Delaney Cicora

UTKSUST

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
494 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

20

minutes

spent learning

Delaney's actions

Women and Girls

Research Businesses Owned by Women, POC, or Immigrants

Sustainable Intensification for Smallholders

I will spend 20 minutes each day researching businesses owned by women, people of color, or immigrants that I can support when shopping.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Use

Forest-Friendly Foods 2

Tropical Forest Restoration

I will replace or remove the palm oil, coffee, and cocoa products in my current diet that are known to contribute to deforestation.

COMPLETED 21
DAILY ACTIONS

Participant Feed

Delaney Cicora 4/23/2020 3:30 PM
Today I completed my one time challenge of researching women-owned businesses. When I searched for women-owned businesses, the first search results weren't about companies owned by women, but companies trying to profit off of women starting businesses. Ads came up for organizations that help women-owned companies, but no companies to be found. When I searched something different, I kept seeing "companies you didn't know were owned by women!" Except the thing is I did know, because every site featured the same companies like Spanx, Build-a-Bear, and Proactiv. I decided to narrow my search results to products I would actually buy, and ended up finding some pretty cool companies. I found a list of woman-owned vegan businesses at https://vegnews.com/2018/9/5-woman-owned-vegan-businesses-that-rock and more at https://vegnews.com/2020/3/30-women-owned-vegan-businesses-to-support-today. I hadn't heard of any of these companies nor seen their products but many of them were companies that I would love to try their products. I also read about eco-friendly products created by women at https://www.womenownedlogo.com/women-owned-business/2019/4/16/10-women-owned-businesses-to-help-you-go-green. I wish women-owned companies like this got more exposure, but at least now because of this project I will go out of my way to do research before I buy so I can see what kind of amazing things I can try while supporting women entrepreneurs at the same time.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Women and Girls

Globally, women typically invest a higher proportion of their earnings in their families and communities than men. What have you done in the past to support women-owned businesses? How can you better support communities by supporting women?
Delaney Cicora 4/23/2020 3:20 PM
My mom always encouraged me to support women-owned businesses growing up but to be honest I never really thought too much about it before recently. I would always buy products based on what I was going for at that time: good price, easy access, good quality. In the past I never thought about where my money was going once it left my hands. Since I have become more environmentally active I now keep my eyes open more and shop for better reasons. I think the biggest thing I can do to better support women-owned businesses is doing research. From what I've found women-owned businesses are not the first thing to come up, but you can find them if you seek them out. In the future before I try a new product I will first see if there is a woman-owned company that can provide me that product or service. If I am going to consume things and spend my money I may as well try and put it in the hands of those who need more representation and have a more difficult time getting to the same level of corporate success as a man does.

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Delaney Cicora 4/22/2020 2:23 PM
Today I looked at the back of my bag of (vegan!) cheese and saw a picture of an Orangutan. I read what it said and the company is Rainforest Alliance Certified and any palm fruit oil that is used must follow strict standards and comes from farms in areas that do not impact orangutans. I am currently doing more research to make sure that this isn't greenwashing and that it is okay to use some palm oil as long as it is not affecting animal habitats. I guess I'll see what I find!

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- Asya Hangul 4/23/2020 12:55 PM
  I also saw this on my vegan cheese last week!!! Unfortunately, palm oil is virtually in everything from cosmetics to food, but it does bring some peace of mind to know that strict standards are set in place and production only occurs on farms in areas that do not impact orangutans.
  
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Delaney Cicora 4/14/2020 11:15 AM
As I've been going through items in my home throughout this challenge I've been finding less and less I need to replace which is a really good thing! So to continue my challenge I've started looking through the items my mom has in her household so I can inform her about palm oil and what she should find alternatives for.

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Delaney Cicora 4/12/2020 4:32 PM
Today is Easter, I've been keeping up with my challenge and every time I go to the store or eat where I can read the ingredients I have been looking for palm oil. Since I'm going vegan and not eating as much chocolate it has been easier to avoid but I still make sure it's not in any of my care products like shampoo or conditioner either!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Land Use

How difficult or easy was it to change your diet?
Delaney Cicora 3/10/2020 11:29 AM
So far it hasn't been to difficult to make changes, I've just had to be more aware while I eat/shop and make a few easy swaps. For example at the start of this challenge I had to switch brands of peanut butter because I didn't know the brand I was buying before used palm oil. Now I use a brand that doesn't.

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