Ecochallenge.org

Drawdown Ecochallenge

Tom Kanellopoulos

VANIER Sustainability-in-Action

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
931 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

253

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

20

locally sourced meals

consumed
UP TO

136

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

40

conversations

with people
UP TO

12

lightbulbs

replaced

Tom's actions

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Support Nutrient Management

Nutrient Management

I will research and support local farmers who have made the decision to not use synthetic nitrogen fertilizers.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health and Education

Start a Social Media Campaign

Health and Education

Through social media, I will raise awareness about gender inequity in education by sharing the information found in the links below.

COMPLETED 10
DAILY ACTIONS

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Support Local Food Systems

Plant-Rich Diets

I will source 40 percent of my food 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 9
DAILY ACTIONS

Electricity

Choose LED Bulbs

LED Lighting

I will replace 6 incandescent lightbulb(s) with Energy Star-certified LED bulbs, saving up to $14 per fixture per year.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Explore Other Food, Agriculture, and Land Use Solutions

All Food, Agriculture, and Land Use Solutions

I will spend at least 20 minutes researching other Drawdown Food, Agriculture, and Land Use Solutions.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Go for a Daily Walk

Walkable Cities

I will take a walk for 35 minutes each day and take note of the infrastructure that makes walking more or less enjoyable, accessible, and possible.

COMPLETED 9
DAILY ACTIONS

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 9
DAILY ACTIONS

Industry

Find a Local Climate-Friendly Supermarket

Refrigerant Management

I will explore the interactive map in the links below to find a supermarket that does not use HFC refrigerants near my home.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Buildings

Replace Manual Thermostats

Smart Thermostats

I will replace manual thermostats with smart ones.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Sinks

Buy Bamboo

Bamboo Production

When they are available, I will purchase products made from bamboo instead of wood, plastic, or metal.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Coastal, Ocean, and Engineered Sinks

Smart Seafood Choices

Ocean Farming

I will visit seafoodwatch.org or download the app and commit to making better seafood choices for a healthier ocean.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Explore Other Transportation Solutions

All Transportation Solutions

I will spend at least 25 minutes researching other Drawdown Transportation Solutions.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Electricity

Spread the Word about Energy Alternatives

All Electricity Solutions

I will research and tell 10 people each day about the benefits of alternative energy sources like wind turbines, solar energy, geothermal energy, and methane digesters.

COMPLETED 5
DAILY ACTIONS

Land Sinks

Forest-Friendly Foods 1

Tropical Forest Restoration

I will spend at least 18 minutes researching the impact of my diet to see how it contributes to deforestation.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Justice for the Whole Community

Learn about 'Green Gentrification'

Multiple Solutions

I will spend at least 20 minutes learning about green gentrification and how it relates to city planning for climate action.

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 Sinks

How is your diet currently impacting deforestation? What can you do to decrease your negative impact and increase your positive impact?
Tom Kanellopoulos 11/24/2020 9:59 AM
After doing some specific research on my diet, I found that most foods I ate were horrible for the environment. I am a big chocolate lover and I found that cocoa causes habitat destruction across Papua New Guinea and Madagascar. This is horrible! Seeing that, I will definitely be limiting my chocolate obsession. Meat, dairy, and eggs also cause much harm to the environment as "70 percent of the cultivated soy goes to feed livestock, not people", "80 % of deforestation in Brazil can be credited to cattle ranching" and "33 % of land, globally, is dedicated to growing livestock feed". I knew that eating meat, dairy and eggs was a big issue as it was spoken about a lot but after seeing these mind-blowing stats I will definitely consider plant-based meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner when available.
https://www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/foods-that-are-eating-the-worlds-forests-and-how-to-choose-better/

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Buildings

How do you anticipate replacing your thermostats for smart ones will positively impact your life?
Tom Kanellopoulos 11/24/2020 9:50 AM
Replacing my thermostats with smart ones will positively change my life because I now know that I am doing one more positive thing for the environment. Every little action for every single person will bring a change. This change is needed. It will also make my life easier as I will have scheduled heating times and can just change the temperature in my room with the press of a button on my phone.

Read More
Tom Kanellopoulos 11/23/2020 4:13 PM
Today, I sat down with my dad and explained to him all the advantages of smart thermostats. He was really impressed with the energy savings and user-friendly experience (app on phone to control thermostat). After a few minutes of convincing, we ordered one Google Nest Thermostat for my room that we were going to test out. If my dad would like it (which I think he will), we will order 6 more to replace all of them around the house. I am greatly thankful that technology can save people money and help the environment at the same time. It is even easier to control than a regular thermostat and includes special features like scheduling heating times.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Transportation

What have you noticed on your daily walks? What have you enjoyed? What infrastructure changes could make your walks more enjoyable or possible?
Tom Kanellopoulos 11/23/2020 4:06 PM
Ever since I started going on daily walks a few weeks ago, I love it! It helps me get my mind off school work and the famous coronavirus pandemic. I am able to get some daily fresh air as I am cramped up inside my house every day which is not so great. I have been exploring the multiple parks and small forests in my community. My walks would definitely be more enjoyable if I lived in an area where there weren't so many cars driving everywhere. This would be so peaceful. I will consider going on hikes with my friends in the upcoming future as I love exploring little forests on my daily walks. While on these walks, I also see many cars passing by and think to myself where could every one of these people possibly be going. Everyone is always busy doing something!

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Action Track: Justice for the Whole Community

Cities and towns need to plan for climate change. How can your city or town make its climate action plans equitable and socially just?
Tom Kanellopoulos 11/20/2020 10:05 AM
My province just released a new green plan a couple of days ago that weighs in on climate mitigation, adaptation to climate change, etc. For example, they want to reduce GHG emissions by 37.5% below 1990 levels by 2030, achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, no sales of new gasoline-powered vehicles as of 2035, etc.
https://www.quebec.ca/en/government/policies-orientations/plan-green-economy/#c75917

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Industry

What are some more "R's" you could add to your daily practice to reduce your waste?
Tom Kanellopoulos 11/16/2020 7:25 AM
I could "Rethink" how I view natural resources as they are limited. For example, when I buy a product, I will definitely be thinking about the importance of natural resources as they influence the health of the earth. "Rot" is another daily practice that is another R to reduce waste which I already do with composting. I could possibly compost more food which would help the planet drastically! I could also "Refill" used containers with bulk products to minimize packaging.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Industry

How close is the nearest climate-friendly supermarket to your home? How could you encourage local supermarket to reduce or phase out their use of HFC refrigerants?
Tom Kanellopoulos 11/11/2020 9:53 AM
I was very deceived and embarrassed when I first opened the climate-friendly supermarket map provided by drawdown. The closest eco-friendly supermarket was located 200 kilometers away in Sherbrooke! The USA had so many more climate-friendly grocery stores located in big cities. I told myself that this was impossible for Montreal not to have any! There has to be at least one eco-friendly supermarket in the city of Montreal. I jumped right on my computer for some research! After a few minutes, I found that there were indeed 7 eco-friendly grocery stores located in Montreal. https://dailyhive.com/montreal/eco-friendly-grocery-montreal
Grocery stores such as Mega-Vrac, Epicerie Loco, Vrac&Boceaux, and Ecollegey are eco-friendly alternatives to your local Walmart or IGA. This was a great relief. However, I think that big companies should practice more climate-friendly activities within their stores (maybe replace all their HFC refrigerants with more eco-friendly ones).

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Coastal, Ocean, and Engineered Sinks

Many states and countries have advisories on eating fish. Find out what is advised for your region. Do you think your diet choices fall within these guidelines? What steps do you need to take to make sure that they do?
Tom Kanellopoulos 11/03/2020 8:05 AM
The government of Canada states that some fish species from Canada's rivers may have acquired elevated mercury levels because of the mercury released from human activity. They also state that the consumption of mercury contaminated fish may risk the young children's health as well as interfere with the development of the foetus. Additionnaly, the government of Quebec has a website called, Guide de consommation du poisson de pêche sportive en eau douce, where they post provinvial fish advisories. This website contains contamination information and a consumption guide for every fishable rivers and lakes in Quebec. It also has another option to see the recommended consumption (amount of meals per month) of fish per species.http://www.environnement.gouv.qc.ca/eau/guide/consommation.asp

Read More
Tom Kanellopoulos 10/28/2020 9:29 AM
I was eating an Aero chcocolate bar a few days a go and I always like to read the nutrition facts on the foods that I eat (not because I'm on a diet but because of curiosity). While, I was observing the Aero packaging, I noticed that the new bars say "100% sustainably sourced cocoa" on the front right side. I turned the chocolate bar over and found another little section mentionning Nestle's (company that makes Aero chocolate bars) cocoa plan. It also said that this bar is made from natural flavours and is prepared in Canada. Hence, my curiosity levels spiked. I immediately went on to Nestle's website to do some research on their sustainable actions. This would be part as my weekly research on sustainable practices by big companies. After a few interesting minutes, I found that by 2030 Nestle wants zero economical impacts from their operations and want to acheive zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 . They also care for the water (water stewardship), track their environmental performance from their Canadian factories, look for ways to reduce packaging, and offer sustainable sourcing of their food and beverages.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Electricity

Changing lightbulbs is an excellent first step toward energy efficiency! What's next for you?
Tom Kanellopoulos 10/12/2020 8:25 AM
My parents were talking about changing the all windows in my house after the winter season. I have read that high performing Energy Star windows are energy efficient. I will definetly recommend these types of windows to my parents in the near future. As for Energy Star applicances around the house, I am pretty sure that 90% of my house appliances are integrated with this energy efficient technology.

Read More