Elias Youssef

VANIER Sustainability-in-Action

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
395 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

85

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

1.0

documentary

watched
UP TO

5.0

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

10

plastic containers

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

2.0

lightbulbs

replaced
UP TO

3.3

pounds of paper

have been saved

Elias's actions

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

Smaller Portions

Reduced Food Waste

I will use smaller plates and/or serve smaller portions when dishing out food.

COMPLETED 6
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 5
DAILY ACTIONS

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.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Electricity

Choose LED Bulbs

LED Lighting

I will replace 2 incandescent lightbulb(s) with Energy Star-certified LED bulbs, saving up to $14 per fixture per year.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Industry

Reduce Single-Use Disposables

Bioplastics

I will avoid buying and using 2 single-use plastics and instead replace them with durable options.

COMPLETED 5
DAILY ACTIONS

Transportation

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 2
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).

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
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?

Elias Youssef 11/01/2020 11:14 AM

Instead of looking at the society as a market and the individual as a consumer, a sustainable society bases its goals on human well-being and the health of its environmental assets. Energy consciousness, such as conservation, generation and efficiency, needs to be incorporated into every private and public infrastructure decisions. A society must understand its relationship with energy, resource capacity, efficiency and fiscal balance.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Transportation 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?

Elias Youssef 10/28/2020 10:31 AM

My transportation choices, such as taking the bus or walking, shows my engagement in society, because it implies that I am well aware of the pollution that cars and trucks produce in the environment. Compared to driving, it is much more enjoyable walking, because it allows me to capture every moment, every sight of the environment and I think it is more fun than driving.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use Composting

Producing food that goes uneaten squanders many resources—seeds, water, energy, land, fertilizer, hours of labor, financial capital. Which of these kinds of waste most motivates you to change your behavior regarding food waste? Why?

Elias Youssef 10/28/2020 10:26 AM

By wasting financial capita, we are, in my opinion, disrespecting other countries which are poor and cannot feed most of their civilians. We are leaving a lot of producing foods uneaten and are overexploiting many resources we possess here, while others are craving to have what we throw away. This motivates me to change my behavior, because this situation calls for injustice and egoism.

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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?

Elias Youssef 10/19/2020 12:19 PM

I noticed that daily walks have a great positive effect on me as i start my day. I felt more awake and attentive to what is going on around me. I enjoyed watching the leave of color fall on the ground as the neighbors start decorating their house fronts. I honestly don't think we need more infrastructure to do daily walks, all you need is a pair of legs and some will.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Industry Reduce Single-Use Disposables

What single-use items (e.g. straws, coffee cups, vegetable bags, plastic bags) do you regularly use? What could be substituted instead?

Elias Youssef 10/19/2020 12:16 PM

I most often use plastic bags when i go grocery shopping, because i don't usually carry reusable bags. Thus, i bought 2 reusable bags from Provigo and now i use them whenever i do grocery shopping. At home, i already use metal straws. Although, i have to start using reusable coffee cups, because i drink a coffee nearly everyday before my day starts.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Electricity Choose LED Bulbs

Changing lightbulbs is an excellent first step toward energy efficiency! What's next for you?

Elias Youssef 10/19/2020 12:13 PM

I live alone in the Residences Collegiales de Saint-Laurent and i changed the two light bulbs in my studio to LED bulbs. All i know is that, as soon as i go to my parents', i will change all of their light bulbs to LEDs.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Industry Go Paperless

What do you want to prioritize over material 'stuff' in your own life?

Elias Youssef 10/19/2020 12:02 PM

To go paperless, i contacted all of my subscriptions to stop sending me paper by mail. Instead, I chose the online option, this way I receive all my slips or bills through email. I really don't see why people would not do the same, since there's no difference between the online option and the traditional way. The only thing is that online would save a lot more paper and protect the environment.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use Smaller Portions

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?

Elias Youssef 10/07/2020 10:04 AM

Eating smaller portions would benefit us with a healthier diet.

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