EcoChallenge.org

Drawdown EcoChallenge

April 3 - April 24, 2019

Karen Duke

Woodstock Day School

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
190 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

2.0

miles

traveled by bike
UP TO

45

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

1.8

pounds of CO2

have been saved

Karen's actions

Land Use

Learn about Local Indigenous Practices

#39 Indigenous Peoples' Land Management

I will spend at least 15 minutes learning how local indigenous tribes are caring for the land by attending a training, workshop, or presentation.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Use

Learn about Temperate Forests

#12 Temperate Forests

I will spend at least 15 minutes learning more about the environmental services provided by and the environmental issues affecting temperate forests.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Buildings and Cities

Research Retrofitting Incentives

#80 Retrofitting

I will spend at least 30 minutes finding out if my city, region, or state offers incentives for retrofitting existing buildings.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Materials

Become A Master Recycler/Composter

#55 Household Recycling

I will sign up for a Master Recycler/Composter program in my area.

UNCOMPLETED
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

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.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Electricity Generation

Learn More about Micro Wind

#76 Micro Wind

I will spend at least 30 minutes learning more about the energy generation potential of Micro Wind.

UNCOMPLETED
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).

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Materials

Research Cement Alternatives

#36 Alternative Cement

I will spend at least 15 minutes researching cement alternatives that reduce the carbon footprint of concrete.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Learn More about Regenerative Agriculture

#11 Regenerative Agriculture

I will spend at least 30 minutes learning about the need for more regenerative agriculture.

COMPLETED
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 1
DAILY ACTION

Electricity Generation

Learn More about Biomass

#34 Biomass

I will spend at least 30 minutes learning more about the energy generation potential of biomass.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Buildings and Cities

Go by Bike

#59 Bike Infrastructure

I will commute by bike 2 mile(s) per day and avoid sending up to 1.79 lbs of CO2 into Earth's atmosphere.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY 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.

UNCOMPLETED
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 0
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.

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

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
Land Use Forest-Friendly Foods 1

How is your diet currently impacting deforestation? What can you do to decrease your negative impact and increase your positive impact?

Karen Duke 4/23/2019 5:41 AM

I do pretty well avoiding palm oil and other products that impact deforestation because I strictly avoid processed foods. Exceptions include eating out because it's difficult to know if processed foods are being used, but I don't eat fast food so that's a good thing. I was surprised at the number of other household and healthcare products that contain palm oil.

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?

Karen Duke 4/23/2019 4:45 AM

I think practicing regenerative agriculture will change our relationship with the earth. Soil is a living thing. Think of the negative connotations of the word "dirt" or "dirty." Why do we think of it in a negative way? I think if you're more aware of the soil as a living thing than your perspective on it changes. I compost and garden organically, and it's a wonderful experience to watch the cycle unfold, and that I'm able not only to feed myself and my family but the birds and wild animals who live in my yard as well. What comes out of the earth goes back into the earth, and the cycle just keeps on turning. Awesome!

Read More
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?

Karen Duke 4/23/2019 4:32 AM

This was a tough challenge! I grew up in a family of "big eaters" and old habits die hard. I'm very conscious of the fact that I eat a LOT and probably more than I need to. I'm vegan, so I know I use that as an excuse to pile on the plate. It helps to start with smaller portions and then ask myself if I'm satisfied. I also tried to eat mindfully, focusing on the process of eating and the taste of each bite, rather than just shoveling it in.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Buildings and Cities Research Retrofitting Incentives

How can you share what you have learned in your research with others?

Karen Duke 4/23/2019 4:29 AM

I learned that retrofitting older buildings to be more energy efficient can save LOTS of money. The tradeoff of energy savings versus cost is enormous.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Buildings and Cities Go by Bike

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

Karen Duke 4/23/2019 4:27 AM

I love riding my bike and am lucky to live in a city where I can safely take a greenway to work most of the way and can avoid almost all busy roads. Riding a bike really puts our dependence on cars in a different light. By car, I'm 15 minutes from work; by bike, it's over an hour! Going up hills in my car is nothing; on a bike, it can be a real challenge. When you depend on your own energy to get from point A to point B, it shows you what a crazy dense source of energy fossil fuel is and that the world would be a completely different place without it. Time slows, distances grow longer, the world becomes smaller, but more intimate, more real.

Read More