Ecochallenge.org and Project Drawdown

Drawdown EcoChallenge

April 4 - April 25, 2018

Ana Sofia

Asheville High School!

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
981 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

164

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

2.0

locally sourced meals

consumed
UP TO

5.0

public officials or leaders

contacted
UP TO

66

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

3.0

conversations

with people
UP TO

1.0

documentary

watched

Ana's actions

Food

Reduce Animal Products

#4 Plant-Rich Diet

I will enjoy 3 meatless or vegan meal(s) each day of the challenge.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

composting

#60 Composting, #3 Reduced Food Waste

I will start a compost bin where I live.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Materials

Recycle Everything I Can

#55 Household Recycling

I will recycle all materials that are accepted by local haulers or drop stations in my community.

COMPLETED 9
DAILY ACTIONS

Materials

Properly Dispose of Refrigerants

#1 Refrigerant Management

I will spend at least 30 minutes learning how to properly dispose of my refrigerator, freezer, and other refrigerants at the end of their useful lives.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Electricity Generation

Watch a Video about Methane Digesters

#30 Methane Digesters (large), #64 Methane Digesters (small)

I will watch a video about methane digesters (also commonly known as anaerobic digesters).

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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

Electricity Generation

Learn More about Biomass

#34 Biomass

I will spend at least 15 minutes learning more about the energy generation potential of biomass.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Electricity Generation

Learn More About Geothermal Energy

#18 Geothermal

I will spend at least 20 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 30 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 15 minutes learning how to differentiate between sell by, use by, and best by dates.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Materials

Share Bioplastic Disposal Tips

#47 Bioplastic

I will spend at least 19 minutes researching how to properly dispose of bioplastics in my city and share this information with 3 friends, family and/or colleagues.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Use

Learn about Temperate Forests

#12 Temperate Forests

I will spend at least 15 minutes learning more about the environmental services provided by and the environmental issues affecting temperate forests.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Support Local Food Systems

#4 Plant-Rich Diet

I will source 1 meal(s) from local producers each day. This could include signing up for a local CSA, buying from a farmer's market, visiting a food co-op, foraging with a local group, or growing my own ingredients.

COMPLETED 2
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Smaller Portions

#3 Reduced Food Waste

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

COMPLETED 2
DAILY ACTIONS

Electricity Generation

Communicate With My Elected Officials

#2 Wind Turbines (Onshore)

I will write or call 2 elected official(s) telling them not to support fossil fuel subsidies and instead support wind energy generation.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Use

Advocate for Forest Protection

#38 Forest Protection

I will contact 3 congress people or representatives to advocate for public policy that protects forests and the enforcement of existing anti-logging laws.

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
Land Use

Higher standards of living are very often dependent on moving our environmental costs elsewhere. What are some specific ways in which the environmental impacts of your own lifestyle might be shifted elsewhere?
Ana Sofia 4/25/2018 11:58 AM
Some ways that environmental impacts of my own lifestyle are shifted elsewhere are how when we throw things away, theyre taken away in trucks and we dont see them. We dont see the landfills and the waste or see what they do with those things. And here in America we dont see as many of the repurcussions of global warming and the ozone layer, and dont see the effects around Australia where the ozone layer is thinning. Out of sight out of mind.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Electricity Generation

What inspires you to act on sustainable energy and other energy issues?
Ana Sofia 4/25/2018 11:56 AM
What inspires me most when it comes to acting on sustainable energy sources and other energy issues is the fact that I know we don't have forever when it comes to fixing these things, and that even doing a little bit helps some in the long run. It's an issue that everyone is avoiding and putting off for the next generation of people but the fact is that at this point, we're out of generations to push this on to and we need to be doing something now.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food

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?
Ana Sofia 4/24/2018 11:40 AM
Aside from the environmental benefits, benefits of this are having to pay less for extra food, possibly enjoying meals more by eating slower, and intaking less calories and not gaining weight through overeating.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food

Dependable fresh food, supporting local farmers and building resilient communities are just a few benefits of local food systems. Which of these advantages inspire you the most?
Ana Sofia 4/24/2018 11:39 AM
I think that the most inspiring thing for me is the fact that everything is coming from places around me that arent using as many chemicals and wasting as much stuff, and that I'm not contributing to income made by large corporations and instead supporting more ethical and ecofriendly buisnesses.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Materials

How could you incorporate other "R's" -- reduce, reuse, refuse, repair, repurpose, etc. -- into your lifestyle?
Ana Sofia 4/24/2018 11:35 AM
For me personally I can use a lot of cardboard and things like that for art or to make things out of but other than that theres just generally a lot of really cool things that you can repurpose things for without having to throw them away.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food

Producing uneaten food squanders many resources—seeds, water, energy, land, fertilizer, hours of labor, financial capital. Which of these motivates you the most to change your behavior regarding food waste?
Ana Sofia 4/24/2018 11:34 AM
I think my main motivator for this is just the general amount of how much is wasted as a whole, not any specific thing. Just knowing how much is wasted here compared to other countries really hurts because I remember that in Colombia if we can't finish a plate we literally had to flush the food down the toilet so my aunt wouldnt see it being wasted so that she wouldn't cry because a lot of my family in Colombia lives in poverty.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food

What do you think contributes to people in North America eating more meat than other countries, and what does this say about North American values and ways of living? How do we start shifting a meat-focused food culture?
Ana Sofia 4/24/2018 11:31 AM
I think something that contributes to people in North America eating more meat than in other countries is fast food and how the media promotes meat, and also how much cheaper that fast food is than healthier food. That shows that North American values are shifted more towards how much can possibly be consumed rather than health or the environment. I think the main way we would have to shift a meat-focused food culture is to promote non-meat based meals in the media and have them for as low of a price as meat.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Land Use

How is your diet currently impacting deforestation? What can you do to decrease your negative impact and increase your positive impact?
Ana Sofia 4/23/2018 11:53 AM
My diet is currently impacting deforestation because even though I’m vegetarian I still eat eggs and drink milk so my diet still has an impact on the egg and dairy industries. I could decrease my negative impact and increase my positive impact by replacing more things with things like cashew milk or soymilk and eating less eggs.

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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?
Ana Sofia 4/23/2018 11:40 AM
I think that I’ll stop throwing stuff away right at the date it says a lot more. I’ll also try to not buy as much so that what we do have will be used around the right dates anyways.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Land Use

As you learn more about the scope and seriousness of the environmental challenges we face, what impact does that have on your thinking and actions? What are the parts that feel overwhelming? What parts help you feel hopeful?
Ana Sofia 4/23/2018 11:20 AM
I think I want to be as careful as I can when it comes to using resources from the forest but it also worries me because of the fact that we don't quite know how to properly protect and fully restore our forests yet. The fact that we are destroying forests much faster than we are restoring them and that shows no signs of slowing down is probably the most overwhelming. The fact that we are at least scheduled to try and restore some of our forests.

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