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April 1 - April 30, 2021
Josh Gipper's avatar

Josh Gipper

WSP & Friends Ecochallengers

"My mission is to use my skills and ambition to positively affect the world and create a sustainable, zero carbon future for my kids."

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 646 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    1.0
    advocacy action
    completed
  • UP TO
    84
    minutes
    spent exercising
  • UP TO
    101
    minutes
    spent learning
  • UP TO
    5.0
    public officials or leaders
    contacted

Josh's actions

Electricity

Calculate My Carbon Footprint

All Drawdown Solutions

I will calculate the greenhouse gas emissions associated with my household and consider how different lifestyle choices could reduce my negative impact on the environment.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Climate Resilience

Switch your Search Engine

Ecosia is a search engine with servers that run on 200% renewable energy, plants a tree for every ~45 searches made, and does not sell your data to 3rd parties. See ecosia.org for more information and how to set your search engine default to Ecosia

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Make it a Habit to Drive for better MPG

By far, the best recommendation to reduce your fuel consumption is to NOT drive your car. Opt to walk or bike when you can. When you have to drive, there are a few habits to be mindful of to reduce your fuel consumption. Avoiding bad driving habits like accelerating too quickly or late braking and using your cruise control more frequently can all improve MPG. To make things more interesting, keep track of your MPG with each tank fill-up and challenge yourself or compete with a friend to improve the results each time. Click below to LEARN more driving habits to reduce your fuel consumption.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Transportation

Improve the MPG on my existing car.

Not everyone has the pocket book to purchase a new electric, hybrid or 40+ MPG vehicle. But you can still do your part to improve your current vehicle's MPG. Regular maintenance and replacement of a few key items will go a long way toward that goal. Click the LEARN button below to explore what you can do to get the most out of your tank of gas:

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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

Reduce Animal Products

Plant-Rich Diets

I will enjoy 6 meatless or vegan meal(s) each day of the challenge.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

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

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

Buildings

Research Heat Pumps

High-Efficiency Heat Pumps

I will spend at least 60 minutes researching heat pumps to see if installing one makes sense for my home/building.

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 3
DAILY ACTIONS

Action Track: Accelerating Solutions

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.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Accelerating Solutions

Express My Support For Walkable Cities

Walkable Cities

I will find out who in my city makes decisions that impact neighborhood walkability and express my support for better walking infrastructure.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Accelerating Solutions

Advocate For More Packaging Options

Multiple Industry Solutions

I will advocate for alternatives to single-use packaging at local grocery stores, markets, at work, or on campus.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Research and Advocate for High-Speed Rail

High-Speed Rail

I will spend at least 15 minutes researching and advocating for a comprehensive high speed rail network in my country/region.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Industry

Learn about Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)

Spend 15 minutes and learn about WSP as a leader in helping clients respond to the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

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?


  • Josh Gipper's avatar
    Josh Gipper 4/30/2021 8:56 PM
    ❤️ to all the captains this year!
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Action Track: Accelerating Solutions Express My Support For Walkable Cities
    How could better walking infrastructure make your city both more enjoyable and more equitable?

    Josh Gipper's avatar
    Josh Gipper 4/30/2021 12:51 PM
    I took my two kids to a rally at City Park in Denver where we met with local advocates to keep our parks more walkable by keeping streets closed to cars. Many parks had cleared cars from them to make them more walkable during the pandemic and we want them to not return to their previous conidtion. Delicious ice cream was served too!
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Action Track: Accelerating Solutions Express My Support For Equitable Biking Infrastructure
    What do you like most about biking in your city? What would you like to improve?

    Josh Gipper's avatar
    Josh Gipper 4/30/2021 12:49 PM
    I met with local leaders in non-profit bike advocacy and am organizing our elementary schools bike to school day on May 5!
  • 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?

    Josh Gipper's avatar
    Josh Gipper 4/30/2021 12:48 PM
    I pay extra for our city's composting service and it really reduces the amount being sent to a landfill. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Action Track: Climate Resilience Switch your Search Engine
    Will you make this your default search engine?

    Josh Gipper's avatar
    Josh Gipper 4/30/2021 12:47 PM
    I've used ecosia for quite some time. My only feedback to them is I wish they had a dark mode! Most of my applications are now in dark mode (because coder here).
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Transportation Make it a Habit to Drive for better MPG
    Please tell me what you think of this action?

    Josh Gipper's avatar
    Josh Gipper 4/30/2021 12:41 PM
    As someone who usually bikes everywhere, driving in a car is always eye opening for me. I find I drive much more carefully and at the speed limit thanks to my time outside of the metal box. Using the hybrid engine as optimally as I can is pretty common for me. It's worrying the aggressiveness I get from other drivers though...
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Electricity Calculate My Carbon Footprint
    What stood out to you most about your carbon footprint? What surprised you or sparked curiosity? Where can you take most immediate action?

    Josh Gipper's avatar
    Josh Gipper 4/09/2021 8:53 AM
    We downsized to a single car last year and I can fulfill most of my transportation needs by bike, including grocery and hardware store runs. Really makes a big dent on the carbon footprint. Hope in our next home to eliminate our natural gas usage. 🤞

    • Frederick S. Moses's avatar
      Frederick S. Moses 4/09/2021 1:29 PM
      Due to the pandemic and post pandemic, I too have seen my driving reduced by 80%! My household has gotten rid of a couple of cars. 

  • Josh Gipper's avatar
    Josh Gipper 4/08/2021 8:18 PM
    Super grateful to all our WSP teammates who joined us on the high-speed rail presentation today!

    • Josh Gipper's avatar
      Josh Gipper 4/09/2021 8:51 AM
      Here's the full video -> https://youtu.be/xA4aaSzqT9s
      All of his Engineering Connections videos are on YouTube and are pretty good.

    • Linn Stanley's avatar
      Linn Stanley 4/09/2021 8:33 AM
      It was a great presentation.  Thanks to you and the team for putting it together!  I've been indirectly involved with that project for years, but admit I didn't really know much about it.  The video was really fun as well!  Is there a link to it posted here somewhere?
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Transportation Research and Advocate for High-Speed Rail
    What are the factors that influence your choice of transportation? These can include things like money, time, and convenience, as well as perceptions of danger or safety. What would need to change for you to regularly choose more climate-friendly options?

    Josh Gipper's avatar
    Josh Gipper 4/08/2021 3:54 PM
    I think Laura's presentation points to the need for the proper infrastructure to make the climate friendly options the first option. For 50, 60 years we've pushed air and roads as travel an prioritized that mode and it's infrastructure. The environmental impacts though have been astounding and it's well past time to reassess and make biking, walking, transit & rail priorities.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Industry Choose Recycled Paper
    Good job on choosing recycled paper! How can you take your action a step further?

    Josh Gipper's avatar
    Josh Gipper 4/08/2021 8:19 AM
    Who Gives a Crap! We've been getting paper from them for over a year now and I can't recommend them enough. Both recycled paper and bamboo options. Short of a bidet, why wipe with old growth trees ala Charmin?