Ecochallenge.org and Project Drawdown

Drawdown EcoChallenge

April 4 - April 25, 2018

Maegan Ames

Co-op Climate Action Network (CCAN) - Organic Valley

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
974 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

70

minutes

spent learning

Maegan's actions

Women and Girls

Research Barriers to Participation and Representation

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

I will spend at least 10 minutes learning more about the barriers to women's equal participation and representation around the world.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Women and Girls

Learn about the Need for Family Planning

#7 Family Planning

I will spend at least 10 minutes learning more about the need for family planning globally.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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 11
DAILY ACTIONS

Materials

Go Paperless

#70 Recycled Paper

I will reduce the amount of paper mail that I receive by opting into paperless billing and subscriptions.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Electricity Generation

Learn More About Geothermal Energy

#18 Geothermal

I will spend at least 10 minutes learning more about the energy generation potential of geothermal energy and consider investing in this technology.

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

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

Women and Girls

Support Women-Owned Businesses

#62 Women Smallholders

I will support women-owned businesses when I shop this month.

COMPLETED 9
DAILY ACTIONS

Buildings and Cities

Choose LED Bulbs

#33 LED Lighting (Household)

I will replace 5 incandescent lightbulb(s) with Energy Star-certified LED bulbs, saving up to $14 per fixture per year.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Learn More about Silvopasture

#9 Silvopasture

I will spend at least 20 minutes watching videos and/or reading about the environmental benefits of silvopasture.

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 13
DAILY ACTIONS

Land Use

Forest-Friendly Foods 1

#5 Tropical Forests

I will spend at least 10 minutes researching the impact of my diet to see how it contributes to deforestation.

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 10
DAILY ACTIONS

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
Women and Girls Learn about the Need for Family Planning

What did you learn about the need for family planning? Share some of the learning with your friends!

Maegan Ames 4/18/2018 7:42 AM

From spending some time researching the need for family planning, I learned that many women face large barriers to family planning whether that be misinformation, transportation, lack of support, or just where they live.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Land Use Buy Bamboo

Are bamboo alternatives readily available in your community? If not, what are other sustainable alternatives?

Maegan Ames 4/16/2018 2:56 PM

I've seen bamboo alternatives at the local co-op. I don't think many people realize it's a better option so they don't pay much attention to it on the shelf. I'm definitely keeping my eye out for it now!

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Materials Eliminate Toxic Plastics

What single-use items (e.g. straws, coffee cups, vegetable bags, plastic bags) do you regularly use? What could be substituted instead?

Maegan Ames 4/13/2018 7:50 AM

I use plastic bags far to often when out grocery shopping. I have a pretty good stock of reusable bags but it's just a matter of remembering to grab them when I go shopping. I'm going to start leaving the bags in my car so that I remember to use them and won't need to take the store plastic bags. Plus I hate the pile of plastic bags that forms in my house so another great reason to use reusable!

Read More
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?

Maegan Ames 4/12/2018 6:43 AM

I had heard how much palm oil contributes to deforestation before but I had no idea how many products it was actually in! I definitely want to pay closer attention to this when I'm purchasing food and product. I can continue to increase my positive impact by choosing organic products whenever possible which has really increased since working at Organic Valley!

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 this?

Maegan Ames 4/09/2018 11:04 AM

Not only do I waste less food when I use a smaller plate I also don't over eat. It's a win-win!

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates

Now that you know the difference between use by, sell by, and best by dates, how will you view expiration dates differently?

Maegan Ames 4/09/2018 11:03 AM

Now that I know the difference and meaning for use by, sell by and best by dates, I will pay more attention to the quality of the product not necessarily the date on the product to indicate if it is still okay to consume.

Read More
Maegan Ames 4/02/2018 1:44 PM

Can't wait for the challenge to kick off in only 2 days!

Read More