Ecochallenge.org

Drawdown Ecochallenge

Christina Polichronopoulos

VANIER Sustainability-in-Action

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
948 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

1,305

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

15

public officials or leaders

contacted
UP TO

86

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

47

pounds of CO2

have been saved
UP TO

480

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

73

miles

traveled by bike

Christina's actions

Coastal, Ocean, and Engineered Sinks

Advocate for Wetland Protection

Coastal Wetland Protection

I will write 4 letter(s) or email(s) per day to a public official or representative to advocate for policies that protect wetlands.

COMPLETED 6
DAILY ACTIONS

Action Track: Justice for the Whole Community

Learn about Local Indigenous Practices

Indigenous Peoples' Forest Tenure

I will spend at least 120 minutes learning how local indigenous tribes are caring for the land by participating in a training, workshop, or presentation.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Justice for the Whole Community

Learn about the Legacy of Redlining

Multiple Solutions

I will spend at least 240 minutes learning about the legacy of redlining and how city planning and environmental justice issues are interconnected.

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

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Composting

Composting, Reduced Food Waste

I will start a compost bin where I live.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Reduce Animal Products

Plant-Rich Diets

I will enjoy 3 meatless or vegan meal(s) each day of the challenge.

COMPLETED 23
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 14
DAILY ACTIONS

Transportation

Go by Bike

Bicycle Infrastructure

I will commute by bike 5 mile(s) each day and avoid sending up to (___) lbs of CO2 into Earth's atmosphere.

COMPLETED 8
DAILY ACTIONS

Coastal, Ocean, and Engineered Sinks

Learn about Biochar

Biochar Production

I will spend 120 minute(s) learning about biochar and how it can help sequester carbon.

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?

Christina Polichronopoulos 11/24/2020 9:11 PM

For the short period of time before the heavy snowfall this week I got a chance to go biking again and I really enjoyed it. The biking challenge was really fun and I am excited to take up biking once again in the spring and summer to get around. It's a decent workout and is really nice relaxing activity at the end of a long day. Until the snow melts in the spring, I will really miss my bike :(. This summer/fall (before the lockdown) I biked over 300km (including before the Ecochallenge) around Montreal to get to appointments, social distancing hangouts with friends, to run errands and to exercise. And with all the new bike lanes in Montreal being built, next summer it'll be even easier to bike around the island!!

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Christina Polichronopoulos 11/24/2020 9:02 PM

Update on my grandparent's composting system I set up for them as one of my challenges: it's going great! My grandmother hasn't put any plastic in the brown bin since the potato bag incident, and both of my grandparents have been sorting their waste on their own and have gotten used to the system. This is a really big accomplishment considering my grandparents did not know that the world has a huge waste problem. I have also been educating them on how some things decompose faster than others, which they don't totally understand. I found that telling them that plastic kills baby animals in nature helps them understand why it is bad to litter and use single use plastics. I am really proud of them and I am excited to use their compost to plant their garden in the spring.

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Christina Polichronopoulos 11/24/2020 8:54 PM

One of my challenges is to write letters/emails to organizations and government officials in order to pressure them into making more eco-friendly choices and I have really been enjoying it. My most recent email was to the Bureau of Land Management concerning the Trump administration's interest in extracting oil from the arctic Wildlife Refuge. If anyone is interested in checking out why the Trump administration shouldn't pass a bill to extract oil in this region, I recommend the book Arctic Voices: Resistance at the Tipping Point by Subhankar Banerjee, reading up on the issues through the non-profit organization Protect the Arctic or checking out what I wrote in my letter template:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/10TFrYbn9or-nUf0jngv-ELV6vQUeOYRMHuaNSTCXHAE/edit?usp=sharing
If you plan to send the email, send it through Protect the Arctic's website as the Bureau of Land Management is only accepting written letters at the moment and the people at Protect the Arctic will be sending a physical letter for each submission:
https://www.protectthearctic.org/take-action-to-protect-the-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge

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Christina Polichronopoulos 11/24/2020 8:38 PM

Daily walks have really kept me sane throughout online school. I am glad I took on the challenge because it gives me time to think and be out in the woods for a bit and away from screens. I was getting really bad migraines for a while (especially during exams) and I found that going on a long walk outdoors with my dog and then taking a warm shower really helped ground me and ease my headaches. I haven't been updating my actions as much as I used to, but I have been keeping up with this challenge out of habit and it has really helped me!!

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Christina Polichronopoulos 11/24/2020 8:35 PM

My goal was to slowly shift to becoming vegan this semester. So far it has been really great! I have learnt a lot and I have started to appreciate what I put into my body more. Most days I eat completely vegan meals, however I still eat eggs and occasionally cheese, which I am slowly cutting back on. Cheese is definitely one of the hardest things for me to cut back on. I absolutely love it, especially feta cheese. I am looking into alternative cheese options but I haven't quite found a brand/type I am really into yet.

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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?

Christina Polichronopoulos 10/14/2020 7:43 PM

I have spent a lot of time outdoors in the woods with my dog and I have really been enjoying it. I really enjoy getting out of the home since the pressure of online school can be really overbearing at times and going on long walks has really been a great way for me to get grounded. I have noticed the slow progression of the seasons changing (summer-fall) so it's really cool to go from lush green forest to bright colourful foliage. I am really beginning to appreciate all the colours and the cool weather (which I didn't appreciate as much before, I would always dread the end of summer). I even found an abandoned cabin once which was really cool. When I went on walks in the city, I noticed how little green space there was. Roof gardens, more park space, etc should definitely be prioritized in Montreal city planning for sustainable infrastructure, more shade/cooler outdoor spaces in summer and just overall a more green city which would create a nicer outdoor environment for everyone.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Action Track: Justice for the Whole Community Learn about Local Indigenous Practices

What did you learn about indigenous peoples' land management that you can apply in your own life?

Christina Polichronopoulos 10/14/2020 7:33 PM

I don't really have forests that I can manage, but I realized that I should just let whatever green space I have just grow out. I shouldn't mow my grandparents lawn. Instead I should be encouraging native plants to grow so that I can support local biodiversity and attract animals/insects. I could also plant things that attract pollinators (which are crucial to the biodiversity equilibrium of an ecosystem): blackberry, blueberry, cranberry, coneflower, aster, etc.

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Christina Polichronopoulos 10/14/2020 7:20 PM

One of my Ecochallenges is to go vegan by the end of the semester, and I think this will actually be feasible and have a good environmental impact because I intend to go live with my family in Mexico this semester and next semester if school continues to be taught online. In Mexico, the fruits and vegetables are all locally grown and the local markets sell produce in season year round (that is cheaper than the commercial foods), so it will be financially feasible for me to be vegan and not worry about the environmental impact of having my commercial avocadoes travel internationally and get picked by underpaid and mistreated migrant workers from California! Overall, it is more ethical for me to be vegan in Mexico and I am excited to not be sad every time I eat fruits and veggies grown abroad :).

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Action Track: Justice for the Whole Community Learn about the Legacy of Redlining

How does city planning and design relate to equity and climate change?

Christina Polichronopoulos 10/14/2020 7:14 PM

City planning is crucial in creating green spaces and obtaining equitable distribution of wealth in communities. Ultimately, segregating communities based on financial status/class forces a disproportionate number of immigrants and people of colour into under-funded, low-income neighborhoods where it is hard to obtain loans from banks, i.e. mortgages, insurance, loans for projects, etc. As a result, the bulk of capital that flows into redlined areas is for industrial, manufacturing, or high-rise public housing projects. So as rich white neighborhoods have green space and can afford sustainable/environmentally friendly building renovations, redlined areas contribute to climate change and impoverish communities.
Integrating city green space planning and integrating neighborhoods so that these areas do not get redlined is a necessity so that lower-income individuals aren't discriminated against and so that we can create environmentally sustainable communities.

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Christina Polichronopoulos 10/07/2020 5:31 PM

I started a compost bin for my grandparents! I have been having long discussion with them about what composting is and the ecological benefits of composting and have finally convinced them to use one. I am teaching them how to properly compost and explaining to them what things decompose at what rate so they know to not put plastics and styrofoam into the bin. Explaining this to my grandfather has also discouraged him from throwing plastic candy rappers out of the car while he drives (something I have been trying to get him to stop doing for a long time).
They are still learning and make mistakes (my grandmother threw a paper bag that had plastic mesh on one side that she did not remove and so I had to explain to her that she has to take off the mesh before composting the paper), but they are becoming more accustomed to composting and have been asking me questions about where to dispose of certain items when unsure (progress!).

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