Ecochallenge.org

Drawdown Ecochallenge

Emily Morris

UTKSUST21

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
490 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

924

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

30

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

3.3

pounds of paper

have been saved

Emily's actions

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.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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

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

Industry

Choose Recycled Paper

Recycled Paper

I will plan ahead to only use paper products made from post-consumer recycled paper for my home or office.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Building Resilience

Express My Support For Walkable Cities

Walkable Cities

I will find out who in my city makes decisions that impact neighborhood walkability and express my support for better walking infrastructure.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Learn about Local Indigenous Practices

Indigenous Peoples' Forest Tenure

I will spend at least 20 minutes learning how local indigenous tribes are caring for the land by participating in a training, workshop, or presentation.

UNCOMPLETED
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

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: Building Resilience

Support Local Food Systems

Plant-Rich Diets

I will source 20 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 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Transportation

Go for a Daily Walk

Walkable Cities

I will take a walk for 30 minutes each day and take note of the infrastructure that makes walking more or less enjoyable, accessible, and possible.

COMPLETED 27
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?

Emily Morris 4/21/2021 4:14 PM

Today is the last day of my 21 Day Challenge to determine how walkable my city is. Some parts of the city are really walkable- Downtown is very walkable which lends itself to reduced greenhouse gas emissions because people are less likely to drive around there (plus parking is terrible!) However, some parts of the city are not as walkable, like the area near my apartment. I have to drive to my grocery store that is less than a mile away- I could easily walk there. Poor sidewalk infrastructure and urban sprawl have made Knoxville has a whole a pretty unfriendly city to walk in.

Read More
Emily Morris 4/18/2021 10:32 AM

My daily challenge is going well! I am continuing to pick up trash along my walks to increase my impact. I read the City of Knoxville's 2020 Walkability report and learned that they are planning to increase the mileage of sidewalks in my area! This is great news because you can't really get anywhere and there are many people who walk along the side of the road due to no sidewalks being available. With the proposed sidewalks, I could walk to the grocery store less than a mile from my house instead of having to drive there. These sidewalks will probably take years to be completed, but it is good to know there is progress being made!

Read More
- Lucinda Young 4/18/2021 1:31 PM
  
  consider sending email or letter to Knoxville city council expressing your support for walkable cities & thanking them for increasing sidewalks. High five for considering walking to grocery store.
  
  Read More
Emily Morris 4/18/2021 10:23 AM

When I calculated my carbon emissions, I was surprised to see how much my offset would cost. I like to think of myself as a pretty environmentally friendly person. I am a pescatarian to reduce my meat consumption, and I don't fly at all. However, the cost of my offset is still pretty high. I could do better by trying to use renewable energy sources and potentially getting an electric or hybrid vehicle. These are pretty tricky solutions, but I will continue with my other smaller attempts to decrease my carbon footprint.

Read More
Emily Morris 4/06/2021 10:26 AM

I have started to pick up trash along my walks since walking through my area is the task I am doing for my 21 day challenge. There is only so far I can walk in my area since the sidewalks aren't great and don't go very far. So, to maximize my impact, I am doing trash pick ups at a park I usually walk at. Trash build up decreases walkability and people who are willing to walk may not because of the amount of trash around. These spaces need to be cleaned because often, especially in cities, areas next to sidewalks drain into storm drains when it rains and litter collects around the storm drains and gets washed into waterways.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Transportation 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?

Emily Morris 3/01/2021 2:42 PM

Today as I walked around Fountain City I noticed how inaccessible the sidewalks were. Many had cracks or the pavement had buckled. This would be hard to navigate as someone in a wheelchair or someone who was blind. In some places the sidewalk just stopped and became the road's shoulder. These things make the city unwalkable. I would be able to walk to the grocery store from my apartment if the sidewalks existed all the way down the main road. Instead, I would have to cross 4 lanes of traffic back and forth several times which is incredibly dangerous. One thing that could be done would be to repave existing sidewalks and add more sidewalks on both sides of the street to make the city walkable.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Industry Find a Local Climate-Friendly Supermarket

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?

Emily Morris 2/17/2021 7:07 PM

There were no supermarket friendly supermarkets near me. However, there are smaller stores that are refrigerant friendly near me which is great! To encourage supermarkets to reduce HFCs, you could create a petition and send it to executives!

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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?

Emily Morris 2/17/2021 7:04 PM

I definitely want to make smarter choices to reduce my carbon footprint- one choice I can make is using public transportation. I wish my city had a better public transportation system.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Industry Go Paperless

What do you want to prioritize over material 'stuff' in your own life?

Emily Morris 2/02/2021 10:30 AM

I would like to prioritize time with my significant other over stuff. Experiencing life with her is far more important than any material good. We really enjoy traveling so saving my money/resources to do that is more valuable to me than material items.

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Emily Morris 2/02/2021 10:28 AM

I moved all of my bank statements to paperless online statements to decrease my paper consumption. It was tricky figuring out how to do that, but once I got it figured out, the process was painless and will be helpful! A few less pieces of paper to recycle!

Read More