Ecochallenge.org

Drawdown Ecochallenge

Kimberly Wasserman

The Carbon Killers

"Nothing is more important."

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
629 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

78

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

1,976

pounds of CO2

have been saved
UP TO

30

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

1.0

donation

made

Kimberly's actions

Action Track: Justice for the Whole Community

Support Indigenous Peoples' Land Management

Indigenous Peoples' Forest Tenure

I will donate to Native American Rights Fund, which protects tribal natural resources and environmental rights and promotes Native American Human Rights.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transport

Use Muscle Power

Multiple Transportation Solutions

I will cut my car trip mileage by only taking necessary trips, and I will only use muscle-powered transportation for all other trips.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Transport

Conduct Virtual Meetings

Telepresence

I will encourage my office to hold meetings virtually whenever possible instead of requiring travel.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Use

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

Transport

Purchase a Carbon Offset

Efficient Aviation

If I buy a plane ticket, I will purchase a carbon offset.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Reduce Animal Products

Plant-Rich Diets

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

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Learn More about Silvopasture

Silvopasture

I will spend at least 10 minutes watching videos and/or reading about the environmental benefits of silvopasture.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Explore Other Food, Agriculture, and Land Use Solutions

All Food, Agriculture, and Land Use Solutions

I will spend at least 20 minutes researching other Drawdown Food, Agriculture, and Land Use Solutions.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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.

COMPLETED 5
DAILY ACTIONS

Electricity Generation

Rooftop Solar Consultation

Distributed Solar Photovoltaics

After researching the incentives at the federal, state, utility, and local levels, I will contact a local installer/distributor for a solar panel installation consultation on my house.

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
Food Keep Track of Wasted Food

An 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?

Kimberly Wasserman 1/24/2020 5:39 PM

I've been loving saving the scraps that I can save for stock! It even gives me a purpose for onion and garlic skins! Who knew?

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Kimberly Wasserman 1/21/2020 8:23 PM

Many thanks to David for installing a more functional spinning compost bin yesterday as well as buying us 100 new pet worms (there's squirmy, and eeyore, and albert and stinky, and sylvester and edith and....). Here is a compost tip that we have appreciated since we learned it...we keep our compost in an empty large yogurt or ice cream container in the freezer. It prevents all bugs, odors and everything that makes compost gross!

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- Erin M 1/22/2020 12:52 PM
  
  BEST ever that you named your new pet worms! HA! : ) That was awesome of David to install it - and thanks for the tip, good idea!!
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Land Use Forest-Friendly Foods 2

How difficult or easy was it to change your diet?

Kimberly Wasserman 1/19/2020 8:14 PM

So, I'm pretty additcted to Chocolate, and I was thrilled to see that my favorite chocolate chip habit was free of palm oil, so I was still scarfing those puppies down. Now that I've read that the rainforest is actually deforested simply to grow the cocoa crop, but that shade grown cocoa is much better, I will be switching my brand to Dagoba, or another brand certified by the Rainforest Alliance. Also, I was pretty surprised to see all of the big companies that have been certified by the rainforest alliance! That gave me a little hope!

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- Erin M 1/20/2020 7:49 PM
  
  I'm addicted too and will be checking for Rainforest Alliance products - thank you!
  
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Kimberly Wasserman 1/15/2020 9:19 PM

I'm really struggling with how to reduce waste when I shop for groceries. We eat very little processed food, but this has made me even more aware of how much waste I'm still creating despite my efforts. I'm feeling such an internal struggle about buying things that have packaging at all. Bumping up against what I WANT and then the question "is it really worth hurting the planet for me to have those frozen cherries? Hummos? Tortillas? Cheese? Etc, etc. It's SO hard to avoid plastic!! Sometimes I decide, no, I really don't need that, and other times I buckle to my desire (the frozen cherry one is really hard for me!). I guess the next step is to reach out to the companies to encourage them to change their packaging. One bright spot was liquid laundary detergent by Seventh Generation packed in a cardboard container - not plastic! So there is hope that some companies are searching for solutioins.

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- Kimberly Wasserman 1/18/2020 9:20 AM
  
  Thanks Billie! I totally agree with you about picking fresh and freezing! We used to have a huge cherry tree in our front yard, but since we just moved here in August, our freezer is bare this winter :(. I would love to know about good fruit picking spots in order to pick and freeze for next year if anyone has any reccomendations!!
  
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- Billie Galbraith Haynes 1/15/2020 10:28 PM
  
  I too struggle with this. I really try to cut myself a break and try to focus on making responsible choices without going crazy. Of course picking local cherries and freezing them yourself is the best option. However I know at my house they are gone before winter even starts 🤪
  I wonder how to best encourage better packaging options? What would that look like for frozen foods?
  
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Kimberly Wasserman 1/10/2020 5:58 PM

We got take out from Blue Toba tonight. They are assessing if it makes sense for them to be a part of the new pilot program for take out containers, but in the meanwhile, while they can't put the food in our containers due to the health code, they said that we could bring our own containers, and they would serve us on a plate, and then we can just slip it into our containers! Yay!

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Kimberly Wasserman 1/06/2020 6:53 PM

We had Larry Giardina come from the city today to assess our house for solar energy today. Unfortunately, we learned that our house has too much shade to generate much energy, so we can't make our house solar. We did learn, however, that the city is starting a program in which multiple parties can invest in the solar set up in one structure with a special metering system, and then multiple structures can benefit from the power generated there. For instance, Scienceworks has set up a solar structure, and in 4 1/2 years (after they get the tax credit) they will be looking for other people to join through investment, and then their homes will be credited the power coming from Scienceworks. There are also private individuals looking for others to team up with them. It works best if several parties agree to do this prior to set up, due to the special meter required. He said that currently, the city mostly has family members teaming up, but anyone can do it. We're continuing to look into it.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Transport Use Muscle Power

How do your transportation choices affect your engagement in your community? Does your experience or enjoyment differ while walking, riding transit, biking or driving?

Kimberly Wasserman 1/05/2020 8:00 PM

Every Sunday for years I have planned out our weekly food menu and walked or biked with my burley bike cart to the store through every kind of weather. In Madison, I often took this trip with a friend and we would walk and shop together. It was a great opportunity to multi-task my exercise, friend time and a chore. Since I've been in Ashland, I have been using the time to talk to my parents on the phone or listen to music. I almost always love the journey - the sweat I work up pushing the cart, the time out in the weather, stopping to chat with friends and neighbors, feeling the exhilaration of biking to the beat of a good song. This routine is a gift in my life.

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- Erin M 1/06/2020 10:13 AM
  
  I LOVE this tradition - thank you so much for sharing! : )
  
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