Ecochallenge.org

Drawdown Ecochallenge

Kathleen Fortune

Students of Sheridan's Sustainability Class

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
495 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

12

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

20

people

helped
UP TO

435

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

14

zero-waste meals

consumed
UP TO

12

lightbulbs

replaced
UP TO

110

minutes

spent outdoors
UP TO

20

donations

made

Kathleen's actions

Health and Education

Research Barriers to Participation and Representation

Health and Education

I will spend at least 60 minutes learning more about the barriers to women's equal participation and representation around the world.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health and Education

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.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health and Education

Help Students Overcome Health Barriers

Health and Education

I will donate 10 Femme Kit(s) to help people who menstruate overcome health and sanitation barriers to being able to attend school.

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 10
DAILY 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 11
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 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates

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, Agriculture, and Land Use

Zero-waste Cooking

Reduced Food Waste

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

COMPLETED 11
DAILY ACTIONS

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Support Women-Owned Businesses

Sustainable Intensification for Smallholders

I will shop from women-owned business(es) today.

COMPLETED 10
DAILY ACTIONS

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Learn More about Regenerative Agriculture

Conservation Agriculture, Regenerative Annual Cropping

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

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Composting

Composting, Reduced Food Waste

I will start a compost bin where I live.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Electricity

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

Choose LED Bulbs

LED Lighting

I will replace 12 incandescent lightbulb(s) with Energy Star-certified LED bulbs, saving up to $14 per fixture per year.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Industry

Learn About & Practice Sustainable Fashion

Multiple Industry Solutions

I will learn about sustainable fashion and begin trying to practice it in my own life.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Healing & Renewal

Explore My Area

Sometimes protecting nature requires feeling connected to nature. I will invest 90 minutes in exploring and appreciating a natural area in my region, whether a forest, wetland, coastal area, or somewhere else.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Electricity

Advocate for Solar Installation

Distributed Solar Photovoltaics

I will create a plan to and advocate for solar installation at my business, apartment building, or campus.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Research and Consider Switching to a Hybrid or Electric Vehicle

Electric Cars, Hybrid Cars

I will spend at least 60 minutes researching and weighing my options to see if a hybrid or electric vehicle makes sense for my lifestyle.

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

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
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Producing food that goes uneaten squanders many resources—seeds, water, energy, land, fertilizer, hours of labor, financial capital. Which of these kinds of waste most motivates you to change your behavior regarding food waste? Why?
Kathleen Fortune 10/15/2020 11:19 AM
Wasting resources such as seeds, water, energy, land, fertilizer, hour of labor, and financial capital, all motivate me to change my behavior towards food waste. As another on of my Drawdown challenges is to make waste-free meals, I didn't think that I would have much to contribute towards a composting bin. However, I educated myself more on what materials should go in a composting bin, and learned that I usually have the following items in my household that I can switch from trashing to composting:
coffee grinds
tea bags
lettuce butts
banana peels
avocado skin
black and white newspaper
cardboard
houseplant trimmings
bread
eggshells
rotten fruits and vegetables
melon rinds
pepper seeds
apple seeds
peach pits
dead flowers
cooked plain rice
corn husks
corn cobs
old dried herbs
nut shells
used napkins
paper towel, toilet paper, or wrapping paper tubes
coffee filters
brown paper bags

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

How does knowing the difference between use by, sell by, and best by dates empower you to make better decisions?
Kathleen Fortune 10/15/2020 11:08 AM
Knowing the difference between use by, sell by, and best by dates, compared to expiration dates, has helped me be less wasteful. Just yesterday we cleaned out the pantry, and I was able to save unopened mustard, soup, and cereal that had past dates on them. When my girlfriend wanted to throw them out, I simply googled how long mustard was good for after the date printed on the container, and I was able to show her that Dijon mustard unopened is good for 2-3 years past the printed date.
As encouraging it was to learn the difference between these dates, there was a disappointing aspect of it as well. Food pantries or food collections for the poor, don't accept food with a past printed date. So for consumers who are uneducated about the date differences and throw out their food, it will simply be destroyed and wasted, instead of going to someone who is needy and hungry. There should be an initiative to educate the public more. I believe it would truly cut down on food waste in this country.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

In North America, up to 65% of food waste happens at the consumer level. Chef Steven Satterfield advocates for utilizing every part of a vegetable. How can you incorporate using an entire vegetable, including the skins, tops, and stalks during your next meal prep?
Kathleen Fortune 10/10/2020 4:06 PM
Incorporating entire vegetables when cooking is something I've been doing for years. When I first started, it was sort of like cheating... I had a pet rabbit, Max, and he loved greens. Carrot tops, beets tops, celery leaves, etc., he loved it all. Not only would he eat the parts of the vegetables that I would normally discard of at home, but I'd also go to the local supermarket and collect the throw-away greens from the workers in the product department. Max passed away quite a few years ago now, but after learning about how the less desirable parts of vegetables could be used, I continued to incorporate it in my cooking. I learned that I could use stalks from vegetables like broccoli and swiss chard, and just cook them longer to soften them to make them easier to eat. I learned how to cook tops of vegetables such as beet green and turnip greens. When using the whole beet or turnip in one meal but preparing the part differently, it was like having two different vegetables on the plate. Some seeds can be eaten, such as pumpkin seeds. I even learned how to keep certain pits and seeds such as keep avocado pits to grow plants from. Vegetable peels can be eaten when roasted, and fruit peels are great for adding flavors.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

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?
Kathleen Fortune 10/10/2020 3:39 PM
This past week I hosted an online "party" for a direct sales company, Tastefully Simple. Not only was the direct salesperson a woman, but the company is woman-owned as well. The company was founded in 1995 by the CEO, Jill Blashack Strahan. The majority of the company's sales reps are women, who start at a commission rate of 30% of their sales, but that rate increases with advancement. Multi-level-marketing businesses such as Tastefully Simple have allowed women to help supplement their family income with their sales business. The business has especially had its advantages during the Covid-19 crisis, as sales reps have been able to continue to promote and sell their products online, which has helped many women and families that are currently struggling financially. The company has also donated over $7 million to causes and organizations that support women locally and nationally.

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