Anya Kougasian

"To continue being mindful and learning about how my actions impact the Earth, striving to make the best decisions and taking steps to improve in whatever ways I can. To lead by example, encourage others to take positive steps, and help inspire positive change."

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
1,680 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

425

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

760

minutes

being mindful
UP TO

420

miles

not traveled by car
UP TO

68

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

222

pounds of CO2

have been saved
UP TO

45

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

420

miles

traveled by carpool
UP TO

10

minutes

spent outdoors

Anya's actions

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

Industry

Launch a Recycling Program

Recycling

I will set up a recycling center at my workplace or school.

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).

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Industry

Go Paperless

Recycled Paper

I will reduce the amount of paper mail that I receive by 0.11lbs (0.05kg) a day or 3.3lbs (1.6kg) a month by opting into paperless billing, ending unwanted subscriptions and opting out of junk mail.

UNCOMPLETED
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

Action Track: Healing & Renewal

Exercise at the Gym

Exercise at the gym (including aerobic & strength training) at least twice a week to build strength and reduce pain.

COMPLETED 2
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 38
DAILY ACTIONS

Action Track: Healing & Renewal

Practice Yoga

Attend Yoga classes at least twice a week to re-center and balance mind, body, and spirit.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Action Track: Healing & Renewal

Tend A Garden

I will tend to a garden, or prepare for one, each day using sustainable gardening practices.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY 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

Transportation

Try Carpooling

Carpooling

I will commute by carpool 30 mile(s) per day and avoid sending up to (___) lbs of CO2 into Earth's atmosphere.

COMPLETED 14
DAILY ACTIONS

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 35
DAILY ACTIONS

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Reduce Animal Products

Plant-Rich Diets

I will enjoy 2 meatless or vegan meal(s) each day of the challenge.

COMPLETED 35
DAILY ACTIONS

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates

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

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Learn More about Regenerative Agriculture

Conservation Agriculture, Regenerative Annual Cropping

I will spend at least 15 minutes learning about the need for more regenerative agriculture.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Mulch the Base of Trees and Plants

Farm Irrigation Efficiency

I will prevent water runoff and increase absorbency by mulching the base of trees and plants in my yard.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Support Organic Growing Methods

Nutrient Management

I will buy organic cotton and foods grown without the use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers.

COMPLETED 4
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 17
DAILY ACTIONS

Land Sinks

Forest-Friendly Foods 1

Tropical Forest Restoration

I will spend at least 15 minutes researching the impact of my diet to see how it contributes to deforestation.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Healing & Renewal

Eat Mindfully

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

COMPLETED 34
DAILY ACTIONS

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

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?

Anya Kougasian 3/26/2021 11:40 AM

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Anya Kougasian 3/19/2021 6:27 AM

I love discovering new products that support reputable causes and that aim to help people, animals, and/or the planet in some way. I recently discovered the brand Hand In Hand at Whole Foods - I bought a small hand lotion and saw on the bottle that for every product sold, they donate one bar of soap and one month of clean water to a child in need! They also use all natural ingredients, and they do not use palm oil which is good news in terms of the deforestation issue. Their products are also vegan and cruelty free...and on top of all of those great things, the Spiced Plum with Pink Peppercorn & Ginger hand lotion smells amazing and is quite moisturizing without leaving a greasy residue. A win-win all around, in my book!

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Anya Kougasian 3/18/2021 8:14 AM

I've been brainstorming some things I'd like to research and implement this year:
1. Locate an eyeglasses donation drop-off location.
2. Find out where I can recycle my used Pur water filters.
3. Contact an animal shelter to see if they accept donations of old blankets & dog beds.
4. Sign up for TerraCycle brigades for hard-to-recycle items.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Coastal, Ocean, and Engineered Sinks Smart Seafood Choices

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?

Anya Kougasian 3/16/2021 11:20 AM

I believe that my diet choices do fall within the seafood guidelines - when I do eat seafood, which is more on a once-in-a-while basis, it's mainly wild Alaskan salmon or tuna. I try to buy the Nature's Promise brand tuna which is a Certified Sustainable Seafood and is dolphin safe.

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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?

Anya Kougasian 3/16/2021 8:27 AM

One infrastructure change in my neighborhood would be creating sidewalks on more of the side streets. When walking my dog, I've noticed that some of the side streets do not have sidewalks, so we usually stick to a certain route with sidewalks, for safety reasons. Something I've also noticed is that people don't always pick up after there dogs! Now I don't know if this would help, or if people are unfortunately just lazy - but another addition which could help encourage people to pick up more would be having more public garbage bins available for people to dispose of their dog's waste.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Land Sinks Forest-Friendly Foods 1

How is your diet currently impacting deforestation? What can you do to decrease your negative impact and increase your positive impact?
Anya Kougasian 3/16/2021 6:44 AM
In researching the top causes of deforestation, I learned the following:

According to worldwildlife.org: "Beef production is the top driver of deforestation in the world's tropical forests. The forest conversion it generates more than doubles that generated by the production of soy, palm oil, and wood products (the second, third, and fourth biggest drivers) combined."

According to treehugger.com: "A few key agricultural products drive most of the deforestation, and are largely produced for export."

Beef

Soy

Palm oil

Wood pulp

Cocoa

I feel good about the fact that I do not consume beef or any red meat. However, I will have to be more conscious about the chocolate that I buy, as I know cocoa production is on the list as one of the main causes of deforestation, as well as unfair labor practices.

In addition, I have been buying my coffee from Whole Foods, which is Fair Trade.

According to foodrepublic.com: "Fair Trade USA is a non-profit organization that certifies goods like coffee, chocolate and sugar — making sure that products are made according to a set of strict standards that encourage environmental sustainability, as well as ensuring that the people involved in production were treated and compensated fairly."
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates

How does knowing the difference between use by, sell by, and best by dates empower you to make better decisions?

Anya Kougasian 3/15/2021 11:03 AM

The Sell By Date tells the store how long it can display the food for sale. It's best to buy the food before it reaches the Sell By Date and it's recommended to refrigerate once you buy it, or freeze it for longer storage.

The Use By and Best By Dates are the recommended dates for using the product in order to have the best quality. However, if it's a little bit past the Use By or Best By Date and there are no signs of mold, it doesn't have a foul smell, and it looks and tastes normal, then it should still be okay to eat. Foods can also be frozen to extend their shelf life.

The only exception to this is infant formula, which does need to be used by the Use By Date for food safety reasons.

This information is helpful since sometimes we get so caught up in discarding food items exactly when they hit the Best By Date, even though they may still be perfectly fine to eat, depending on how the item has been stored and also after doing an inspection to make sure that it looks, smells, and tastes normal and does not contain any mold.

Of course it's always best to err on the side of caution to protect your health, but I think it's equally good to use your own judgement in order to minimize food waste (and save on your grocery bill, in the process!)

It's a good habit to also check the Sell By, Use By, and/or Best By Dates when doing your grocery shopping, and to pick items that have the longest shelf life based on the recommended dates. This way you have the most time available to get the most use out of the product before it starts to go bad, and you will therefore get the most bang for your buck!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use Learn More about Regenerative Agriculture

Clean air, clean water and healthy food are just three reasons to care about regenerative agriculture. What are some other reasons? How could/does regenerative agriculture positively impact you and your community?

Anya Kougasian 3/15/2021 7:11 AM

I definitely see major health benefits to regenerative agriculture. By restoring soil quality, it provides more nutrients through the foods we consume. There are also no pesticides or synthetic fertilizers, which is much better for our overall health and the environment. It also improves the health of livestock, by allowing the animals to graze and feed on the surrounding grass and plants, instead of being confined to unnatural cages and factory-like conditions.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use Mulch the Base of Trees and Plants

Name some of the human activities impacting the health of water systems, both locally (your watershed) and globally (freshwater and oceans). What can you do to improve the health of water systems?

Anya Kougasian 3/14/2021 7:49 PM

Some human activities that impact our water systems, both locally & globally, include: littering, especially materials that are not easily biodegradable such as plastics, using harsh cleaning products that get washed down the drain, flushing unused medications down the toilet which then leach into the water systems, and using products with micro beads.

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Anya Kougasian 3/13/2021 5:51 AM

I’m so excited that the weather is starting to warm up & signs of springtime are starting to emerge...we can now walk to the store if we need to pick up a few items, instead of having to drive. We can also spend more time outside instead of being inside using up electricity either from watching TV or being on the computer. In addition, Daylight Savings will be here tomorrow, which will mean less need to turn on the lights in the evening, as we’ll have extended daylight!

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