EcoChallenge.org

Drawdown EcoChallenge

April 3 - April 24, 2019

Headwaters Communities In Action

Primrose for the Planet

"Educate. Activate. Participate. Alleviate."

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
1,402 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

2.0

donations

made
UP TO

180

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

2.0

people

helped
UP TO

425

pounds of CO2

have been saved
UP TO

1.0

public official or leader

contacted

Headwaters Communities 's actions

Food

Contact your Elected Officials

#23 Farmland Restoration

I will contact 1 elected officials to voice my opinion on the importance of restoring farmland in my region, including both public and private land.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transport

Research and Consider Switching to a Hybrid or Electric Vehicle

#26 Electric Vehicles

I will spend at least 15 minutes researching and weighing my options to see if a hybrid or electric vehicle makes sense for my lifestyle.

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 10
DAILY ACTIONS

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

Transport

Purchase a Carbon Offset

#43 Airplanes

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

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 17
DAILY ACTIONS

Electricity Generation

Explore Other Electricity Generation Solutions

All Electricity Generation Solutions

I will spend at least 30 minutes researching other Drawdown Electricity Generation Solutions.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Social Justice

Learn about Local Indigenous Practices

#39 Indigenous Peoples' Land Management

I will spend at least 30 minutes learning how local indigenous tribes are caring for the land by attending a training, workshop, or presentation.

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

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

Women and Girls

Connect With A Nonprofit

#6 Educating Girls, #7 Family Planning, #62 Women Smallholders

I will connect with a local nonprofit working on womens' or girls' issues in my community, and find out how I can get involved or become a member.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Use

Buy Bamboo

#35 Bamboo

When they are available, I will purchase products made from bamboo instead of wood, plastic, or metal.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Women and Girls

Help Girls Overcome Health Barriers

#6 Educating Girls

I will donate 2 Femme Kit(s) to help girls overcome health and sanitation barriers to being able to attend school.

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

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 Choose Better Wood Products

Beyond carbon sequestration, what other benefits do forests offer you personally?

Headwaters Communities In Action 4/24/2019 1:38 PM

TERPENES! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terpene

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Women and Girls Help Girls Overcome Health Barriers

In what other ways could you help girls overcome health barriers to being able to attend school?

Headwaters Communities In Action 4/24/2019 11:26 AM

I'm afraid I had some trouble with this one, but hope that I finally figured it out. I tried many times to use Femme International site to order kits, but the site gave errors everytime I added to my cart, and I could not process an order. I emailed them to no avail, and there are few options to contact them.

But I must confess it's been hard to even find an alternative. I can donate to support women-run businesses making pads, or donate to an organization that arranges distribution or sells kits, but to donate kits that will be given for free to girls who are most in need, that has been a hard task.

Ultimately, I went to the Femme International Facebook page. There is no option to private message, so I submitted a post asking for help. Then I clicked Learn More and was redirected to a GlobalGiving profile for Access to Menstrual Products in East Africa (by Femme). I was finally able to complete a donation there and hope that it goes to the intended cause. As a bonus, I was able to make my donation in honour of our Office Administrators at our local school to recognize Office Administration Day, and send an e-card!

Glad to have this final task DONE! And glad that organizations like Femme International - and so many others I found in my research - exist and do this good work.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Contact your Elected Officials

Do you have any personal connections to a farm or farmland? If so, what are they? What feelings are evoked for you when thinking about declining farmland?

Headwaters Communities In Action 4/22/2019 4:44 PM

Everyone who eats has a personal connection to farms and farmland.

Living in a rural agricultural area, I have many personal connections beyond just being an eater - through friends, neighbours, local food businesses and the community organization with which I spend almost all of my volunteer time, helping with farm to school programs, promotion of a local food charter and action plan, and a local food map and keeping the public informed about local food happenings and issues.

It gives me a bit of a panic, frankly, to think of declining farmland. Unless we can adopt more multi-purpose farming methods like silvopasture, and restore depleted land through regenerative agriculture, there is no new land coming available that is fit to produce food.

Read More
Headwaters Communities In Action 4/21/2019 9:03 PM

Happy Earth Day!

(Yes, EVERY DAY is Earth Day of course, but the calendar says we get to use the greeting today!)

We’re in the home stretch and I have to say I’m a little sad to see the end of the EcoChallenge coming this Wednesday. It has been so amazing to have you all join me, and to see the inspiring things you’ve all taken on, accomplished, observed, learned and been surprised by through this. Might have to make this a regular thing!

I know that my family and I, at least, will continue with some new habits, open more discussions, and use Drawdown as our new touchstone for being the change.

JUST THREE DAYS LEFT for the challenge! How did you do? Will you complete all your actions in time?

Keep up the great work, everyone.

With deep respect and gratitude,
Jen

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Materials Research Cement Alternatives

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?

Headwaters Communities In Action 4/21/2019 8:47 PM

I expect plastic is likely out of the park. So pervasive and petroleum-based, it can’t be good. And not even just from the waste end. Even if it were all infinitely recyclable, in resource extraction/supply and manufacturing it’s probably far from an environmentally friendly product.

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?

Headwaters Communities In Action 4/21/2019 8:39 PM

I had not heard of silvopasture before, but it seems that at #9 it’s high time I looked into it! I think it sounds like the perfect win-win to balance the need for grazing cattle with the need to eliminate the deforestation that is being done for that very purpose. A solution where the forest is actually a net asset to the farmer, and helps protect the herd, improve the forage, and diversify crops, not to mention sequestering 5 to 10 times the carbon and counteracting methane...what’s the question?

If this is an ancient practice, how did we get trapped in a habit of clearcutting for grazing lands??

Read More
Headwaters Communities In Action 4/19/2019 8:20 PM

Thanks Shelburne Free Press for the fantastic article!

We’re in the back stretch now, folks. Time to pull out all the stops. The planet thanks you for all your support and ongoing action! Why stop on the 24th?

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Women and Girls Connect With A Nonprofit

What are the most pressing issues for women and girls in your community?

Headwaters Communities In Action 4/19/2019 4:00 PM

We live in a rich, free, forward-thinking country, and have a healthy community of strong women and female-positive men, so we don't face nearly the same kinds of issues that are faced by women and girls in other places in the world.

For us locally, I think one of the most pressing recent issues for our girls AND boys has been the backslide on health education by the new provincial government, which has stripped back 20 years of progress to reinstate a 1998 curriculum that does not address the current environment and matters concerning consent, the internet and social media and LGBTQ. We have such an opportunity to teach our young people how to have healthy, respectful relationships and that they are never alone if they don't "conform", and what consent looks like - this is a dangerous turn back to a dark age of "keep it in the closet" and pretend everything is fine.

For women in our rural area, they are more likely to stay in abusive relationships because there are few options to leave the home, and with the prevalence of farms - both working and hobby farms - they are concerned about who will care for the animals if they leave. A unique issue for rural women in transition.

Aside from those issues, I think that in our community it is really important for women and girls to get together, find support in each other and make a conscious effort to reach out to one another for social/mental/emotional well-being, since it's easy to feel isolated and alone. At the same time, there are many community groups, events and activities that encourage people to congregate, celebrate, serve and support the community, that make it a wonderful place to live and raise families. We are very fortunate.

Read More
Headwaters Communities In Action 4/18/2019 1:30 PM

Found this recently, which looks interesting:
https://omdfortheplanet.com/blog/how-green-is-your-diet/

Also downloaded their guide to school lunches.

Would love to hear about any Canadian-based resources out there too.

Read More
Headwaters Communities In Action 4/17/2019 10:09 AM

Welcome to Week 2 of the EcoChallenge! This is the time we often see a slump in activity, between the excitement of kick off and the rush to the finish, but don't let your momentum fade! We're still doing pretty great. Dropped one spot in the Canadian standings, but we can get it back!

Remember to check in every day, even if you haven't managed to complete any of your challenges. Answer your reflection questions, keep inviting friends to join, and explore more actions as you make progress. Posts to your profile also count - even if they're about how hard it is to complete your actions!

Have an idea for a group activity that you'd like the whole team to know about? Let me know and I can email the whole team.

Keep up the great work, PFTP!

Jen

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