Ecochallenge.org

Drawdown Ecochallenge

October 1 - October 31, 2023

Lizzie Cox

KEEN US

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
1,118 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

33

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

12

miles

not traveled by car
UP TO

12

miles

traveled by bus
UP TO

4.4

pounds of CO2

have been saved
UP TO

3.3

pounds of paper

have been saved
UP TO

834

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

1.0

women, BIPOC, and immigrant-owned businesses

supported
UP TO

120

minutes

spent outdoors
UP TO

60

minutes

spent learning

Lizzie's 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 25
DAILY ACTIONS

Health and Education

Support Businesses Owned by Women, POC, or Immigrants

Sustainable Intensification for Smallholders

I will spend 30 minutes researching and shopping from 1 businesses owned by women, people of color, or immigrants.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Use Public Transit

Public Transit

I will use public transit 3 miles per day and avoid sending up to (___) lbs of CO2 into Earth's atmosphere.

COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS

Coastal, Ocean, and Engineered Sinks

Cook With Seaweed

Seaweed Farming

I will use seaweed in a new recipe.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Reduce Animal Products

Plant-Rich Diets

I will enjoy 1 meatless or vegan meals each day of the challenge.

COMPLETED 27
DAILY ACTIONS

Land Sinks

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 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Transportation

Improve a Bus Stop

Public Transit

I will improve a bus stop in my neighborhood by posting the stop schedule, adding seating or shelter, adding art or flowers, picking up litter, or implementing some other small improvement.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Sinks

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.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Industry

Research the Climate Impact of Refrigerants

Refrigerant Management

I will spend 30 minutes learning about the climate impact of refrigerants and what climate-friendly refrigerants are by using the links below.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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

Communicate With My Elected Officials

Onshore Wind Turbines, Offshore Wind Turbines

I will write or call 3 elected officials telling them not to support fossil fuel subsidies and instead support wind energy generation.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Industry

Find a Local Climate-Friendly Supermarket

Refrigerant Management

I will explore the interactive map in the links below to find a supermarket that does not use HFC refrigerants near my home.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Electricity

Choose LED Bulbs

LED Lighting

I will replace 1 incandescent lightbulbs with Energy Star-certified LED bulbs, saving up to $14 per fixture per year.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Electricity

Learn More about Biomass

Biomass Power

I will spend at least 20 minutes learning more about the energy generation potential of biomass.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Industry

Learn About & Practice Sustainable Fashion

Multiple Industry Solutions

I will learn about sustainable fashion and begin practicing it in my own life.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Sinks

Forest-Friendly Foods 1

Tropical Forest Restoration

I will spend at least 30 minutes researching the impact of my diet to see how it contributes to deforestation.

UNCOMPLETED
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
Coastal, Ocean, and Engineered Sinks

What recipe did you make and how did it turn out? Will you cook with seaweed again?
Lizzie Cox 10/27/2023 8:17 AM
I made a salmon sushi bake that had crushed up seaweed in the rice. I would definitely cook with it again especially with roasted seaweed.

Read More
- Tina Summers 10/30/2023 2:31 PM
  That sounds super good! I want to get that recipe from you!!! :)
  
  Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Industry

What did you learn about the climate impact of refrigerants? How do supermarkets contribute to this impact?
Lizzie Cox 10/18/2023 9:04 AM
I learned that that refrigerants have a 1,000 to 9,000 greater impact than CO2 emissions to negatively affect greenhouse gases. Supermarkets due to very little regulations around refrigerants have refrigerators that are leaking HFCs in the pipe system, running inefficiently, or are not disposing of no longer working refrigerators properly.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Transportation

How can you advocate for transportation systems which minimize environmental impact while also meeting human needs?
Lizzie Cox 10/18/2023 8:54 AM
You can advocate for additions to bus routes or number of buses or trains to help people have more reliable and frequent transit making them more likely to use the public transit, but also advocate for the additions to be using alternative clean energies.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Industry

What do you want to prioritize over material 'stuff' in your own life?
Lizzie Cox 10/18/2023 8:51 AM
I want to prioritize experiences and mental space not surrounding clutter or dealing with my material stuff. I find myself spending so much time in my home keeping track of the stuff or constantly decluttering and in turn not utilizing some of my stuff as much as I should in terms of cost per use because it isn't visible. Being more intentional with my things and when I acquire new things will help give my mind more space for experiences and activities I like to do.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Transportation

How has your access to various kinds of transportation throughout your life influenced your current attitudes about transportation and your transportation behavior?
Lizzie Cox 10/18/2023 8:43 AM
Living abroad for a few months at a young age helped me realize how convenient and cost effective public transportation is when done efficiently. In the US, it hasn't reached the convenience level of other places but I think that experience I had has made me more willing and patient to try public transit or even just walk to my destination as mush as I can in Portland.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

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?
Lizzie Cox 10/18/2023 8:40 AM
In general, meat is more expensive to produce in terms of money and resources needed, so as your discretionary income rises you can afford to eat more meat. The resources it takes to produce meat at the rate people in the world want to consume it as the world gets richer is not a natural amount of production and causing strain on all types of resources causing pretty bad environmental impacts in terms of co2 production, soil health, etc.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Land Sinks

How can spending more time outdoors enhance your sense of place -- your deep knowledge of and appreciation for your surroundings?
Lizzie Cox 10/15/2023 3:16 PM
Being outdoors for me is meditative especially because I don't bring headphones. Just being outdoors and taking in everything in with no distractions not only helps me appreciate what we have in terms of public lands but also helps decrease my anxiety levels.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Industry

How close is the nearest climate-friendly supermarket to your home? How could you encourage local supermarket to reduce or phase out their use of HFC refrigerants?
Lizzie Cox 10/12/2023 4:57 PM
I was surprised that the closest HFC free supermarket is a whole foods in Lake Oswego around 10 miles away. I didn't expect there to only be one HFC free supermarket in the entire Portland metro area at least with the data provided. I would be interested to know if its just that companies haven't submitted their data and there are more or if that is fully representative of Portland.

Read More
- Jeanne Poirier 10/12/2023 8:57 PM
  Kudos on the sleuthing work Lizzie! May you find more -
  
  Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Land Sinks

How difficult or easy was it to change your diet?
Lizzie Cox 10/09/2023 1:37 PM
So far it has not been too hard to change my diet since I don't drink coffee usually. I have had to be a lot more conscientious of whether of not products I use have palm oil in them which has been good exercise. Cocoa has impacted me the most that's for sure.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Health and Education

Which businesses that you researched are you excited to support? Are you already supporting businesses that you didn't know were owned by women, people of color, or immigrants?
Lizzie Cox 10/04/2023 2:41 PM
I am excited to support some more restaurants in my area especially food carts like Tokyo Sando, Bing Mi, and Akadi.

Read More