I will donate to Native American Rights Fund, which protects tribal natural resources and environmental rights and promotes Native American Human Rights.
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.
UNCOMPLETED
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 7
DAILY ACTIONS
Action Track: Healing & Renewal
More Fruits And Veggies
I will eat a heart healthy diet by adding 2 cups of fruits and vegetables each day to achieve at least 4 cups per day.
COMPLETED 6
DAILY ACTIONS
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.
UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Action Track: Building Resilience
Forest-Friendly Foods 2
Tropical Forest Restoration
I will replace or remove the palm oil, coffee, and cocoa products in my current diet that are known to contribute to deforestation.
COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS
Action Track: Healing & Renewal
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.
COMPLETED 5
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.
UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Transportation
Explore Other Transportation Solutions
All Transportation Solutions
I will spend at least 30 minutes researching other Drawdown Transportation Solutions.
UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
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 8
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 9
DAILY ACTIONS
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
Learn About & Practice Sustainable Fashion
Multiple Industry Solutions
I will learn about sustainable fashion and begin trying to practice it in my own life.
UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Buildings
Learn about the Legacy of Redlining
Multiple Solutions
I will spend at least 30 minutes learning about the legacy of redlining and how city planning and environmental justice issues are interconnected.
UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Health and Education
Fund Family Planning
Health and Education
I will donate to supply a community with reproductive health supplies.
UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Buildings
Install a Low-Flow Showerhead
Low-Flow Fixtures
I will save up to 15 gallons (56 L) of water a day or 450 gallons (1,680 L) a month by installing a low-flow showerhead.
COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Industry
Listen to the Planet Money Podcast – “Sell Me Your Climate Bombs”
Planet Money recently interviewed the co-founders of Tradewater to learn about the dangerous impact that old refrigerants have on our environment. I will listen to the podcast to learn more about this necessary solution in fighting a climate crisis.
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
Buildings
Learn about 'Green Gentrification'
Multiple Solutions
I will spend at least 30 minutes learning about green gentrification and how it relates to city planning for climate action.
UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
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.
UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Land Sinks
Learn More about Silvopasture
Silvopasture
I will spend at least 30 minutes watching videos and/or reading about the environmental benefits of silvopasture.
UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Health and Education
Learn about the Need for Family Planning
Health and Education
I will spend at least 30 minutes learning more about the need for family planning globally.
UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Transportation
Purchase a Carbon Offset
Efficient Aviation
If I buy a plane ticket, I will purchase a carbon offset.
COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
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 10
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?
REFLECTION
QUESTION
TransportationPurchase a Carbon Offset
A round-trip flight from New York City to Los Angeles emits just over 1.5 tons of CO2—per person. That’s a lot of carbon! What can you do to reduce the number of flights you take per year?
I can vacation locally such as for snowboarding trips - instead of going out west to Colorado or Utah, I can look into similar quality mountains on the east coast that I can drive to. It was super easy to buy a carbon offset by the way! I purchased a flight for a bachelorette weekend in Palm Springs a few months ago. United Airlines has a carbon offset website that only needs the airport names to calculate the distance and will give you the price to offset it, you can always do it at a later date!
When family planning focuses on healthcare provision and meeting the expressed needs of women, it results in empowerment, equality, and well-being, and the benefits to the planet are side effects. Why is family planning an important civil rights consideration?
Civil rights are guarantees of equal social opportunities and protections under the law regardless of race, religion, etc. Therefore, Black and brown women, who are often the least supported in all aspects of civil rights, deserve and NEED to be considered when discussing family planning such as access to birth control, literature, therapy, abortion, etc.
I think a sustainable water future looks like rainwater collection/filtration tanks in each town and making efficient fixtures a part of any new build, even low-income housing. What needs to change is lawmakers/city official's attitudes toward sustainable infrastructure. All they see is a budget, but climate change cannot not wait for a bigger budget to be approved.
With the days getting warmer, I'll be able to bundle a few of my actions together for maximum efficiency: take a walk during lunch time, then eat a fruit on my porch undistracted by technology. Spring is right around the corner!
Food, Agriculture, and Land UseReduce Animal Products
Why 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?
That's a really thoughtful question and it really made me think - meat takes a lot of resources to produce, therefore it is one of the more expensive sources of protein. In countries where people have more discretionary income, they can afford to "treat themselves" more often to more nutrient-rich foods such as meat. I find it interesting though that the "Vegan Movement" in the United States is played up by our society as if this is new information when third world countries have been highly vegan for most of their history. The bottom line is that meat is a luxury and often an unhealthy one. We know that red meat in excess is not good for our hearts. In regards to the planet, meat production is one of the largest pollutants and uses up a lot of land that could be forests/habitats instead.
While 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?
Other benefits of eating/serving smaller portions is mindful eating. When we actively think about how much we need to support our bodies, we realize that we don't need that extra serving, no matter how tasty. If we can do that with our regular home-cooked meals, we train ourselves to eat smaller portions when we eat out as well (which is usually the more greasy, salt, fatty foods).
My team and I spoke today about how we don't take enough of a lunch break, we just eat at our desk and continue checking our emails. Given the amount of stress that the pandemic has put on us, eating mindfully is one of the few things we can do to de-stress. So today, we ate together (yet physically distant) and enjoyed each other's company for the first time in many months. I would like to continue this, especially with the spring time coming - I commit myself to take a proper lunch break and eat outside on my porch alongside my dog to take a mental break and recharge my batteries to get through the rest of the day.
It's been a few weeks since I've gone on a proper walk. Since I had to come into work today, I walked to the train station and then from Penn to the office. I enjoyed walking in the early morning sun, which I haven't really been able to appreciate for almost a year now. In regards to infrastructure, the sidewalks and traffic signs were all adequate to make my walks possible.
