Rachel McBryan

Comox Valley Unitarians, Comox United Church & Friends

"to make a meaningful steps towards reducing my impact on the environment"

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
235 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

10

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

20

pounds of CO2

have been saved

Rachel's actions

Food

Zero-waste Cooking

#3 Reduced Food Waste

I will cook 1 meal(s) with zero-waste each day

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Transport

Stay on the Ground

#43 Airplanes, #63 Telepresence

Instead of traveling by plane, I will find an alternative way to accomplish the goals of an upcoming trip (i.e. telepresence, vacation locally).

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates

#3 Reduced Food Waste

I will spend at least 10 minutes learning how to differentiate between sell by, use by, and best by dates.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transport

Use Muscle Power

#49 Cars

I will cut my car trip mileage by only taking necessary trips, and I will only use muscle-powered transportation for all other trips.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY 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.

UNCOMPLETED
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 0
DAILY ACTIONS

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

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?

Rachel McBryan 4/23/2019 10:34 PM

I am certain with the privilege undeservingly betowed upon me, I can do at least what I can plus a bit more, and more than others that can not do anything. So in my daily mindfulness practices of living and breathing and being, I am choosing what is best for the planet, moment by moment.

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Rachel McBryan 4/20/2019 9:51 PM

I brought my reusable container in my purse to the restaurant today.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Materials Mulch the Base of Trees and Plants

Name some of the human activities impacting the health of water systems, both locally (your watershed) and globally (freshwater and oceans). What can you do to improve the health of water systems?

Rachel McBryan 4/11/2019 11:20 PM

I used peat moss in my herb garden this year but I have a lot of leaves that come off my tree so I am going to rake them onto my garden areas instead of removing them completely. I am converting my lawn from grass and encouraging the natural moss and natural flowers including the petite dandalions to grow... I do remove the larger ones as they do crowd out the other natural plants but the goal is to have a green lawn because of moss not watered grass... because I have the mossiest lawn, my lawn was the "greenest" of the unwatered lawns in ky neighbpurhood.

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- Cory McAllister 4/12/2019 11:48 AM
  
  Dry grass isn't brown... it's gold!
  
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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?

Rachel McBryan 4/11/2019 11:15 PM

So... I waste a lot of herbs that I buy and die in the fridge... so I planted the herbs I typically use on my front lawn. This way I can pick what I need instead of wasting resources.

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- Heather Kennedy-MacNeill 4/15/2019 11:19 AM
  
  I have a bunch of herbs just outside my kitchen and lots of them last through the winter and are in full bloom right now - tarragon, thyme, rosemary and the mint and chives are taking off like crazy! I have a potted basil plant in the window that I bought ages ago which is still doing okay. Then in summer, do the basil, dill, parsley (although I think I could have had more during winter if I had planted more - do that in the garden. Struggle with dill and cilantro.
  
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- Kasia Stepien 4/15/2019 8:25 AM
  
  I do too! So I'm trying to grow my own this year too, and then dry what I can and just use dried herbs for the off season.
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates

How does knowing the difference between use by, sell by, and best by dates empower you to make better decisions?

Rachel McBryan 4/11/2019 11:10 PM

So... I took some out dated yeast and proofed it before I chucked it. I am going to buy more but store it in the freezer

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Rachel McBryan 4/08/2019 9:15 PM

Tomorrow I will pull out my bike and get it road worthy!

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- Kasia Stepien 4/08/2019 10:12 PM
  
  Woohoo!!! If you run into any snags, I know a guy who loves tuning up bicycles (my hubby).
  
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