Ecochallenge.org and Project Drawdown

Drawdown EcoChallenge

April 4 - April 25, 2018

Susan Rubel

Boston Strong

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
314 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

0.0

gallons of water

have been saved
UP TO

10

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

330

minutes

spent learning

Susan's actions

Food

Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates

#3 Reduced Food Waste

I will spend at least 30 minutes learning how to differentiate between sell by, use by, and best by dates.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Materials

Fix Leaky Faucets

#46 Water Saving - Home

I will fix faucets or report leaky faucets to facilities that have been wasting up to 9 gallons (34 L) of water per faucet every day.

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 5
DAILY ACTIONS

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

Buildings and Cities

Research Heat Pumps

#42 Heat Pumps

I will spend at least 30 minutes researching heat pumps to see if installing one makes sense for my home/building.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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

Food

Reduce Animal Products

#4 Plant-Rich Diet

I will enjoy 2 meatless or vegan meal(s) each day of the challenge.

COMPLETED 5
DAILY ACTIONS

Buildings and Cities

Explore Other Buildings and Cities Solutions

All Buildings and Cities Solutions

I will spend at least 240 minutes researching other Drawdown Buildings and Cities Solutions.

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 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Buildings and Cities

Replace Manual Thermostats

#57 Smart Thermostats

I will replace manual thermostats with smart ones.

UNCOMPLETED
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 4
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
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?

Susan Rubel 4/18/2018 6:27 PM

I'd rather NOT use the money...the concept being reduce, reuse, recycle.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Materials Go Paperless

What do you want to prioritize over material 'stuff' in your own life?

Susan Rubel 4/18/2018 6:14 PM

I'm in a major downsizing project and preparing to move to a tiny house. I've already downsized from a 1700 sq ft house to 900 sq ft. The next move will be to about 300-400 sq ft. But I'm proud to say that I haven't thrown anything away - it's all gone to charities, consignment shops, auctions, and/or friends and family. I'm paring down to mostly only utilitarian things and getting rid of a lot of dust-collecting "tchotchkes" as well as furniture I'll no longer need. Yay - I feel lighter already!

Read More
Susan Rubel 4/10/2018 7:07 PM

I have eaten meat at only one meal in the past week, mainly due to having a wisdom tooth pulled. Even at that, I only had two small meatballs (served as an hors d'oeuvre).

Read More
Susan Rubel 4/10/2018 7:04 PM

I have significantly decreased the amount of wasted food in the last week. The only food going into the waste stream were scraps coming from food prep, e.g. cheese rind, ends of celery, avocado skins, a few stale nuts (the nuts I left outside for the squirrels).

Read More
- Susan Rubel 4/11/2018 7:41 PM
  
  Great suggestion, Lacy. I have done that with cheese rinds before but never kept stuff in freezer to accumulate. Thanks:~)
  
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- Lacy Cagle 4/11/2018 10:12 AM
  
  That's great! I actually save things like cheese rinds, ends of celery, veggie peels, etc. in a big jar in the freezer, and when it is full, I make veggie broth!
  
  Read More