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April 1 - April 30, 2021
Les Jacobson's avatar

Les Jacobson

WSP & Friends Ecochallengers

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 293 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    140
    minutes
    spent outdoors
  • UP TO
    1.0
    meatless or vegan meal
    consumed
  • UP TO
    28
    locally sourced meals
    consumed
  • UP TO
    30
    minutes
    spent learning

Les's 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

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 16
DAILY ACTIONS

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 16
DAILY ACTIONS

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Mulch the Base of Trees and Plants

Farm Irrigation Efficiency

I will prevent water runoff and increase absorbency by mulching the base of trees and plants in my yard.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Tend A Garden

I will tend to a garden, or prepare for one, each day using sustainable gardening practices.

COMPLETED 7
DAILY ACTIONS

Electricity

Choose Renewable Energy or Purchase Renewable Energy Credits

Onshore Wind Turbines, Utility-Scale Solar Photovoltaics

I will sign up for my utility company's clean/renewable energy option. If my utility does not offer one, I will purchase Renewable Energy Credits to match my usage.

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 16
DAILY ACTIONS

Industry

Practice the 5 R's

Recycling

I will Practice the "5 Rs" — refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose, and recycle — to reduce my waste more than I can with just recycling alone.

COMPLETED 16
DAILY ACTIONS

Electricity

Support Companies Leading in Green Energy

Utility-Scale Solar Photovoltaics, Distributed Solar Photovoltaics

I will use my spending power to reward companies leading in creating or purchasing green energy and incentivize others to invest more in green energy.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Support Local Food Systems

Plant-Rich Diets

I will source 25 percent of my food from local producers each day. This could include signing up for a local CSA, buying from a farmer's market, visiting a food co-op, foraging with a local group, or growing my own ingredients.

COMPLETED 16
DAILY ACTIONS

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

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

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 1
DAILY ACTION

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Composting

Composting, Reduced Food Waste

I will start a compost bin where I live.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME 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

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 2
DAILY 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

Participant Feed

  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Industry
    How could you incorporate other "R's" -- reduce, reuse, refuse, repair, repurpose, etc. -- into your lifestyle? How does considering implementing these "R's" make you feel?

    Les Jacobson's avatar
    Les Jacobson 4/09/2021 8:56 AM
    We recently signed up for a service called Ridwell that provides recycling of hard to recycle material, like thin plastic and styrofoam. It also makes it much easier to recycle other things like batteries, light bulbs (all types), electrical cords, mobile devices, fabric of all types that can't be used by clothing charities, etc. They partner with companies that reuse this material and turn it into products. For example, thin plastic is reused for clothing, landscaping materials and similar products. This, along with our normal curbside recycling and composting, allows us to recycle almost everything that comes into the house.