Ecochallenge.org and Project Drawdown

Drawdown EcoChallenge

April 4 - April 25, 2018

Laura Bloom

Population Reference Bureau

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
973 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

65

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

20

zero-waste meals

consumed
UP TO

2.0

public officials or leaders

contacted
UP TO

10

conversations

with people
UP TO

523

pounds of CO2

have been saved
UP TO

195

gallons of water

have been saved

Laura's actions

Materials

Share Bioplastic Disposal Tips

#47 Bioplastic

I will spend at least 30 minutes researching how to properly dispose of bioplastics in my city and share this information with 10 friends, family and/or colleagues.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Use

Forest-Friendly Foods 2

#5 Tropical Forests

I will replace or remove products in my current diet that are known to contribute to deforestation.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Materials

Install a Low-Flow Showerhead

#46 Water Saving - Home

I will save up to 15 gallons (56 L) of water a day by installing a low-flow showerhead.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates

#3 Reduced Food Waste

I will spend at least 20 minutes learning how to differentiate between sell by, use by, and best by dates.

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 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Learn More about Silvopasture

#9 Silvopasture

I will spend at least 15 minutes watching videos and/or reading about the environmental benefits of silvopasture.

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.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Buildings and Cities

Express My Support

#59 Bike Infrastructure

I will find out who in my city makes decisions that impact bike routes and express my support for better biking infrastructure.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transport

Purchase a Carbon Offset

#43 Airplanes

If I buy a plane ticket, I will purchase a carbon offset.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Zero-waste Cooking

#3 Reduced Food Waste

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

COMPLETED 20
DAILY ACTIONS

Electricity Generation

Rooftop Solar Consultation

#10 Rooftop Solar

After researching the incentives at the federal, state, utility, and local levels, I will contact a local installer/distributor for a solar panel installation consultation on my house.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Participant Feed

REFLECTION QUESTION
Land Use

How difficult or easy was it to change your diet?
Laura Bloom 4/24/2018 11:28 AM
I tried the Impossible burger today (better for biomass in general).

It was alright. I can see how it relates to meat, but I would rather just stick to real meat and eat said meat less often.

Read More
Laura Bloom 4/23/2018 11:41 AM
How neat.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Transport

A round-trip flight from New York City to Los Angeles emits just over 1 ton of CO2. Imagine a giant balloon with a diameter of 10 yards. If this balloon were filled with CO2, it would weigh about 1 ton. This flight would fill just about one of these balloons. What can you do to reduce the number of flights you take per year?
Laura Bloom 4/23/2018 11:37 AM
I did some research, and these are really cheap! It was $12 for me to fly across the U.S. I'm very pleased that something so small can make such a large impact!

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
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?
Laura Bloom 4/23/2018 11:36 AM
I tried keeping a pile of my food scraps over the weekend. I'm pretty proud of how little I wasted, but food packaging was a huge deal.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Electricity Generation

Identify some ways in which modern human societies have become unsustainable. What kind of roles do individuals have in creating and changing practices in society?
Laura Bloom 4/22/2018 5:13 PM
I found out that my complex doesn't allow solar panels currently, but I'm going to petition the HOA.

Read More
Laura Bloom 4/12/2018 5:20 AM
Silvopasture is the mix of grassy/grazing areas for livestock and trees/shrubbery. I have seen this in successful mountain ranches in CO, but I didn't know it had a name. It helps to diversity the local ecosystem, strengthens community health, and can improve soil health for various ranching products. Best of all, you can plant native species, which will start their own life cycle within a few years, making this a one-time investment. It can provide shade to livestock too, that way you don't have to pay for large structures to be built and permitted.

Read More
Laura Bloom 4/12/2018 5:00 AM
I've installed in 1 of my two showers. It was easy to do, and the water pressure is still nice! I will install another one soon.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food

Now that you know the difference between use by, sell by, and best by dates, how will you view expiration dates differently?
Laura Bloom 4/10/2018 7:14 AM
Learning a lot of this was far more intuitive than I thought it would be. It's resourcefulness and commonsense applied to your food.

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Laura Bloom 4/09/2018 2:14 PM
I struggled with the no food waste over the weekend. It wasn't really hard to do it, but I just had to think about what I could do rather than my usual routines.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Buildings and Cities

What are your next steps for saving energy?
Laura Bloom 4/04/2018 1:25 PM
I will consult the building owners about alternative energy sources. We are already in the ninetieth-percentile though.

Read More