Ecochallenge.org and Project Drawdown

Drawdown EcoChallenge

April 4 - April 25, 2018

Laurie Nakauchi

Colorado Proud

"To educate myself about how to reduce my footprint and to pass this information on to my students. "

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
919 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

25

conversations

with people
UP TO

200

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

38

zero-waste meals

consumed

Laurie's actions

Materials

Share Bioplastic Disposal Tips

#47 Bioplastic

I will spend at least 20 minutes researching how to properly dispose of bioplastics in my city and share this information with 25 friends, family and/or colleagues.

COMPLETED
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 4
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Zero-waste Cooking

#3 Reduced Food Waste

I will cook 2 meal(s) with zero-waste each day.

COMPLETED 19
DAILY ACTIONS

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 20
DAILY ACTIONS

Electricity Generation

Learn More about Micro Wind

#76 Micro Wind

I will spend at least 30 minutes learning more about the energy generation potential of Micro Wind.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Electricity Generation

Learn More About Geothermal Energy

#18 Geothermal

I will spend at least 30 minutes learning more about the energy generation potential of geothermal energy and consider investing in this technology.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Use

Forest-Friendly Foods 1

#5 Tropical Forests

I will spend at least 20 minutes researching the impact of my diet to see how it contributes to deforestation.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates

#3 Reduced Food Waste

I will spend at least 60 minutes learning how to differentiate between sell by, use by, and best by dates.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Learn More about Regenerative Agriculture

#11 Regenerative Agriculture

I will spend at least 20 minutes learning about the need for more regenerative agriculture.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Explore Other Food Solutions

All Food Solutions

I will spend at least 20 minutes researching other Drawdown Food Solutions.

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 6
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Smaller Portions

#3 Reduced Food Waste

I will use smaller plates and/or serve smaller portions when dishing out food.

COMPLETED 19
DAILY ACTIONS

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

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 Support Women-Owned Businesses

Globally, women typically invest a higher proportion of their earnings in their families and communities than men. How can you better support communities by supporting women?

Laurie Nakauchi 4/16/2018 7:59 AM

I've been researching female-owned businesses and when possible will try to support these small businesses.

Read More
Laurie Nakauchi 4/16/2018 7:54 AM

Sunday I didn't drive my car at ALL! It was wonderful to drive to work today and know I won't have to fill my gas tank until Saturday.

Read More
Laurie Nakauchi 4/10/2018 6:31 AM

Today is day 7 of the Drawdown Ecochallenge and I've already learned so much about different food sources and ways to make small changes that add up to less waste. I find that as I learn more, I want to continue learning more. I am hoping I can pass along that desire to keep learning and making changes on to my students.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Explore Other Food Solutions

What did you find out? What is the most interesting fact you learned?

Laurie Nakauchi 4/08/2018 6:33 PM

Rice is a staple in my diet. Rice paddies can be harmful to the environment so scientists are researching more sustainable ways to grow rice. The Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) was formed in 2011 to help promote more sustainable rice production but currently no brands of rice meet their standards. Mars (Uncle Ben's Rice) is committed to sourcing all their rice from farms that meet the SRP's standards by 2020. I've found a few organic rice sources but purchasing them from overseas and having them shipped is not practical. I'll keep looking into it.

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?

Laurie Nakauchi 4/07/2018 5:29 PM

Looking into responsibly sourced palm oil is quite a research project. I spent 20 minutes looking at products that do not use palm oil or use responsibly sourced palm oil but I've barely scratched the surface. I'm going to do more research to ensure the hair, skin, and body products I'm using are not contributing to deforestation.

Next up, I'll also search for a shade-grown, fair trade coffee. That may take a lot of trials of different brands.

Read More
- Laurie Nakauchi 4/16/2018 8:01 AM
  
  Thank you Erin. I'm checking at Vitamin cottage for my products and am switching some to Burt's Bees because they can trace the sources of their palm oil AND they take their packaging back for recycling.
  
  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?

Laurie Nakauchi 4/06/2018 8:01 AM

With smaller portions in mind, I've been making it more of a habit to take smaller portions of food to start. While I used to not be a fan of taking "seconds", I find I eat and waste less by starting with a small serving and then getting a little more if I still feel hungry.

I've also been talking to my students about helping to make their lunches so they can help pack appropriate portions based on what they normally eat. Many have been saving extra food in their lunches to eat as an afternoon snack .

Read More
Laurie Nakauchi 4/05/2018 6:28 AM

I'm definitely a recycling geek! I arrived at work today and was so excited to find this waiting for me.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Electricity Generation Learn More about Micro Wind

Micro turbines can be placed on large structures to take advantage of stronger, steadier breezes. The Eiffel Tower now sports vertical axis turbines that produce electricity for use on site. Where could micro turbines potentially be installed in your city?

Laurie Nakauchi 4/05/2018 6:27 AM

I found this great article about portable micro wind turbines that can be utilized by outdoor enthusiasts. https://www.digitaltrends.com/outdoors/micro-wind-turbine-usb-charger/ I'm excited to share it with my students, to get them thinking about how the inventor saw a problem (difficulties charging devices out in the "wild") and used his creativity to invent this micro turbine. I'd love to see some micro turbines on top of my townhouse complex. We frequently have wind that could be utilized as power.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Learn More about Silvopasture

Had you heard of the term silvopasture" before now? After learning more about it, what do you think is the biggest advantage of silvopasture?

Laurie Nakauchi 4/05/2018 6:23 AM

I had never heard the term silvopasture before this week so I did some research. In Wisconsin many farmers are finding grazing their cattle on silvopasture has many benefits like protection in hot and snowy weather for the herd and varied food sources. There are still many researchers looking into the long-term benefits of silvopasture for both the land and cattle. Utilizing land for multiple food sources seems like a huge benefit for farmers.

Read More
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?

Laurie Nakauchi 4/04/2018 6:40 AM

Today I'm teaching my students about "zero waste lunches." While I know they don't get to buy their snacks and food, they're very involved in packing their lunches. Later this month we'll see if we can have a few days of zero waste lunches for our entire class. Many of them already do a great job by utilizing reusable containers and aluminum foil. We'll see if we can minimize our food waste too!

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