EcoChallenge.org

Drawdown EcoChallenge

April 3 - April 24, 2019

Lielle Berman

NYPA

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
1,607 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

475

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

210

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

5.0

conversations

with people
UP TO

50

locally sourced meals

consumed
UP TO

2.0

donations

made

Lielle 's actions

Women and Girls

Support Women-Owned Businesses

#62 Women Smallholders

I will spend 10 minutes each day researching women-owned businesses I can support when shopping.

COMPLETED 16
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

Land Use

Choose Better Wood Products

#38 Forest Protection

I will only purchase wood and paper products from ecologically certified sources like Forest Stewardship Council.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Explore Other Food Solutions

All Food Solutions

I will spend at least 15 minutes researching other Drawdown Food Solutions.

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

Land Use

Forest-Friendly Foods 1

#5 Tropical Forests

I will spend at least 15 minutes researching the impact of my diet to see how it contributes to deforestation.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Support Local Food Systems

#4 Plant-Rich Diet

I will source 60 percent of my food from local producers each day. This could include signing up for a local CSA, buying from a farmer's market, visiting a food co-op, foraging with a local group, or growing my own ingredients.

COMPLETED 18
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

Materials

Research Cement Alternatives

#36 Alternative Cement

I will spend at least 30 minutes researching cement alternatives that reduce the carbon footprint of concrete.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Use

Research Peatlands

#13 Peatlands

I will spend 15 minutes researching the environmental benefits of peatlands and what is being done around the world to conserve and restore them.

COMPLETED 15
DAILY ACTIONS

Electricity Generation

Support Companies Leading in Green Energy

#8 Solar Farms

I will use my spending power to reward companies leading in purchasing green energy and incentivize others to invest more in green energy.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Materials

Share Bioplastic Disposal Tips

#47 Bioplastic

I will spend at least 30 minutes researching how to properly dispose of bioplastics in my city and share this information with 5 friends, family and/or colleagues.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Buildings and Cities

Replace Manual Thermostats

#57 Smart Thermostats

I will replace manual thermostats with smart ones.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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 21
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 18
DAILY ACTIONS

Electricity Generation

Choose Renewable Energy or Purchase Renewable Energy Credits

#2 Wind Turbines (Onshore), #8 Solar Farms

I will sign up for my utility company's clean/renewable energy option. If my utility does not offer one, I will purchase Renewable Energy Credits to match my usage.

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
Women and Girls

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?
Lielle Berman 4/24/2019 7:38 PM
Support qualified female candidates for office. Get them elected. Don't stand for the BS media spin that casts doubt on her character-- just look at her record and policy proposals and evaluate on true merit.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Materials

Concrete is a good example of a material that most of us encounter every day, but may its carbon footprint is not obvious. What other everyday materials might have a large carbon footprint? How can you find out more?
Lielle Berman 4/24/2019 7:29 PM
So many things! Clothes, shoes, toys, cosmetics, food. "Life Without Plastic" is a handy resource book, and research done by environmental watchdog groups like the NRDC and the Nature Conservancy are invaluable.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Women and Girls

When family planning focuses on healthcare provision and meeting the expressed needs of women, it results in empowerment, equality, and well-being, and the benefits to the planet are side effects. Why is family planning an important civil rights consideration?
Lielle Berman 4/24/2019 7:24 PM
Knowledge and access is everything when it comes to reproductive rights and agency. Sex is often such a taboo subject in many cultures, so comprehensive formal education on the subject is often lacking, or comes too late. Access to healthcare and services are critical for a healthy, functioning, and balanced society.

Overpopulation is the elephant in the room of climate impacts-- every prior age of extinction (except the dinosaurs) has been caused by the overproliferation of a single species that caused an excess of carbon in the atmosphere. That's us! As a species, we have been wildly successful, to the point where now we have created the perfect environmental conditions for our own extinction. Reproductive rights-- knowledge and access-- are the key to stopping population growth and allowing for a more equitable society that offers prosperity to everyone.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Materials

What concerns you the most about how we are affecting the planet? Consider both local and global actions.
Lielle Berman 4/24/2019 7:11 PM
Pollution is everywhere-- some is easy to see, but most of it isn't as obvious, like contaminants in water, air and food. Receipts from the grocery store are coated in BPA, which absorbs through the skin when you touch it and acts as a potent endocrine disruptor, even in small amounts. Synthetic fabrics deposit contaminating microfibers into water systems. Pesticides from fruits and vegetables are shown to affect brain development of babies in utero. There's so much harm we're doing, not just to ourselves, but every other living thing, and almost all of it is about increasing profits in an unsustainable economic system that relies on unlimited growth within a closed ecosystem.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Land Use

Much of Indonesia's peatlands have been drained so they could be replaced with palm oil or pulp and paper plantations. How can you make choices that help to protect peatlands, even if you live far away from one?
Lielle Berman 4/24/2019 6:58 PM
My husband's family in Ireland still heat their houses with peat they harvest and dry themselves every summer. That's how it's been done there for centuries. Now there's a lot of resentment because the EU is trying to limit or eradicate use of peat as fuel. It's a good example of how complex and deeply emotional large-scale transitions can be, when it means possibly losing traditions or practices that are unique to a local culture.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Land Use

How is your diet currently impacting deforestation? What can you do to decrease your negative impact and increase your positive impact?
Lielle Berman 4/24/2019 6:50 PM
Only grass-fed locally produced dairy and meat in our household....eggs from pastured chickens, and coffee and chocolate that is Rainforest Alliance certified. Palm oil never. The local, pastured and responsibly sourced products we get are definitely more expensive than conventional, but they taste better, are more satisfying, and have higher nutritional density and bio-availability, which means we're getting more nourishment bang for our buck, calorie for calorie.

One crop that I struggle with is avocados-- they're a staple food in our household, but I learned that monarch butterfly and other migrating pollinator species habitats are being destroyed in Mexico to grow avocados and meet increased American demand. So avocados only happen in the summer for us, when they can come from Florida and California.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Food

Dependable fresh food, supporting local farmers and building resilient communities are just a few benefits of local food systems. Which of these (or other) advantages inspire you the most?
Lielle Berman 4/24/2019 6:23 PM
The freshness of local food is definitely a huge bonus in my mind. Not only does it taste better and more satisfying, but fruits and veggies lose nutritional density after harvest, so broccoli that was picked 10 days ago and transported 1,000 just isn't as nutritionally valuable as broccoli picked 2 days ago. Many people assume that the produce in the grocery store is all the same, but the less nutritional density a food has, the more we need to eat of it to be fully nourished, which can lead to a higher calorie intake, or difficulty feeling satisfied after meals.

Another perspective is that food is one of the primary ways the outside world communicates with our cells-- what we put into our bodies tells us on a cellular level where and when we are in the world and seasonal cycle. There is a theory that eating out-of-season food (like fresh strawberries and tomatoes in winter) handicaps the metabolism's ability to adequately acclimate us to the season we are actually in, leading to difficulty handling the cold in the winter, for instance.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Buildings and Cities

How do you anticipate replacing your thermostats for smart ones will positively impact your life?
Lielle Berman 4/24/2019 6:16 PM
More control over our heating and cooling will definitely help us save money and cut unnecessary energy usage. There is no need to expend constant energy to keep the house at one temperature all day long, or in rooms we aren't using. I also wonder if my acclimation to an indoor environment that's always around 70 degrees affects my ability to acclimate to colder and hotter seasonal temps outdoors.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Buildings and Cities

What have you noticed on your daily walks? What have you enjoyed? What infrastructure changes could make your walks more enjoyable or possible?
Lielle Berman 4/24/2019 6:11 PM
This wasn't always easy to do, but it definitely helped me feel like a short walk at the end of a work day isn't such a heavy lift, and has helped improve my mood and relieve stress.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Land Use

Beyond carbon sequestration, what other benefits do forests offer you personally?
Lielle Berman 4/24/2019 6:01 PM
Over the past two years or so, a large wooded area near where I live was developed for real estate. Since then, we have had more wildlife (deer, coyotes, turkeys, foxes, possums, skunks, etc.) in our VERY suburban (lots of houses close together) neighborhood, and it's very sad to see how distressed all these animals are, not to mention how many get hit by cars. It makes me so sad to see natural land being razed for more suburban sprawl more and more all the time.

Read More