Ecochallenge.org

Drawdown Ecochallenge

Bella Arnao

Blue and Gold Greenies

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
472 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

270

gallons of water

have been saved
UP TO

310

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

195

minutes

being mindful
UP TO

9.0

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

1.0

documentary

watched
UP TO

50

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

1.0

donation

made

Bella's actions

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Reduce Animal Products

Plant-Rich Diets

I will enjoy 1 meatless or vegan meal(s) each day of the challenge.

COMPLETED 6
DAILY ACTIONS

Action Track: Healing & Renewal

Go for a Daily Walk

Walkable Cities

I will take a walk for 20 minutes each day and take note of the infrastructure that makes walking more or less enjoyable, accessible, and possible.

COMPLETED 11
DAILY ACTIONS

Action Track: Healing & Renewal

Eat Mindfully

I will eat all of my meals without distractions, e.g., phone, computer, TV, or newspaper.

COMPLETED 5
DAILY ACTIONS

Buildings

Fix Leaky Faucets

Low-Flow Fixtures

I will fix faucets or report leaky faucets to facilities that have been wasting up to 9 gallons (34 L) of water a day or 270 (1,020 L) gallons of water a month per faucet.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Conduct Virtual Meetings

Telepresence

I will encourage my office to hold meetings virtually whenever possible instead of requiring travel.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Electricity

Calculate the carbon footprint of my household

I will calculate the carbon emissions associated with my household and consider how different lifestyle choices could reduce our carbon footprint and our impact on the environment.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Smaller Portions

Reduced Food Waste

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

COMPLETED 9
DAILY ACTIONS

Industry

Invite a friend to calculate the carbon footprint of their household

Individual actions are important, but people and organizations working together can make a real impact. I will share a carbon calculator with a friend and invite them to calculate the carbon footprint of their household.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Electricity

Watch a Video about Methane Digesters

Methane Digesters

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

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Electricity

Explore Other Electricity Solutions

All Electricity Solutions

I will spend at least 30 minutes researching other Drawdown Electricity Solutions.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Electricity

Rooftop Solar Consultation

Distributed Solar Photovoltaics

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.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Electricity

Learn More about Micro Wind

Micro Wind Turbines

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

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Building Resilience

Support a Community Garden

Multiple Solutions

I will support a community garden by volunteering, donating, or advocating for a new or existing one.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Building Resilience

Connect With A Nonprofit

Health and Education

I will connect with a local nonprofit working on issues affecting women, girls, and/or trans/nonbinary people in my community, and find out how I can get involved or become a member.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Healing & Renewal

Explore My Area

Sometimes protecting nature requires feeling connected to nature. I will invest 60 minutes in exploring and appreciating a natural area in my region, whether a forest, wetland, coastal area, or somewhere else.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health and Education

Fund Family Planning

Health and Education

I will donate to supply a community with reproductive health supplies.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Industry

Practice the 5 R's

Recycling

I will Practice the "5 Rs" — refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose, and recycle — to reduce my waste more than I can with just recycling alone.

COMPLETED 8
DAILY ACTIONS

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Keep Track of Wasted Food

Reduced Food Waste

I will keep a daily log of food I throw away during Drawdown 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 9
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
Buildings Fix Leaky Faucets

What are other easy and low-cost ways to reduce your water usage at home?

Bella Arnao 5/02/2023 10:41 PM

Water is a luxury that we often take for granted. The more we waste it, the less we're going to have of it in the future. In addition to fixing leaky faucets, I can take shorter showers, skip rinsing dishes before putting them in the dishwasher, and use the dishwasher instead of hand washing. I never realized that washing dishes by hand uses so much more water than the dishwasher. However, new dishwasher models are highly efficient and don't even need pre-rinsing. Taking cold showers and washing my face with cold water can also reduce the amount of water used, as I'm not waiting for the water to heat up.

Read More
- Venice Lupus 5/03/2023 10:27 AM
  
  Hi Bella! I agree that we do in fact take water for granted. I have also just started to notice how much water hand washing dishes takes and it gets even worse when everyone in my apartment is individually washing the dishes as well. My apartment collectively as well has started to take shorter showers and not use as much hot water and this has positively impacted us as our water bill is much lower so we are saving a little bit of money. I think being more mindful about my water usage has helped me a lot.
  
  Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use 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?

Bella Arnao 5/02/2023 10:33 PM

I have often been the culprit of wasted food. I always tend to have one bite of food left that I just cannot eat. I'm sure that this adds up in the long run. I also sometimes go through phases where I cook a lot and then get bored of my leftovers. This is obviously wasteful because it can result in a ton of food going bad. If my apartment throws out an average of $1,500 of food a year, I can't say I'm content with just sitting around and letting that happen. In addition to all the food wasted, that money can be spent on so many things! Avoiding food waste is definitely something I am working on.

Read More
- Tony Nguyen 5/03/2023 12:33 PM
  
  Hey Bella, I am also a culprit of not finishing my food. I never really thought about how much my apartment or myself waste in food but after reading your post I probably will calculate that. I try to cook every meal once rather than cooking for the entire week because I know I would definitely get bored of eating the same thing. But this also means that I end up going to the grocery store pretty often. Some of the items I randomly pick up, that I don't need for my recipe, tend to go to waste because I forget that I even got it.
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use Smaller Portions

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 from eating/serving smaller portions?

Bella Arnao 4/23/2023 11:14 PM

I have a really big appetite, and sometimes that does lead me to load up my plate with more than I can actually eat. Using a smaller plate has definitely helped me to reduce the amount of food that I leave on the plate, which helps reduce food waste overall. In addition to this environmental benefit, eating smaller portions has also made me feel better in terms of my health. Eating a large meal always makes me feel sluggish since there is so much to digest. It lowers my ability to be energetic and continue with my day. I have found that I am much happier and more productive, and I feel better when I eat smaller meals throughout the day, and it is a benefit to the planet as well!

Read More
- Miranda Chang 4/24/2023 5:50 PM
  
  Hi Bella, I also sometimes have trouble with gauging how much food I should get. For me, what works is when cooking at home, if you have too much food, you can always store it as leftovers. In fact, I actually had the problem mentioned in the prompt last week, and when I stored the excess, I had food the next day to eat, so it worked out. This also applies to restaurants -- you can ask the restaurant to bag up any remaining food. This might be a bit harder if you are not at a restaurant, but you could maybe bring containers with you. However, I agree with you that eating just the right amount makes me feel the best compared to overeating.
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Action Track: Healing & Renewal Eat Mindfully

Mindful eating is healthier for us than eating with distractions. How does your eating experience differ when practicing mindfulness?

Bella Arnao 4/23/2023 10:58 PM

In my current mindset, mindful eating is so boring! Obviously, this is very unhealthy, but using those distractions like TV, social media, etc. have been my way of escaping from the stress of school and work. If I don't get these little breaks, I continuously feel overwhelmed and lose productivity. Meals are often just time to fuel up before the next thing I have to do. I did have one meal with mindful eating today, and it felt good, but it went by so slowly. I found myself searching for something to do instead of focusing on my food, which made me anxious. I also noticed that I ate faster, but I enjoyed the food more. This will probably be something that I continue doing in the future, maybe with others. I think that I can learn to relax during mealtimes and enjoy them instead of having them be quick, stressful breaks.

Read More
- Aileen Castillo 4/24/2023 8:53 PM
  
  I feel the exact way. When I get home from a long day of work or classes, its hard not to use your phone or watch tv while eating dinner, you just want to do something to distract the mind. However, I've recently tried keeping away from these habits. It makes me feel at peace and lets me digest my day and vent out to those around me. It can be boring but keeping away those distractions, make me enjoy those little talks with my family and friends.
  
  Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Electricity Calculate the carbon footprint of my household

After you determined your carbon footprint, did you see what different choices you can make in order to reduce it?

Bella Arnao 4/23/2023 10:44 PM

I calculated the carbon footprint of my household of four people and determined that we have a carbon footprint of 4.37 tons of CO2e every month. This is such a big number!! In calculating the number, I saw the various factors that contribute to carbon emissions. The biggest one for our household was that three of us have cars that we drive regularly. This is definitely something that we (or at least I) can reduce greatly. The biggest factor that always makes me choose driving over walking or taking public transit is the time factor. However, I can definitely get up earlier and get ready faster in order to reduce my carbon emissions in this way. The other biggest factor was our diet. Since we have been discussing this in class, I have looked into other protein sources that will allow me to shift my dietary needs away from meat and dairy but still allow me to function properly. I have been talking with my roommates about all of these contributing factors and we all now know some of the things we can do to reduce our carbon footprint.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Action Track: Healing & Renewal Go for a Daily Walk

What have you noticed on your daily walks? What have you enjoyed? What infrastructure changes could make your walks more enjoyable or possible?

Bella Arnao 4/23/2023 10:38 PM

Since the start of this quarter, I have gone on several walks through Westwood and around the UCLA campus. I always walk to class, but I usually don't leave early enough to enjoy the 20-30 minutes I am walking. I have started taking time out of my day, especially in between long homework sessions, to take a break and go outside. I have enjoyed seeing the blooming flowers, lively birds and squirrels, and people enjoying the warmer weather. I have learned how important it is for me to take breaks and get out in nature, especially when I am internalizing my stress. I have definitely noticed that the city adds to my stress because of all the hustle and bustle. In a place like Los Angeles where everyone is rushing to get to their next commitment, it is hard to feel "normal" when you're taking things slow, and I often feel bad that I'm "wasting" time. In reality, taking walks has been really helpful for me and I intend to continue doing them.

Read More