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Kimberly Peterson's avatar

Kimberly Peterson

VANIER Sustainability-in-Action

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 441 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    205
    minutes
    spent exercising
  • UP TO
    1.0
    documentary
    watched
  • UP TO
    145
    minutes
    spent learning
  • UP TO
    1.0
    donation
    made

Kimberly's actions

Land Sinks

Research Peatlands

Peatland Protection and Rewetting

I will spend 20 minutes researching the environmental benefits of peatlands and what is being done around the world to conserve and restore them.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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 8
DAILY ACTIONS

Electricity

Learn More about Wave and Tidal Energy

Ocean Power

I will spend at least 30 minutes learning more about the energy generation potential of wave and tidal energy.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Industry

Research Cement Alternatives

Alternative Cement

I will spend at least 30 minutes researching cement alternatives that reduce the carbon footprint of concrete.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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 7
DAILY ACTIONS

Coastal, Ocean, and Engineered Sinks

Learn about Biochar

Biochar Production

I will spend 20 minute(s) learning about biochar and how it can help sequester carbon.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Buildings

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

Health and Education

Learn about the Need for Family Planning

Health and Education

I will spend at least 20 minutes learning more about the need for family planning globally.

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).

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Buildings

Donate

Improved Clean Cookstoves

I will donate to nonprofits that install clean cookstoves in low-income countries.

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
    Health and Education Learn about the Need for Family Planning
    What did you learn about the need for family planning? How do the needs of different people in different places compare to each other?

    Kimberly Peterson's avatar
    Kimberly Peterson 11/25/2020 10:13 AM
    Education benefits girls immensely, especially when learning more, they have babies later in life and don’t allow themselves to be married against their will. They don’t get pregnant in their teenage years and their babies are also healthier. A huge percentage of girls also do not have the means to receive proper contraceptives to keep themselves protected. Some women even use dangerous means of contraceptives because there isn’t enough education provided to teach them what is safe for their bodies. Educated girls get higher wages that help the economy and have a larger value of themselves. Education can help girls be more aware about climate change and consider their actions to help lower their own carbon footprint. This is why family planning is important because women have a right to choose when they want to child a child if they even want one. Creating a life does create a carbon footprint so women have a right to be educated in that as well.

  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Buildings Donate
    How are environmental issues like black carbon and other emissions from cooking fires or rudimentary cookstoves also human health and social justice issues? Why do these issues matter to you?

    Kimberly Peterson's avatar
    Kimberly Peterson 11/04/2020 9:16 AM
    I decided to donate to the drawdown solution to provide clean cookstoves to low income countries because I believe everyone should have the right to be able to cook, cleanly, safely and using appliances that wouldn't harm their health. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Electricity Watch a Video about Methane Digesters
    What does your vision of a sustainable community look like? What would need to be changed in order for such vision to become reality?

    Kimberly Peterson's avatar
    Kimberly Peterson 10/28/2020 9:50 AM
    Methane digester is taking food waste, or animal manure waste, putting it into a huge tank, heating that waste to turn it into methane gas, then they pump that gas into a pipe or another chamber that then turns that gas into electricity, and thus using the leftover manure or food waste and using it as a fertilizer once the methane is extracted from it. It is a really interesting way of converting a gas that causes greenhouse affect and using it as an energy source.
  • 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?

    Kimberly Peterson's avatar
    Kimberly Peterson 10/28/2020 9:19 AM
    I went for a walk today, partially because I woke up super early and despite the snow. There were a lot of leaves on the ground and still more hanging at its last thread on the tree branches. With the large amount of trees in my area, it looked like a autumn wonderland
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Buildings Learn about 'Green Gentrification'
    Cities and towns need to plan for climate change. How can your city or town make its climate action plans equitable and socially just?

    Kimberly Peterson's avatar
    Kimberly Peterson 10/28/2020 9:17 AM
    Green Gentrification is the process of taking a polluted or poor area and adding green attractions, such as parks, green roofs, and gardens to attract higher income people and families to move in. While this is good for the environment, socially it forces the lower income residents to be displaced since property values go up and they can no longer afford the housing costs of the area. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Coastal, Ocean, and Engineered Sinks Learn about Biochar
    Can biochar provide additional benefits besides sequestering carbon?

    Kimberly Peterson's avatar
    Kimberly Peterson 10/07/2020 9:34 AM
    Biochar is charcoal rich soil that is created that way by burying wastes such as peaunut shells, and wood scraps that is baked deep in the soil since there is no oxygen, gas and oil. The good thing about biochar is that it retains most of the carbon and releases it super slowly, so it creates a lot less carbon footprint. This charcoal is stable in carbon, therefore can be used as cleaner energy than regular charcoal.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Land Sinks Research Peatlands
    Much of Indonesia's peatlands have been drained so they could be replaced with palm oil or pulp and paper plantations. How can you make choices that help to protect peatlands, even if you live far away from one?

    Kimberly Peterson's avatar
    Kimberly Peterson 10/06/2020 7:56 PM
    Peat land is a mixture of land and water, and peat is a muddy substance that is dead plant matter, decomposing for many years. They cover only 3% of the earth, yet their carbon storage is huge, 500-600 gigatons of carbon. Peat is 50% carbon in their matter so it super important to preserve them so that they don't contribute to greenhouse gasses. Peat lands are important for biodiversity, providing clean water, and help minimize the risk of flooding.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Industry Research Cement Alternatives
    Concrete is a good example of a material that most of us encounter every day, but its carbon footprint may not be obvious. What other everyday materials might have a large carbon footprint? How can you find out more?

    Kimberly Peterson's avatar
    Kimberly Peterson 10/05/2020 7:29 PM
    I have learned that conventional concrete contribute 5 % of annual carbon emissions in the world. The main problem is the clinker, which creates a lot of emissions when heated. Engineers studied that you can use ground bottle glass, or better yet fly ash. Fly ash is the fine particles coming from burning coal in power plants. By using fly ash, we can also reduce the waste coming from power plants. However, it is costly and the sodium activator is needed for the fly ash, but it creates emissions as well. So engineers have found a perfect ration, which is 80% limestone and 5% fly ash to keep waste as a minimal and it is more sustainable than conventional cement, as well as just as strong after a 7 day cure. If we find a substitute for the clinker, we could avoid 440 million tons of carbon emissions per year.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Electricity Learn More about Wave and Tidal Energy
    What did you learn about wave and tidal energy? How do they compare to other energy sources?

    Kimberly Peterson's avatar
    Kimberly Peterson 10/05/2020 2:54 PM
    I learned that tidal and wave energy use the flow of the ocean and converting the kinetic energy of the waves into electricity. However, tidal power is slow going in progression due to the fact that we are still struggling to engineer the right machinery it takes to withstand the harsh conditions of the salt water, debris and the maintenance required to keep the machinery in top shape.  You also need a very specific site for the installation, in which there must be at lest 5 meters of water between the low tides and high tides along the coastlines in order to create electricity. This is also a reason as to why wave and tidal energy is the most expensive. 
    There are 2 types of tidal technologies. One is a dam-like machine called a tidal barrage, which is the most efficient since it can cover the most area. The other two is a tidal fences which looks like a turn style and the last is a tidal turbines that looks like a wind turbine. 

  • Kimberly Peterson's avatar
    Kimberly Peterson 9/23/2020 11:45 AM
    I chose to go for a walk daily for a half hour.  I live in NDG, on a populated street, so the noise pollution was high with all the cars that drive by. However, luckily within five minutes, I was in a more residential neighborhood that was more quiet. I also live close by a few parks, so I enjoyed walking in a few of them, including the Loyola campus of Concordia University. The area there is beautiful. Ndg has a charm in which you can be in a high traffic area, then you simply cross a few street and everything is more quiet and more residential. Everything is accessible too. The grocery store are only ten minutes away, so as the deppaneurs and drugs stores so walking isn't an issue. And if I don't like the look of an area, it is super easy to simply walk to another street and enjoy the scenery there. I could even walk downtown, which is approximately an hour walk if I wanted to.