EcoChallenge.org

Drawdown EcoChallenge

April 3 - April 24, 2019

Laurel Minnick

Moseley Architects

"Reducing my environmental impact, one step at a time"

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
1,139 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

1.0

donation

made
UP TO

315

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

90

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

6.0

public officials or leaders

contacted

Laurel's actions

Electricity Generation

Communicate With My Elected Officials

#2 Wind Turbines (Onshore)

I will write or call 3 elected official(s) telling them not to support fossil fuel subsidies and instead support wind energy generation.

COMPLETED
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 21
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Smaller Portions

#3 Reduced Food Waste

I will use smaller plates and/or serve smaller portions when dishing out food.

COMPLETED 20
DAILY ACTIONS

Electricity Generation

Learn More about Wave and Tidal Energy

#29 Wave and Tidal

I will spend at least 15 minutes learning more about the energy generation potential of wave and tidal energy.

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 21
DAILY ACTIONS

Electricity Generation

Learn More about Micro Wind

#76 Micro Wind

I will spend at least 15 minutes learning more about the energy generation potential of Micro Wind.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Use

Support Indigenous Peoples' Land Management

#39 Indigenous Peoples' Land Management

I will donate to The Nature Conservancy, which works with Indigenous Peoples to secure land tenure and resource rights, support improved governance and local institutions, assist in natural resource mapping, planning and management; and strengthen livelihoods and sustainable economic development.

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

Food

Learn More about Silvopasture

#9 Silvopasture

I will spend at least 30 minutes watching videos and/or reading about the environmental benefits of silvopasture.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Learn More about Regenerative Agriculture

#11 Regenerative Agriculture

I will spend at least 15 minutes learning about the need for more regenerative agriculture.

COMPLETED
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.

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.

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?

Laurel Minnick 4/25/2019 5:49 AM

I learned a lot from this challenge. I read up on alternative forms of green energy and agriculture, and how both can help mitigate the effects of climate change. I contacted my representatives about investing in green energy, an action that took less than five minutes and one that I will try to make a habit of in the future. I also learned how and why coffee, cocoa, and palm oil products are destructive to forest environments, and also learned that it's not too difficult to avoid these items (except for chocolate...). I hope to keep up with a lot of the habits I formed during this challenge.

Read More
Laurel Minnick 4/24/2019 6:36 AM

It's the last day! I'm almost surprised that I managed to complete all of my goals for this challenge. It helped though that I had a lot of time to do them, and most of them individually did not take that long. It doesn't take a lot of time to email a representative, or pick up some trash, or take time to read labels on food. I'm hoping I can continue some of the habits I formed during this challenge and strive to live a life with less environmental impact.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Electricity Generation Communicate With My Elected Officials

What inspires you to act on sustainable energy and other energy issues?

Laurel Minnick 4/23/2019 5:10 AM

The fact that my generation may see the end of humanity in our lifetime. Millennials are nihilistic and sardonic partly because we don't see the people we elected doing their jobs to make our world a more habitable place, and in many cases, it seems our politicians are actively trying to make the world worse off for people.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Electricity Generation Learn More about Wave and Tidal Energy

What did you learn about wave and tidal energy? Were you surprised by the information you found?

Laurel Minnick 4/22/2019 6:36 AM

I've learned that the US has an incredible potential for wave an tidal energy - our coasts recieve 2,100 tetrawatt-hours of incident wave energy a year, and "tapping just one quarter of this potential could produce as much energy as the entire U.S. hydropower system."

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Electricity Generation Learn More about Micro Wind

Micro turbines can be placed on large structures to take advantage of stronger, steadier breezes. The Eiffel Tower now sports vertical axis turbines that produce electricity for use on site. Where could micro turbines potentially be installed in your city?

Laurel Minnick 4/22/2019 6:28 AM

We've got a lot of tall buildings in downtown Baltimore, I see no reason why we couldn't put micro turbines on top of them. In addition, the tall buildings create a wind tunnel effect and it's usually quite windy around the harbor. We could take advantage of the wind assets around the harbor by installing micro turbines on the docks and by the harbor walk.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Transport Improve a Bus Stop

How can you advocate for transportation systems which minimize environmental impact while also meeting human needs?

Laurel Minnick 4/22/2019 5:12 AM

I can contact those in charge of making those decisions and implore them to make the moral choice. We can't continue with our car-centric society and need to switch to extensive public transit and bike infrastructure as soon as possible.

Read More
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?

Laurel Minnick 4/18/2019 12:09 PM

It lets me know when a product might be at its peak quality, but just because a product is past its use/sell/best by date does not mean it's expired. I can still eat foods that are past these dates within reason, and I can reduce my food waste by doing so

Read More
- Rebecca Berggren 4/23/2019 7:05 AM
  
  Expiration dates a largely out there so companies can make more money. They are typically arbitrary and are not regulated by federal laws.
  
  Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Learn More about Regenerative Agriculture

Clean air, clean water and healthy food are three reasons to care about regenerative agriculture. What are some other reasons?

Laurel Minnick 4/18/2019 12:06 PM

Increased biodiversity, general health of farms, and resistance to climate change.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Buildings and Cities Express My Support

What do you like most about biking in your city? What would you like to improve?

Laurel Minnick 4/17/2019 7:46 AM

I am not a biker in Baltimore as I live too far away to bike to work, and also don't even have a bike yet. I would be much more interested in biking in the city if we had designated, protected bike lanes that connected to each other rather than sporadically spread throughout the city.

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?

Laurel Minnick 4/15/2019 10:43 AM

I had not heard of silvopasture before now, but now I think it's a great idea! It has many benefits, including reduced erosion/runoff from pastures, animal comfort from a tree-induced microclimate, and the opportunity to raise livestock and produce/lumber using the same plot of land.

Read More