by dates.

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
Materials Launch a Recycling Program

How can you take your commitment to sustainable living beyond yourself? How can you, personally, work toward broader change?

Adam M Maurer 4/24/2019 9:14 AM

I'm luck in that my job is taking sustainability beyond myself. For this challenge, we are implementing compost collection systems in break rooms throughout our main campus. Food waste is a significant part of the waste system and releases carbon dioxide when put in landfills. We will now turn that carbon dioxide into new soil!

Read More
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?

Adam M Maurer 4/15/2019 12:20 PM

No actually. I might have read about it in grad school, but I definitely forgot about it. It seems like the biggest advantage of silvopasture is that one part of the system uses the waste of the other parts of the system. Like when the pigs eat the rotten apples.

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?

Adam M Maurer 4/12/2019 3:23 PM

I think I could definitely consider better products with less packaging or packaging that is easy to recycle. I currently purchase a few items that I know are not recyclable, so I need to research better alternatives. I'm trying to buy in bulk, but sometimes the containers of bulk items are not recyclable (think drink mixes like Gatorade).

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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?

Adam M Maurer 4/12/2019 3:08 PM

It's not super environmentally-friendly, but I would love to travel more internationally to have a deeper appreciation and understanding of different cultures and to see beautiful parts of earth. I would offset my airfare :)

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Electricity Generation Watch a Video about Methane Digesters

What does your vision of a sustainable community look like? What would need to be changed in order for such vision to become reality?

Adam M Maurer 4/12/2019 3:06 PM

Oh wow! Well, it's a community that respects one another. A community that understands where things come from and where things go...and tries to mitigate the environmental and social impacts of both. A community rich with integrity, community involvement, empowerment, democracy, and good music and food. A community that embraces renewable energy and moves toward more sulf-sufficiency in the face of mass consumerism and globalism. Right now, the biggest thing that needs to happen is we need to stop vilifying others that don't think exactly like us and learn to use our collective strengths to build a world that improves the lives of everyone. Also, we need to get reduce the influence money has on our democracy and institutions.

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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?

Adam M Maurer 4/10/2019 1:40 PM

It's similar to recycling symbols, it's safer to ignore the dates and use our best judgement and understand our local communities. For food, trust your senses- smell, look at it, and touch or taste it to test quality and potential spoilage.

Read More
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?

Adam M Maurer 4/10/2019 9:52 AM

Many neighborhood sidewalks are really narrow and spring vegetation is growing out into an already slim space. For those not easily able to go off the sidewalk or duck around bushes and trees, it makes for an unpleasant and difficult trip. Also, some sidewalks are really slanted, making it difficult for those in chairs, crunches, lower body injuries, etc. to safely navigate. It's important the City continues to redo old sidewalks to ensure safe passage.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Buildings and Cities Go by Bike

How does using human-powered transportation make you feel compared to using other methods of transportation?

Adam M Maurer 4/08/2019 3:20 PM

empowered to control my own mobility

Read More