EcoChallenge.org

Drawdown EcoChallenge

April 3 - April 24, 2019

David Penberg

Woodstock Day School

"I want to be intentional and deliberate in my daily life in ways that are environmentally responsible"

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
809 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

4.0

miles

traveled by bus
UP TO

50

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

2.0

hours

volunteered
UP TO

9.0

plastic containers

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

0.7

pounds of CO2

have been saved
UP TO

1.0

donation

made
UP TO

4.0

miles

not traveled by car

David's actions

Materials

Eliminate Toxic Plastics

#47 Bioplastic

I will avoid buying toxic plastics, including polycarbonate, polystyrene and polyvinyl and instead replace them with bioplastic or durable options.

COMPLETED 9
DAILY ACTIONS

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

Materials

Recycle Everything I Can

#55 Household Recycling

I will recycle all materials that are accepted by local haulers or drop stations in my community.

COMPLETED 6
DAILY ACTIONS

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.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transport

Use Public Transit

#37 Mass Transit

I will use public transit 2 mile(s) per day and avoid sending up to 0.33 lbs of CO2 into Earth's atmosphere.

COMPLETED 2
DAILY ACTIONS

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

Transport

Research and Advocate for High-Speed Rail

#66 High-Speed Rail

I will spend at least 15 minutes researching and advocating for a comprehensive high speed rail network in my country/region.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transport

Advocate For Greener Vehicles

#26 Electric Vehicles

I will assess the vehicles used by my company or college and advocate for a purchasing policy focused on electric and fuel-efficient vehicles

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transport

Research and Consider Switching to a Hybrid or Electric Vehicle

#26 Electric Vehicles

I will spend at least 10 minutes researching and weighing my options to see if a hybrid or electric vehicle makes sense for my lifestyle.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Social Justice

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.

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.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Use

Learn about Temperate Forests

#12 Temperate Forests

I will spend at least 5 minutes learning more about the environmental services provided by and the environmental issues affecting temperate forests.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Use

Research Peatlands

#13 Peatlands

I will spend 10 minutes researching the environmental benefits of peatlands and what is being done around the world to conserve and restore them.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Land Use

Restore Wetlands

#52 Coastal Wetlands

I will volunteer 2 hours with a wetland restoration project in my region.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Social Justice

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

Land Use

Local Perennial Biomass

#51 Perennial Biomass

I will spend at least 5 minutes finding out if anyone is working on perennial biomass projects in my region and how I can get involved.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Use

Forest-Friendly Foods 1

#5 Tropical Forests

I will spend at least 5 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

How do wetlands differ from other ecosystems -- both in the services they offer and in your personal experience of them?
David Penberg 4/24/2019 6:37 PM
I live in a community that is surrounded by wetlands. In particular the school I direct. What we are working at is finding ways to connect our steam program to the study of our wetlands and woods. To use the collection of data to to curtail climate change and its impact on the wetlands and surrounding ecosystems.

Read More
David Penberg 4/24/2019 6:26 PM
Today we had a demo and talk on electric bicycles. While this was both enjoyable and worthwhile--My biggest concern is how prohibitive the price is for most people. There is a real contradiction here. Living environmental mindful should not be determined by class or income. It's a civic right

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Land Use

As you learn more about the scope and seriousness of the environmental challenges we face, what impact does that have on your thinking and actions? What are the parts that feel overwhelming? What parts help you feel hopeful?
David Penberg 4/24/2019 6:21 PM
To organize the community I lead to becoming more intentional in its care taking of the land it inhabits. To develop systematically a deeper knowledge base and understanding of ecological literacy and stewardship. Climate change is an invitation to promote stewardship and environmental citizenship. It can trigger the idealsand actism of children and youth. As it must.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Action Track: Social Justice

Indigenous speaker and activist Winona LaDuke says that, "most indigenous ceremonies, if you look to their essence, are about the restoration of balance — they are a reaffirmation of our relationship to creation. That is our intent: to restore, and then to retain balance and honor our part in creation." Why is balance important to sustainability?
David Penberg 4/24/2019 5:29 PM
We invited an Algonquin speaker/writer to our school to talk and perform at our school the other day. He is a writer, an ornthologist and scholar of native american land use. With a talk, with maps and documents, and playing on his flute designed to sound like a bird, he described how the tribes inhabiting this region we call the east coast had a spiritual and non commercial relationship with nature. They created a web of sophisticated relationships of co-existence,

This makes me think of how we teach history. And how we shoud be teaching it.
The conversation abt climate change is also an historical one.

Read More
David Penberg 4/22/2019 5:54 AM
What has also struck me through the ecochallenge, is the extraordinary array of digital resources available to us. It's amazing. We have to harness and organize that as well..... as a learning community

Read More
David Penberg 4/22/2019 5:53 AM
STEAM is our pedagogical framework at WDS for teaching environmental literacy and stewardship. Our local treasure/resource is the natural landscape surrounding our school. Approx. 50 acres of lush wetlands, woods, creatures, birds, flora and fauna, aquatic life. It transcends curriculum or instruction.It's our biosphere. And it is time we became more intentional, informed and effective as it's stewards. So great that Amy has organized an Algonquin writer and land use expert to visit our school next week. The eco challenge does not end on our calendar. We've just embarked on it.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Transport

How can you ensure that your virtual meetings honor your values and your company's culture?
David Penberg 4/22/2019 5:34 AM
Virtual meetings do not necessarily coincide with my ecological values. As ways to be more time efficient and reducing travel time, indeed. But what is of deeper concern to me, is regardless of the platform, --is the quality of those meetings-exchanges that matter. Meetings are routine opportunities to use our time purposefully and with intention.On a human level, so is direct communication on a daily basis with people. Face to face interaction is still the most powerful and humanizing ways of being. It is what makes for a rich community life. This i try to honor by being visible and present as a school leader.

Read More
David Penberg 4/20/2019 1:42 PM
We were unified as a community through effective action to get a work stoppage order from the town of Saugerties against illegal dumping that was occurring under our noses. Neighbors turned out as did students.

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- Steve Dunning 4/21/2019 5:06 AM
  How do we continue this energy? Can we get some truly eco minded people involved in our local government?
  
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David Penberg 4/17/2019 5:08 AM
My challenge goes beyond my personal habits. It includes guiding WDS in being consistent and bold in its multiple approaches and commitments to becoming an environmental steward. Convening a forum around illegal dumping, designing and co-planning a Youth Summit around climate change and leadership, and our school wide participation in ECO CHALLENGE are part of an institutional arc of becoming greener and more environmentally literate. We've just begun.

Read More
David Penberg 4/16/2019 4:31 AM
trying to be consistent, conscious and aware that these actions are not one offs. Rather, they can be integrated into my daily life that go beyond the eco challenge

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- Steve Dunning 4/16/2019 9:10 AM
  Little shifts in the daily!!! Spoken from the top!
  
  Read More