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April 1 - April 30, 2021
Alexis Myers's avatar

Alexis Myers

CSUMB Eco Otters

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 152 TOTAL

Alexis's actions

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Zero-waste Cooking

Reduced Food Waste

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

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Coastal, Ocean, and Engineered Sinks

Smart Seafood Choices

Ocean Farming

I will visit seafoodwatch.org or download the app and commit to making better seafood choices for a healthier ocean.

UNCOMPLETED
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 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Land Sinks

Buy Bamboo

Bamboo Production

When they are available, I will purchase products made from bamboo instead of wood, plastic, or metal.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Industry

Launch a Recycling Program

Recycling

I will set up a recycling center at my workplace or school.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Industry

Go Paperless

Recycled Paper

I will reduce the amount of paper mail that I receive by 0.11lbs (0.05kg) a day or 3.3lbs (1.6kg) a month by opting into paperless billing, ending unwanted subscriptions and opting out of junk mail.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Industry

Reduce Single-Use Disposables

Bioplastics

Cheap, single-use items and disposable packaging end up blowing around as litter more often in poor and BIPOC-majority neighborhoods. I will avoid buying and using 1 single-use plastics and instead replace them with durable options.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Industry

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.

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

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 0
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 0
DAILY ACTIONS

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 0
DAILY ACTIONS

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 0
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 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Transportation

Improve a Bus Stop

Public Transit

I will improve a bus stop in my neighborhood by posting the stop schedule, adding seating or shelter, adding art or flowers, picking up litter, or implementing some other small improvement.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Conduct Virtual Meetings

Telepresence

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

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Go for a Daily Walk

Walkable Cities

I will take a walk for 30 minutes each day and take note of the infrastructure that makes walking more or less enjoyable, accessible, and possible.

COMPLETED 0
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, 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
    Industry Advocate For More Packaging Options
    What concerns you the most about how we are affecting the planet? Consider both local and global actions.

    Alexis Myers's avatar
    Alexis Myers 4/21/2021 10:32 PM
    What concerns me the most is the amount of plastic pollution the U.S. creates and export it to other countries to dispose of it so it is out of the public's eye. We are one of the top producers of plastic pollution and we do a great job of hiding it because we send it overseas for other countries to deal with. 

    We play like we are passionate about recycling, but only 9-10% of plastic has ever been recycled! 

    We need to change our ways and make it harder for companies to create loopholes, so we need to change policies also and make them more strict. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Industry Reduce Single-Use Disposables
    What single-use items (e.g. straws, coffee cups, vegetable bags, plastic bags) do you regularly use? What could be substituted instead?

    Alexis Myers's avatar
    Alexis Myers 4/21/2021 10:22 PM
    I currently use Ziploc bags to store chopped up vegetables.  An alternative I am looking into is silicone bags. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Industry Choose Recycled Paper
    Good job on choosing recycled paper! How can you take your action a step further?

    Alexis Myers's avatar
    Alexis Myers 4/13/2021 7:48 PM
    I can learn how to make my own recycled paper from various paper scraps!
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Food, Agriculture, and Land Use Smaller Portions
    While dishing food out, we tend to load our plates with more than we need. Using smaller plates helps to mitigate this. Aside from the environmental benefits, what other benefits might come from eating/serving smaller portions?

    Alexis Myers's avatar
    Alexis Myers 4/13/2021 7:47 PM
    Eating smaller portions will be beneficial to your gut health. The larger portions tend to make us overeat and it's not healthy for our stomachs to always be too full; it's best to eat small portions and give your stomach time to rest from digesting food in-between meals.
  • 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?

    Alexis Myers's avatar
    Alexis Myers 4/13/2021 7:44 PM
    I always considered myself to be an average sustainable person, I carpool, I don't eat dairy very often, but it told me if everyone lived like me it would take 8.4 Earths!

    I can change my diet to very rarely eat dairy products, and I can research more ways to make my home more energy efficient. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Coastal, Ocean, and Engineered Sinks Smart Seafood Choices
    Many states and countries have advisories on eating fish. Find out what is advised for your region. Do you think your diet choices fall within these guidelines? What steps do you need to take to make sure that they do?

    Alexis Myers's avatar
    Alexis Myers 4/13/2021 7:34 PM
    I believe my diet choices fall within these guidelines because it is rare when I eat fish, but When I do, the place I order from only gives options for fish that are in season.  

    Steps I can take to ensure I stick to the guidelines are make my own fish dish because I can go to the store and get a fish I know is recommended for my area. 
  • 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?

    Alexis Myers's avatar
    Alexis Myers 4/13/2021 7:04 PM
    If I wanted to use all of the vegetable, I would create a vegetable stock with the leftovers and use them to make the broth. 
  • 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?

    Alexis Myers's avatar
    Alexis Myers 4/08/2021 11:02 AM
    I think it's because it is expensive to grow livestock and in richer counties, such as the US, we mostly buy our meat from a grocery store. For someone in a poor county that has to grow the food they eat, it's too expensive to raise cattle and such. 

    Eating more meat isn't always great for our bodies, it does provide some nutrients, but it depends on how you cook your meat. In the US we mostly fry our food and that isn't healthy for our bodies. 

    Raising livestock is not great for our planet either. They produce methane which is a greenhouse gas that affects our atmosphere. They also require a lot of room; so farmers will tear down forests to provide that room. Deforestation is occurring at a rapid rate and we need it to slow down. 

    It also affects other people because the demand for meat is so high, in poor counties, we will kick out anyone and anything to make room for our livestock. The methane affecting the atmosphere is also affecting the people who don't even eat a lot of meat. 

    There are many environmental and ecological injustices that occur due to the demand for meat. 
  • 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?

    Alexis Myers's avatar
    Alexis Myers 4/08/2021 10:53 AM
    Invest and give 2 charity