Earth Month Ecochallenge: Drawdown

April 1 - April 30, 2021

Crafty Cat

DrawdownTO

"Looking for more sustainable actions to incorporate into my everyday life."

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
1,084 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

5.0

conversations

with people
UP TO

1.0

documentary

watched
UP TO

36

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

480

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

250

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

701

minutes

being mindful
UP TO

59

plastic containers

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

11

zero-waste meals

consumed

Crafty's actions

Health and Education

Research Barriers to Participation and Representation

Health and Education

I will spend at least 120 minutes learning more about the barriers to women's equal participation and representation around the world.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health and Education

Host a Film Screening

Health and Education

I will host a virtual film screening and discussion about women's and gender equality issues.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Industry

Properly Dispose of Refrigerants

Refrigerant Management

I will spend at least 5 minutes learning how to properly dispose of my refrigerator, freezer, and other refrigerants at the end of their useful lives.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Learn More about Regenerative Agriculture

Conservation Agriculture, Regenerative Annual Cropping

I will spend at least 100 minutes learning about the need for more regenerative agriculture.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Eat Mindfully

I will eat all of my meals without distractions, e.g., phone, computer, TV, or newspaper.

COMPLETED 27
DAILY ACTIONS

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Zero-waste Cooking

Reduced Food Waste

I will cook 1 meal(s) with zero-waste each day

COMPLETED 11
DAILY ACTIONS

Industry

Reduce Single-Use Disposables

Bioplastics

Cheap, single-use items and disposable packaging end up blowing around as litter more often in poor and BIPOC-majority neighborhoods. I will avoid buying and using 6 single-use plastics and instead replace them with durable options.

COMPLETED 25
DAILY ACTIONS

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 11
DAILY ACTIONS

Land Sinks

Forest-Friendly Foods 1

Tropical Forest Restoration

I will spend at least 10 minutes researching the impact of my diet to see how it contributes to deforestation.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Industry

Choose Recycled Paper

Recycled Paper

I will plan ahead to only use paper products made from post-consumer recycled paper for my home or office.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Industry

Recycle Everything I Can

Recycling

Contamination prevents what is recyclable from being recycled. I will research and recycle all materials that are accepted by local haulers or drop stations in my community, making sure to not contaminate recyclables with non-recyclables.

COMPLETED 26
DAILY ACTIONS

Transportation

Express My Support For Equitable Biking Infrastructure

Bicycle Infrastructure

I will find out who in my city makes decisions that impact bike routes and express my support for better biking infrastructure.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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 21
DAILY ACTIONS

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Composting

Composting, Reduced Food Waste

I will start a compost bin where I live.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates

Reduced Food Waste

I will spend at least 15 minutes learning how to differentiate between sell by, use by, and best by dates.

COMPLETED
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.

COMPLETED 27
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
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?

Crafty Cat 4/28/2021 7:42 PM

To be honest, I rarely use any single-use items, the most I may use is a plastic bag from the grocery store when forgetting to bring a reusable but they are always getting reused in my house hold such as using in the compost or garbage bin. Some reusable items I already use are water bottles, stars, bags, cutlery, containers and coffee cups. Just the other day I brought a reusable straw to Tim Hortons, even though they use paper straws now, it is always good to remove the waste completely.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use Reduce 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?

Crafty Cat 4/28/2021 7:38 PM

Meat can be really expensive in most countries and especially hard to access. In addition, meat needs to be cooked properly to avoid sickness while many other foods do not require cooking. While meats are a great source of proteins for our bodies it is important to have a balanced meal with all the other food groups. However meats are not as welcoming to our planet because of the number 1 food source in North America being beef. Cows are a major problem because of the methane gas they produce.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use Zero-waste Cooking

In North America, up to 65% of food waste happens at the consumer level. Chef Steven Satterfield advocates for utilizing every part of a vegetable. How can you incorporate using an entire vegetable, including the skins, tops, and stalks during your next meal prep?

Crafty Cat 4/21/2021 10:31 PM

I'm not sure if this idea would entirely count but recently I have made a lot of guacamole and using the pits to grow avocado plants. Instead of putting the "shell" into the green bin I could compost it into soil of plants I have in the house. Considering the outer layer and pit are not edible I'd say this is allowed. But how about we talk about a more generic vegetable, the one that always comes to mind, a carrot. Now most of us think to peel a carrot before eating it which of course we probably should, but a great way to use these peelings is in a salad with other peeled vegetables. Now for the stem, I found a way you can leave the top of a carrot in water and eventually you'll be able to plant it. The world nowadays has packaging in almost everything even fruits and vegetables so it is really hard to live a zero waste life but it is always good to be on the lookout for package free produce/products

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Crafty Cat 4/19/2021 1:16 PM

The other day I found this great app called Good on You, it is focused on sustainability in Fashion. It shows how environmentally friendly clothing brands are and what they are doing about it. There are many articles about ethical brands, sustainable must have clothes, how to find local sustainable brands near you as well as many deals and sales on sustainable websites. You can register to make an account or just use as a guest. I'd say it is a very positive app and definitely needed to check what your favourite brands are doing.

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- Andrea Stephens 4/19/2021 6:19 PM
  
  Thanks for sharing - I’m definitely going to check it out!
  🤗
  
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- Zachary Rosenfeld 4/19/2021 6:14 PM
  
  Looks like an awesome app!
  
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Crafty Cat 4/19/2021 5:56 AM

I am going to include a few pictures from my plant propagation experience.

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Crafty Cat 4/19/2021 5:54 AM

Recently I have learned how easy it is to propagate fruits and vegetables by taking their seeds and pits. So far, I have left many avocados to root as well as some tomato and apple seeds which are now ready to plant. All you have to do is peel the skin off the seeds and wrap them in a damp towel or paper towel and leave in a container until they root or start to sprout. Peeling off the skin encourages the seed to sprout much faster.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use Learn 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?

Crafty Cat 4/18/2021 12:38 PM

It benefits our soil, for instance using regenerative agriculture practices like letting fallen leaves biodegrade into your soil creates healthier and stronger ground that can also absorb more water. This can prevent flooding in basements and neighbourhood roads.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates

How does knowing the difference between use by, sell by, and best by dates empower you to make better decisions?

Crafty Cat 4/05/2021 1:43 PM

Knowing that "best by" dates are the last day before the food quality declines, meaning mostly for taste and not as much for safety. Whereas "use by" dates are more about when the product expires and should probably not be eaten. I know that for most foods such as grains can last a little bit longer than the best by date says. While for meat, dairy and egg products, you should pay attention to that date because eating these foods expired may cause you to be sick or have food poisoning. Furthermore, you should always pay attention to smell, taste or visual indicators to tell if it is time for your food to be composted.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use Eat Mindfully

Mindful eating is healthier for us than eating with distractions. How does your eating experience differ when practicing mindfulness?

Crafty Cat 4/03/2021 7:16 PM

When you eat with your phone or other devices you are distracted from your meal and aren't enjoying it the same way. A lot of times when I am eating a snack or a meal while on my phone I find myself not remembering eating it all. By practising mindful eating I insure I am eating at a reasonable pace and enjoying my food.

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Crafty Cat 4/02/2021 7:06 PM

Bought some reusable straws while on a walk yesterday with Hana Rose!

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- Hana Rose 4/02/2021 7:07 PM
  
  We hit two birds with one stone, going for a walk and buying reusable straws.
  
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