Samuel Pauley-DeLapp
4/02/2020 6:50 PM
$1500 a year is enough to plant 1500 trees a year, to get solar panels after a few years, or buy 7500 points in Drawdown Ecochallenge!
Samuel Pauley-DeLapp
POINTS TOTAL
- 0 TODAY
- 0 THIS WEEK
- 716 TOTAL
participant impact
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UP TO45minutesspent exercising
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UP TO6.0milesnot traveled by car
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UP TO27meatless or vegan mealsconsumed
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UP TO-0.1pounds of CO2have been saved
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UP TO6.0milestraveled by bus
Samuel's actions
Electricity Generation
Communicate With My Elected Officials
Onshore Wind Turbines, Offshore Wind Turbines
I will write or call 5 elected official(s) telling them not to support fossil fuel subsidies and instead support wind energy generation.
Food
Reduce Animal Products
Plant-Rich Diets
I will enjoy 1 meatless or vegan meal(s) each day of the challenge.
Transport
Research and Consider Switching to a Hybrid or Electric Vehicle
Electric Cars, Hybrid Cars
I will spend at least 30 minutes researching and weighing my options to see if a hybrid or electric vehicle makes sense for my lifestyle.
Transport
Use Public Transit
Public Transit
I will use public transit 6 mile(s) per day and avoid sending up to (___) lbs of CO2 into Earth's atmosphere.
Buildings and Cities
Go for a Daily Walk
Walkable Cities
I will take a walk for 15 minutes each day and take note of the infrastructure that makes walking more or less enjoyable, accessible, and possible.
Food
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.
Food
Composting
Composting, Reduced Food Waste
I will start a compost bin where I live.
Food
Smaller Portions
Reduced Food Waste
I will use smaller plates and/or serve smaller portions when dishing out food.
Action Track: Healing & Renewal
Eat Mindfully
I will eat all of my meals without distractions, e.g., phone, computer, TV, or newspaper.
Action Track: Healing & Renewal
More Fruits And Veggies
I will eat a heart healthy diet by adding 10 cups of fruits and vegetables each day to achieve at least 4 cups per day.
Action Track: Healing & Renewal
Tend A Garden
I will tend to a garden, or prepare for one, each day using sustainable gardening practices.
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.
Action Track: Healing & Renewal
Explore My Area
Sometimes protecting nature requires feeling connected to nature. I will invest 30 minutes in exploring and appreciating a natural area in my region, whether a forest, wetland, coastal area, or somewhere else.
Electricity
Encourage my company and/or organization to measure and manage their carbon footprint
Organizations have a responsibility to make sustainable business decisions. To understand how to improve sustainable practices, it’s important to start with understanding the current impact. I will share the Tradewater Business Carbon Calculator with my organization.
Electricity
Choose Renewable Energy or Purchase Renewable Energy Credits
Onshore Wind Turbines, Utility-Scale Solar Photovoltaics
I will sign up for my utility company's clean/renewable energy option. If my utility does not offer one, I will purchase Renewable Energy Credits to match my usage.
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?
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REFLECTION QUESTIONFood Keep Track of Wasted FoodAn average American throws out about 240 lbs of food per year. The average family of four spends $1,500 a year on food that they throw out. Where would you rather use this money?
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REFLECTION QUESTIONFood CompostingProducing 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?
Samuel Pauley-DeLapp 4/01/2020 7:48 AMPerhaps wasted water is something that bothers me the most. Water is something that seems so abundant and plentiful... until it isn't. Though there's lots of water on Earth, near all of it is unusable, and even the clean water we do have isn't evenly distributed. It seems wrong to use thousands of gallons of water to produce food that gets thrown away while many people struggle to find water to drink. -
REFLECTION QUESTIONFood Smaller PortionsWhile dishing food out, we tend to load our plates with more than we need. Using smaller plates helps to mitigate this. Aside from the environmental benefits, what other benefits might come from eating/serving smaller portions?
Samuel Pauley-DeLapp 4/01/2020 7:43 AMEating food is not always good for our health—even eating too much of 'heathy foods' such as greens can have adverse effects, but the real problem is eating lots of less nutritious foods: red meat, white flour products, etc. When we're given a large serving of good food, we tend to eat more even if we're not so hungry. So large servings can adversely impact health. -
REFLECTION QUESTIONFood Reduce Animal ProductsWhy do people in richer countries eat more meat than people in other places? How does eating more meat affect our bodies, our planet, and other people?
Samuel Pauley-DeLapp 3/29/2020 8:58 AMMeat is intrinsically inefficient. An animal consumes far more calories over its life than humans get out of it, meaning it's far more efficient to just eat plants grown on the land the animal would have eaten off of; less is wasted. This also makes meat more expensive per calorie than plants because it uses more land and more water. Thus, in developing countries where there may be less disposable income, it is cheaper to eat plants. Since excessive water and land use is bad for the planet, eating meat impacts the environment in addition to it generally being less heathy.