Earth Month Ecochallenge: Drawdown

April 1 - April 30, 2021

Rhonnie Craven

NCW Sustainable Community

"Working towards climate justice and sustainability to help all of us have access to a clean environment."

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
402 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

5.0

lightbulbs

replaced
UP TO

1.0

meatless or vegan meal

consumed
UP TO

45

minutes

spent learning

Rhonnie's actions

Health and Education

Learn about the Need for Family Planning

Health and Education

I will spend at least 60 minutes learning more about the need for family planning globally.

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.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Industry

Learn About & Practice Sustainable Fashion

Multiple Industry Solutions

I will learn about sustainable fashion and begin trying to practice it in my own life.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Explore Other Transportation Solutions

All Transportation Solutions

I will spend at least 20 minutes researching other Drawdown Transportation Solutions.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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

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 0
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

Support Nutrient Management

Nutrient Management

I will research and support local farmers who have made the decision to not use synthetic nitrogen fertilizers.

UNCOMPLETED
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 2
DAILY ACTIONS

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Keep Track of Wasted Food

Reduced Food Waste

I will keep a daily log of food I throw away during Earth Month 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 1
DAILY ACTION

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Reduce Animal Products

Plant-Rich Diets

I will enjoy 1 meatless or vegan meal(s) each day of the challenge.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Electricity

Watch a Video about Methane Digesters

Methane Digesters

I will watch a video about methane digesters (also commonly known as anaerobic digesters).

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Electricity

Choose LED Bulbs

LED Lighting

I will replace 4 incandescent lightbulb(s) with Energy Star-certified LED bulbs, saving up to $14 per fixture per year.

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?

Rhonnie Craven 4/15/2021 1:18 PM

Last weekend I, along with 2 others on our team, attended an Intergenerational Seminar, “ALL IN FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE”. The seminar took place over 3 days, and over 200 people attended (virtually of course) mostly from the US, but also some from Canada, and a few from overseas.
It was an inspiring and productive learning experience, focusing on food equity as well as climate justice. We brought back many resources that can be shared for use in our community.

Read More
Rhonnie Craven 4/15/2021 1:14 PM

The last week has been a flurry of activity surrounding climate justice and food equity. 3 of us started a Climate Justice Team at our congregation, Cascade Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, with the idea of completing an application to certify us as a Green Sanctuary. This is process supported by our national UUA leadership, and will allow us to partner with other churches within the association, and to use some of our knowledge gained to partner with others in our community. We have been quickly joined by others in our congregation to present this proposal,to our board, and hope to begin soon. So exciting!

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Rhonnie Craven 4/08/2021 9:17 PM

Yesterday, I attended an orientation, along with 2 other members of our local team, to learn more about Green Sanctuaries. This is a program to guide churches in achieving the goal of becoming more eco friendly, and thereby helping their Sims a program associated with UUA, and allows churches to follow the program, and then choose to be certified or not. Our congregation, Cascade Unitarian Universalist Fellowship has for some time shown an interest in caring for the earth, as it relates to social justice. We are excited to go in this journey, and to share our knowledge with others.

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Rhonnie Craven 4/02/2021 7:52 PM

One way I have reduced plastic is to use bar soaps and shampoo in the bathroom, and a bar dish soap in the kitchen for dishes. I rarely use commercial cleaners, using baking soda, vinegar , or lemon for cleaning, and have switched to mostly natural bristle brushes for cleaning, scrubbing vegetables, and also for nail brushes.

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Rhonnie Craven 4/01/2021 2:39 PM

A few years ago, during the a severe drought in California, I heard a story on NPR about the innovate ways people came up with to conserve water. One of those ways was to use a bucket to fill with the “warming up” water. The person ran water into the bucket while getting the faucet to run with hot water. I decided to experiment, and found that I filled my 1 gallon watering can by the time my water was hot. I use that water to fill the water bowl for my pets, and water my house plants. I only do it in the kitchen, but this person also did it in the bathtub, saving her water for other uses.

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Rhonnie Craven 4/01/2021 2:34 PM

In the nice weather I hang my clothes outside to dry, and love the smell of sheets dried in the sun. I wash my items in the least amount of water that still results in clean clothes, and wait for full loads before washing. Even in The winter I hang up things to dry on a curtain rod that’s over my washer and dryer, drying items for about 5 minutes to soften wrinkles. I always use cooler water, keeping my power costs down.

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Rhonnie Craven 4/01/2021 2:31 PM

Today I received my compost able biodegradable garbage bags. I have eliminated plastic trash bags in the bathroom, and use bags that other items came in, ie dog food, cat food, etc for trash whenever possible.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use 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. How would you rather use this money?

Rhonnie Craven 4/01/2021 2:27 PM

As a person who lives alone, I have not made meal plans for a long time. This has resulted in haphazard shopping, forgetting what I bought and why. I will start back on menu planning to reduce the amount of spoiled food.

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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?

Rhonnie Craven 3/28/2021 1:44 PM

I’ve found that I don’t need meat every day, and often only have it about once or twice a week.

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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?

Rhonnie Craven 3/28/2021 1:41 PM

I will keep replacing as needed with LED. One of my favorite bulbs for outside are the ones with the light sensor, or dusk to dawn bulbs. This way I have the security of lights on at night, and no worries about coming home to a dark porch. I am slowly phasing to all bulbs in my home being LED.

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