Skip to main content
April 1 - April 30, 2021
Kathryn DeForrest's avatar

Kathryn DeForrest

WSP & Friends Ecochallengers

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 485 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    24
    meatless or vegan meals
    consumed
  • UP TO
    10
    minutes
    spent learning
  • UP TO
    32
    zero-waste meals
    consumed

Kathryn'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.

UNCOMPLETED
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

UNCOMPLETED
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 0
DAILY ACTIONS

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

Reduce Animal Products

Plant-Rich Diets

I will enjoy 2 meatless or vegan meal(s) each day of the challenge.

COMPLETED 13
DAILY ACTIONS

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Support Indigenous Peoples' Land Management

Indigenous Peoples' Forest Tenure

I will donate to Native American Rights Fund, which protects tribal natural resources and environmental rights and promotes Native American Human Rights.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Zero-waste Cooking

Reduced Food Waste

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

COMPLETED 19
DAILY ACTIONS

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).

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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 18
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
    Action Track: Climate Resilience Switch your Search Engine
    Will you make this your default search engine?

    Kathryn DeForrest's avatar
    Kathryn DeForrest 4/29/2021 8:14 AM
    I will look into it for sure, but my first thought is "how well does it function as a search engine?" I feel like it could be the friendliest thing in the world, but if it doesn't do the job and sufficiently well (maybe a compromise here?) I probably wouldn't use it. 

    • Erin Graham's avatar
      Erin Graham 4/29/2021 9:24 AM
      same here! I find that it functions really well for most general searches. However, I have had to switch back to Google occasionally for really technical searches associated with project work. Ecosia may be better suited for my personal laptop and phone

  • Kathryn DeForrest's avatar
    Kathryn DeForrest 4/15/2021 8:29 AM
    I'm finding that focusing on one topic for this drawdown (food) makes it more doable for me. The actions are naturally integrated and I'm less overwhelmed.

    • Frederick S. Moses's avatar
      Frederick S. Moses 4/15/2021 7:49 PM
      In the beginning I picked items that I can do more consistently. Now I am adding more that I am aware of for a more sustainable approach. 

    • Meghan Jones's avatar
      Meghan Jones 4/15/2021 8:50 AM
      That's a great suggestion! I also tend to get overwhelmed with all the options and things to improve. I will remember your strategy not just for the Ecochallenge but for changing habits in general.
  • 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?

    Kathryn DeForrest's avatar
    Kathryn DeForrest 4/15/2021 8:26 AM
    If potatoes must be peeled for a recipe, toss the peels in some olive oil and preferred seasonings and bake them in then until crispy. I eat them while I cook. Also, my kids love eating the curly skins of apples (pie baking) and scraping the extra fruit off the mango peels with their teeth. 
  • 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?

    Kathryn DeForrest's avatar
    Kathryn DeForrest 4/05/2021 8:08 AM
    Ideally, I would donate this amount to a food bank instead of wasting it.

  • Kathryn DeForrest's avatar
    Kathryn DeForrest 3/18/2021 1:39 PM
    Liking some of the actions with regard to food waste. In my family we don't always all eat the same, so committing to making certain meals a certain way is more difficult (but not out of the question), but the food waste is applicable to all.  Also, I hate wasting food, but haven't kept track, so  that will be interesting.

    • Josh Gipper's avatar
      Josh Gipper 3/24/2021 9:30 AM
      Ava is really good at wasting food and it kills me! Literally, it's killing me because then I eat what she leaves behind. I'm not 28 anymore!!

    • Manda Magee's avatar
      Manda Magee 3/23/2021 11:17 AM
      We will be doing a presentation on Food, it will be more geared for kids but will have some interesting facts.