Ecochallenge.org

Drawdown Ecochallenge

October 1 - October 31, 2023

Lauren Papke

Oregon State University SUS 304

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
297 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

23

miles

not traveled by car
UP TO

23

miles

traveled by carpool
UP TO

8.7

pounds of CO2

have been saved
UP TO

80

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

30

minutes

spent outdoors
UP TO

300

minutes

spent learning

Lauren's actions

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

Try Carpooling

Carpooling

I will commute by carpool 2 miles per day and avoid sending up to (___) lbs of CO2 into Earth's atmosphere.

COMPLETED 6
DAILY ACTIONS

Buildings

Explore Other Buildings Solutions

All Buildings Solutions

I will spend at least 60 minutes researching other Drawdown Buildings Solutions.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Sinks

Forest-Friendly Foods 1

Tropical Forest Restoration

I will spend at least 60 minutes researching the impact of my diet to see how it contributes to deforestation.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health and Education

Research Barriers to Participation and Representation

Family Planning and Education

I will spend at least 60 minutes learning more about the barriers to women's equal participation and representation around the world.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Sinks

Explore My Area

Sometimes protecting nature requires feeling connected to nature. I will invest 30 minutes in exploring and appreciating a natural area in my region, whether a forest, wetland, coastal area, or somewhere else.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Research and Consider Switching to a Hybrid or Electric Vehicle

Electric Cars, Hybrid Cars

I will spend at least 30 minutes researching and weighing my options to see if a hybrid or electric vehicle makes sense for my lifestyle.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Industry

Practice the 5 Rs

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 4
DAILY ACTIONS

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Learn About Cattle Farming

Improved Cattle Feed; Improved Manure Management

I will spend 60 minutes researching cattle feed and manure management, or visiting a dairy farm to learn about their farming practices.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

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 4
DAILY ACTIONS

Industry

Using Sustainable Products

I will spend at lease (__) minutes researching ways to be more sustsainable with products I use everyday.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Electricity

Learn More about Biomass

Biomass Power

I will spend at least 30 minutes learning more about the energy generation potential of biomass.

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
Land Sinks

How is your diet currently impacting deforestation? What can you do to decrease your negative impact and increase your positive impact?
Lauren Papke 10/11/2023 10:53 PM
Meat is a huge part of my diet. It has been shown that eating a more plant-based diet can help with deforestation. I try my best to eat a lot of plants, but I can not stray from meat. At home, most of my meat is locally sourced and/or homegrown which helps create a positive impact by supporting local ranchers or eating something home grown from me. We also do not consume palm or olive oil. My mom is allergic to olive so we mainly use avocado oil. I feel like my diet now is not super dangerous when it comes to deforestation.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Health and Education

What are some of the barriers that exist to women's equal participation and/or representation in your community?
Lauren Papke 10/11/2023 10:48 PM
One of the biggest barriers I read about was equal pay. Women are still fighting to receive pay that is equal to their male counterparts. I recently completed undergraduate research and after spending some time in the science field, I can see where women are still fighting for recognition in science and STEM all together. Women have to fight against gender bias when it comes to their abilities and skills in STEM.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Buildings

What did you find out? What is the most interesting fact you learned?
Lauren Papke 10/11/2023 10:41 PM
I learned a lot about energy efficiency and how that portrays to buildings. It made me think about when I lived on campus and how many buildings were left with lights on all night and science buildings and how much power they used. I thought it was super interesting how "green" buildings can produce more energy than they consume and how that is even possible.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Transportation

List some of the places you frequent often (work, grocery store, natural areas). Could you choose one or two days a week to schedule driving with a friend, neighbor or co-worker to these places?
Lauren Papke 10/11/2023 10:31 PM
I frequent the grocery store, school, the gas station, and a strip mall on 9th street a lot. I schedule carpooling with my roommates three times a week to class. We also try to get any shopping that needs to be done accomplished after class before we go home so we do not have to go out again. I also try to carpool to sorority events with my big or other sisters.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

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?
Lauren Papke 10/11/2023 10:28 PM
Eating/serving smaller portions helps someone who may be on a diet. As a college student, I like to meal plan to control how much food I buy, and used to be cost-savvy and control what I buy. When I meal plan, I always make smaller portions because I know I will finish it and I can always find a fruit or vegetable to fill me up if it is not enough. I think in American society, we eat larger food portions and that has some negative impacts. There have been many studies around food portions in Amer4ica and how that affects the health of Americans and how the larger portions has negative impacts on our health. I think smaller portions have many positive impacts on us including our health and money.

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