EcoChallenge.org

Drawdown EcoChallenge

April 3 - April 24, 2019

Andy Behr

Green Bees

"Earth! Fire! Wind! Water! Heart! Go planet!"

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
1,564 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

1.0

documentary

watched
UP TO

6.0

donations

made
UP TO

44

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

104

miles

not traveled by car
UP TO

104

miles

traveled by bus
UP TO

230

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

4.0

people

helped
UP TO

398

pounds of CO2

have been saved
UP TO

3.0

public officials or leaders

contacted

Andy's actions

Women and Girls

Learn about the Need for Family Planning

#7 Family Planning

I will spend at least 15 minutes learning more about the need for family planning globally.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Explore Other Food Solutions

All Food Solutions

I will spend at least 20 minutes researching other Drawdown Food Solutions.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Buildings and Cities

Research Heat Pumps

#42 Heat Pumps

I will spend at least 15 minutes researching heat pumps to see if installing one makes sense for my home/building.

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

Land Use

Research Peatlands

#13 Peatlands

I will spend 20 minutes researching the environmental benefits of peatlands and what is being done around the world to conserve and restore them.

COMPLETED 8
DAILY ACTIONS

Women and Girls

Fund Family Planning

#7 Family Planning

I will donate to supply a community with reproductive health supplies.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Women and Girls

Help Girls Overcome Health Barriers

#6 Educating Girls

I will donate 4 Femme Kit(s) to help girls overcome health and sanitation barriers to being able to attend school.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transport

Use Public Transit

#37 Mass Transit

I will use public transit 8 mile(s) per day and avoid sending up to 3.27 lbs of CO2 into Earth's atmosphere.

COMPLETED 13
DAILY ACTIONS

Buildings and Cities

Online Energy Audit

Multiple Solutions

I will complete an online energy audit of my home, office, or dorm room and identify my next steps for saving energy.

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

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

Reduce Animal Products

#4 Plant-Rich Diet

I will enjoy 2 meatless or vegan meal(s) each day of the challenge.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY 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

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

Materials

Mulch the Base of Trees and Plants

#46 Water Saving - Home

I will prevent water runoff and increase absorbency by mulching the base of trees and plants in my yard.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transport

Conduct Virtual Meetings

#63 Telepresence

I will encourage my office to hold meetings virtually whenever possible instead of requiring travel.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Materials

Go Paperless

#70 Recycled Paper

I will reduce the amount of paper mail that I receive by 0.11lbs (0.05kg) a day or 41lbs (18.6kg) a year by opting into paperless billing, ending unwanted subscriptions and opting out of junk mail.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transport

Purchase a Carbon Offset

#43 Airplanes

If I buy a plane ticket, I will purchase a carbon offset.

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
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?

Andy Behr 4/25/2019 9:54 AM

It's sounds very idealistic, but it's mostly just using resources available to you naturally to keep a balance. It's houses and building getting most of their energy from solar or wind. It's reusing what you can...everything from composting food waste and repurposing plastic and glass as needed and using those resources to further support food production. One thing I really learned from these challenges is that the ability to live in a sustainable way is there...it's just a matter of doing it.

Read More
Andy Behr 4/24/2019 4:54 PM

Good work everyone! Gotta say, my daily challenges weren't too bad, though I wont be sad to eat a sandwich for lunch tomorrow :)

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Women and Girls Learn about the Need for Family Planning

What did you learn about the need for family planning? Share some of the learning with your friends!

Andy Behr 4/24/2019 8:01 AM

I came into this reading with the idea that family planning was an absolute right that women should have; in my opinion, any reproductive needs fall under basic health rights and should be available to all. What I never considered, though, was the way this connected to climate change. To me, it was always about individual choice, and whether or not someone had the information and availability of methods to decide when and if they had a children. But i never really saw the bigger issue around how that relates to overpopulation and thus climate change. It's just another way most of our actions are tied to environmental impacts, and that's probably the biggest lesson I learned from the challenge...it's all interconnected and isn't really as simple as just recycling or using your car less. And while that can seem daunting, it's inspiring that the work to fight climate change is also the work to provide equal rights and to combat poverty, etc.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Electricity Generation Communicate With My Elected Officials

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

Andy Behr 4/24/2019 7:50 AM

I kind of answered this in another reflection, so I'll use the same answer. Mostly, it's for selfish reasons... I care because I have kids and it's unconscionable to do nothing when we're collectively leaving the world a worse (or non-existent!) place for them. But beyond that, we're all in this together, and this is going to affect everyone's kids and grandkids if we make it that far. We're already seeing the suffering climate change is causing and it's absolutely essential we do everything we can now.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Buildings and Cities Online Energy Audit

What are your next steps for saving energy?

Andy Behr 4/22/2019 1:35 PM

I've already been installing new insulation in our attic to replace older, blown insulation. Based on the audit, I think we need to also look into more insulation in our walls, looking into new windows to replace our badly insulated windows, and working to be conscious of our energy use

Read More
Andy Behr 4/15/2019 10:08 AM

Seems i love the environment a little too much, folks

Read More
Andy Behr 4/14/2019 8:41 AM

If you haven't heard, Extinction Rebellion (https://extinctionrebellion.us/) is organizing a week of actions starting 4/15. You can find local actions here: https://actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/us-international-week-of-rebellion

Read More
Andy Behr 4/13/2019 5:37 AM

Good for these Amazon workers: https://gizmodo.com/6-000-amazon-employees-including-a-vp-and-directors-n-1834001079

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?

Andy Behr 4/12/2019 10:59 AM

I had never heard of silvopasture, though I guess I had seen it some growing up on local farms. To be honest, I had no clue it was anything other than "some trees growing near the cows". It sounds like there are numerous benefits: farms get more crops on the same plot land, animals get better conditions to live in (shade, less direct wind in the cold), and the land is healthier as it's a more natural ecosystem. And obviously the fact that this is a more eco-friendly way to manage the above is the biggest advantage of all.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Explore Other Food Solutions

What did you find out? What is the most interesting fact you learned?

Andy Behr 4/12/2019 10:45 AM

Honestly, most of what I read today was new, and that was from simply reading the overviews on the Drawdown website. There were definitely some things that, after reading, seemed obvious when you think about it, like managing grazing to simulate how animals graze in the wild, or the multistrata method of farming with different layers of trees and crops. But what was really interesting to me were the ways to make rice farming more sustainable. Most of the visuals I've seen about growing rice, where its' flooded fields, sounds like can be much more sustainable and environmentally friendly if done in wet/dry patterns. I just assumed that flooded fields was how rice had to grow.

Read More