I will spend 60 minute(s) learning about biochar and how it can help sequester carbon.
UNCOMPLETED
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 0
DAILY ACTIONS
Industry
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
Explore My Area
Sometimes protecting nature requires feeling connected to nature. I will invest 60 minutes in exploring and appreciating a natural area in my region, whether a forest, wetland, coastal area, or somewhere else.
UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Land Sinks
Buy Bamboo
Bamboo Production
When they are available, I will purchase products made from bamboo instead of wood, plastic, or metal.
UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use
Learn about Local Indigenous Practices
Indigenous Peoples' Forest Tenure
I will spend at least 60 minutes learning how local indigenous tribes are caring for the land by participating in a training, workshop, or presentation.
UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Land Sinks
Plant Trees
Temperate Forest Restoration
I will plant 1 tree(s) in my community, public parks, or backyard.
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.
I will spend at least 60 minutes learning about the need for more regenerative agriculture.
UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Action Track: Healing & Renewal
Go for a Daily Walk
Walkable Cities
I will take a walk for 20 minutes each day and take note of the infrastructure that makes walking more or less enjoyable, accessible, and possible.
COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS
Action Track: Healing & Renewal
More Fruits And Veggies
I will eat a heart healthy diet by adding 5 cups of fruits and vegetables each day to achieve at least 4 cups per day.
COMPLETED 0
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
IndustryPractice the 5 R's
What are some more "R's" you could add to your daily practice to reduce your waste?
I listened to videos about indigenous land use practices and ethnoagriculture. I was most interested in listening to Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz's Indigenous People's History of the United States and also the first little bit of Braiding Sweetgrass.
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?
Food is cultural. Many people feel that meat is healthy and there is actually a debate around whether a plant based diet is optimal for every person given a certain degree of bioindividuality. However, much smaller portions of meat are reasonable even with meat diets. What is not sustainable are huge portions of industrial meat and other industrial food products.
Food, Agriculture, and Land UseLearn More about Regenerative Agriculture
Clean air, clean water and healthy food are just three reasons to care about regenerative agriculture. What are some other reasons? How could/does regenerative agriculture positively impact you and your community?
Regenerative agriculture helps to both sequester carbon, regenerate the health of the soil and preserve topsoil. It is essential for long term human survival.
I've been eating at least two vegetarian meals. Eating this way obviously affects my health as well as climate health. It also feels good not to be causing suffering to other beings.
For this activity, I walked down to the little river at the bottom of our road. On either side of the bridge, there are several pools and the water runs over the rocks in various ways. I sat on a warm rock and put my feet in the water. (It was super hot so this felt great.) A mother came down the hill with her two daughters. They have recently moved here and it feels like they are having the quintessential Vermont experience of being hot and being able to cool off in water. I enjoy watching one leaf or stick as it travels out of sight or to just focus on one spot and see how the water makes patterns as it travels through that area. I'm also always interested in sounds, so I notice all the tones and qualities of water when it is shallow and higher pitched, deeper and lower pitched, and all the variations that are going on all at once. I feel like I can breathe deeply and let myself relax into the sound.
On my walks, I have noticed that my senses quiet down. I live on a dirt road out in Middlesex, so I am able to really sink into the sounds around me and the little things that otherwise I might not notice. I have taken my walks at different times in the day. I see when plants have a growth spurt, like the burdock over the rainy days. I've also spent time just sitting still. I walk down to the pond at night and listen to all the different kinds of frogs. There are peepers and other ones that trill and past a certain point you are out of your world and in their world and completely surrounded, like in a sound bath. I've also walked down to the our stream and listened to the trickle. This has been good for letting my nervous system calm down. Of course there are things I see when I walk, but I'm mostly interested in other senses, like hearing and even smell. I enjoy walking past the lilacs or smelling the hemlock/pine/forest smell. I think about the molecules that the plants give off. Because of where I live, I don't need to make infrastructure changes.
