Earth Month Ecochallenge: Drawdown

April 1 - April 30, 2021

Claire Lonsbury

DLR Group- Minneapolis

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
453 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

270

gallons of water

have been saved
UP TO

150

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

101

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

1,108

pounds of CO2

have been saved

Claire's actions

Land Sinks

Residential Composting

I will purchase a backyard composter and start to use it on a daily basis to reduce the amount of waste our family generates for the landfill.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Sinks

Learn More about Silvopasture

Silvopasture

I will spend at least 15 minutes watching videos and/or reading about the environmental benefits of silvopasture.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Sinks

Forest-Friendly Foods 2

Tropical Forest Restoration

I will replace or remove from my current diet the palm oil, coffee, and cocoa products that are known to contribute to deforestation.

COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS

Buildings

Install A Toilet Tank Bank

Low-Flow Fixtures

I will reduce the amount of water flushed and save up to 11 gallons (41 L) of water a day or 330 gallons (1,230 L) a month by installing a toilet tank bank.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Buildings

Online Energy Audit

Multiple Solutions

I will complete an online energy audit of my home, office, or dorm room and identify my next steps for saving energy.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Buildings

Fix Leaky Faucets

Low-Flow Fixtures

I will fix faucets or report leaky faucets to facilities. Fixing leaky faucets can save up to 9 gallons (34 L) of water a day or 270 (1,020 L) gallons of water a month per faucet.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Buildings

Upgrade My Windows

Insulation

I will upgrade the windows or weatherstripping in my home or office to reduce air leaks and save on energy costs.

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 8
DAILY ACTIONS

Transportation

Research and Consider Switching to a Hybrid or Electric Vehicle

Electric Cars, Hybrid Cars

I will spend at least 60 minutes researching and weighing my options to see if a hybrid or electric vehicle makes sense for my lifestyle.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Purchase a Carbon Offset

Efficient Aviation

If I buy a plane ticket, I will purchase a carbon offset.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Stay on the Ground

Telepresence, High-Speed Rail

Instead of traveling by plane, I will find an alternative way to accomplish the goals of an upcoming trip (i.e. telepresence, vacation locally).

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Accelerating Solutions

Conduct Virtual Meetings

Telepresence

I will encourage my office to hold meetings virtually whenever possible instead of requiring travel.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Accelerating Solutions

Support Businesses Owned by Women, BIPOC, or Immigrants

Sustainable Intensification for Smallholders

I will spend 20 minutes researching businesses owned by women, immigrants, and Black, Indigenous, and people of color that I can support when shopping.

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
Action Track: Accelerating Solutions Conduct Virtual Meetings

How can you ensure that your virtual meetings honor your values and your company's culture?

Claire Lonsbury 4/30/2021 6:50 AM

I like to include some time for touching base and hearing how people are doing before jumping into the business of the meeting. Or, including something that brings joy to support our company value of FUN.
Yesterday in a team meeting I showed a Throwback Thursday photo from 2010 (pre-DLR Group) of me and one of the other team members on the call; it was mildly relevant, but generally (I thought) a fun thing to share and mix things up on a Thursday.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Action Track: Accelerating Solutions Support Businesses Owned by Women, BIPOC, or Immigrants

Globally, women typically invest a higher proportion of their earnings in their families and communities than men. What have you done in the past to support women-owned businesses? How can you better support communities by supporting women?

Claire Lonsbury 4/30/2021 6:43 AM

I've really been enjoying researching various companies owned by women. I've learned there are so many that are comparable in price and availability to products I typically buy, so making the switch is fairly convenient.
On a fun note, recently I bought some McBride Sisters Black Girl Magic wine and it was delicious. It will be my go-to for bringing to dinner parties, whenever dinner parties become more of a thing again.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Land Sinks Learn More about Silvopasture

Had you heard of the term "silvopasture" before now? After learning more about it, what do you think is the biggest advantage of silvopasture?

Claire Lonsbury 4/30/2021 6:39 AM

I had not heard of silvopasture before this activity but after learning about it, it seems very practical. I assume it's a lot more like how farming was done pre-industry; people made the land they had work for growing and harvesting, AND had to diversify to compete, and to survive the unpredictability of nature. I'm all about it!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Transportation Purchase a Carbon Offset

A round-trip flight from New York City to Los Angeles emits just over 1.5 tons of CO2—per person. That’s a lot of carbon! What can you do to reduce the number of flights you take per year?

Claire Lonsbury 4/29/2021 5:51 PM

one benefit to the forced work from home that the pandemic caused is that our families, friends, colleagues, and clients have all gotten much more comfortable (and better at) connecting through a screen. Especially when it comes to work, I think we've become so much better at collaborating with each other and with clients via Zoom/Teams, that we don't feel we need to do everything in person. Of course, meeting in person is valuable for specific types of meetings/events, but it doesn't need to happen as often as we may have assumed before.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Land Sinks Forest-Friendly Foods 2

How difficult or easy was it to change your diet?

Claire Lonsbury 4/29/2021 8:08 AM

I am completely overwhelmed by the Palm Oil issue. It's everywhere! I don't even know where to start when it comes to cutting it out of our lifestyle, and that frustrates me as I also am upset by the destruction that our heavy use of palm oil in so many things is causing to the environment. :(

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Transportation Go for a Daily Walk

What have you noticed on your daily walks? What have you enjoyed? What infrastructure changes could make your walks more enjoyable or possible?

Claire Lonsbury 4/05/2021 8:29 AM

With the weather warming, there are so many more birds singing and animal sounds in the park that I walk through. I've really enjoyed turning off my podcast and just enjoying the sounds and smells of nature during my walks so far this month.

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