Skip to main content
April 3 - April 24, 2019

UUCUV Eco-Challenge Team Feed

BACK TO TEAM PAGE

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?


  • Mardy High's avatar
    Mardy High 4/24/2019 7:53 PM
     I will keep going with my challenges !

  • Mardy High's avatar
    Mardy High 4/24/2019 7:50 PM
     I am using some  cloth impregnated with wax, which I got online. It comes in different sizes, is easy to clean and reuse, and can deal with covering food in a dish, or wrapping part of a vegetable like eggplant that didn't get used. I haven't done away completely with plastic, but I am  working towards that.  Perhaps I just have to go cold turkey and force myself to cope with the result.

  • Mardy High's avatar
    Mardy High 4/24/2019 7:47 PM
    I did not spend ten minutes a day learning about this. I had good intentions but couldn't sustain them.

  • Mardy High's avatar
    Mardy High 4/24/2019 7:46 PM
    This has been a real good disciplinary tool. I often eat leftovers for lunch, but recently this challenge has helped me cook a better amount, so there aren't leftovers, and we still have a small but satisfying amount on our plates.  Cooking for two is easier than cooking for  nine  (when all the kids come!)          

  • Mardy High's avatar
    Mardy High 4/24/2019 7:43 PM
    The hard part of this challenge is that we have had many visits from family, so I keep the fridge full of possibilities for everyone. So far, the only overshoot was porridge.  Hard to keep up with the leftovers. We are vegetarians, but our) kids and grandchildren are not (YET) so I have to keep things for them. My main answer to that is making sure they take meat home with them.

  • Mardy High's avatar
    Mardy High 4/24/2019 7:40 PM
       I found myself so busy I couldn't check in every day, but I was doing all the things I said. One of the most exciting things was to learn that my new local greengrocer is going to partner with an organic farmer in town, doing the weeding, marketing and harvesting and bringing the produce to his shop. I buy as much as I can from him so he will succeed. Now there is even more reason to do this.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Food Keep Track of Wasted Food
    An average American throws out about 240 lbs of food per year. The average family of four spends $1,500 a year on food that they throw out. Where would you rather use this money?

    Jo-Ellen Courtney's avatar
    Jo-Ellen Courtney 4/24/2019 1:30 PM
    I would prefer to use this money to develop a vegetable garden.  Growing my own food and sharing it would increase my appreciation the value of food. I expect I might be more aware by growing it and preserving it.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Action Track: Social Justice Support Indigenous Peoples' Land Management
    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?

    Jo-Ellen Courtney's avatar
    Jo-Ellen Courtney 4/24/2019 1:22 PM
    Balance is critical to sustainability.  When you take more than you give you have changed the balance.  Sustainability is an effort to keep things in balance.  Personally I think we are beyond the need for balance.  We have taken so much from the earth; we need to be engaged in restoration. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Action Track: Social Justice Learn about Local Indigenous Practices
    What did you learn about indigenous peoples' land management that you can apply in your own life?

    Jo-Ellen Courtney's avatar
    Jo-Ellen Courtney 4/24/2019 1:17 PM
    Indigenous peoples respect the land and value each part.  Their holistic view is one I will incorporate into my like.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Buildings and Cities Express My Support
    How could better walking infrastructure make your city both more enjoyable and more equitable?

    Jo-Ellen Courtney's avatar
    Jo-Ellen Courtney 4/24/2019 1:12 PM
    We currently have sidewalks in some areas of the town.  However, extending the sidewalks to the other side of the lake would make it easier for people to walk to the beach from the southern edge of the lake.  As it is now the sidewalk is only available on the northern edge of the lake.  This limits access.