Earth Month Ecochallenge: Drawdown

April 1 - April 30, 2021

Samantha Zehr

WBA US Global Sourcing

"Continue to learn and grow each day to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to stop climate change."

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
579 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

274

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

70

minutes

spent learning

Samantha's actions

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Composting

Composting, Reduced Food Waste

I will start a compost bin where I live.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Go for a Daily Walk

Walkable Cities

I will take a walk for 10 minutes each day and take note of the infrastructure that makes walking more or less enjoyable, accessible, and possible.

COMPLETED 11
DAILY ACTIONS

Buildings

Research Retrofitting Incentives

Building Retrofitting

I will spend at least 15 minutes finding out if my city, region, state, or country offers incentives for retrofitting existing buildings.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health and Education

Learn about the Need for Family Planning

Health and Education

I will spend at least 25 minutes learning more about the need for family planning globally.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Coastal, Ocean, and Engineered Sinks

Learn about Biochar

Biochar Production

I will spend 25 minute(s) learning about biochar and how it can help sequester carbon.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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 25
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

Electricity

Communicate With My Elected Officials

Onshore Wind Turbines, Offshore Wind Turbines

I will write or call 4 elected official(s) telling them not to support fossil fuel subsidies and instead support wind energy generation.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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

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?

Samantha Zehr 4/23/2021 7:42 AM

Excited to set up my new compost bin this weekend!

Read More
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?

Samantha Zehr 4/23/2021 7:40 AM

Selfishly, financial capital most motivates me to change my behavior regarding food waste. I'm essentially throwing away cash when I throw away wasted food. I am happy to learn that whatever the motivation, the reduction in food waste has many resource impacts.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Buildings Research Retrofitting Incentives

How can you share what you have learned in your research with others?

Samantha Zehr 4/20/2021 5:50 AM

This was great! I found out that ComEd offers rebates for energy star certified appliances and lightbulbs. Wish I knew this when I purchased a new refrigerator last year. Will definitely use in the future!

Read More
Samantha Zehr 4/19/2021 6:20 AM

One of my goals was to mulch the base of our trees and plants to help reduce water run-off. Our yard has needed some work since we moved in last year- looks so much better now!

Read More
- Nathalie Sowatzke 4/19/2021 2:33 PM
  
  Looking good!!!
  
  Read More
Samantha Zehr 4/15/2021 9:02 AM

Halfway there team! Keep up the good work.

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Samantha Zehr 4/13/2021 11:50 AM

Ordered mulch to put around our trees and plants along our house to help prevent water run off- can't wait to get my hands dirty putting that down this weekend!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Industry Practice the 5 R's

What are some more "R's" you could add to your daily practice to reduce your waste?

Samantha Zehr 4/07/2021 8:00 AM

I want to focus on reducing waste. In my day to day, I plan to refuse unnecessary items (such as freebies/promotional things) and reduce my consumption (seasonal secondhand wardrobe to cut down on shopping, cook what I'll eat, borrow/rent one-time or short term use items).

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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?

Samantha Zehr 4/07/2021 7:52 AM

Small changes we already made in our home had a big impact on our carbon footprint. Practicing "eco driving" was one of the low effort/high impact actions. I've never knew how big of an impact consciously driving could have.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Electricity Communicate With My Elected Officials

What inspires you to act on sustainable energy and other energy issues?

Samantha Zehr 3/26/2021 8:20 AM

My nieces and nephew inspire me to take action on sustainable energy because the choices we are making today will directly impact the challenges their (and future) generations will have to deal with.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Coastal, Ocean, and Engineered Sinks Learn about Biochar

Can biochar provide additional benefits besides sequestering carbon?

Samantha Zehr 3/26/2021 8:18 AM

I've never heard of biochar and look forward to getting an understanding of how it can sequester carbon and all additional benefits.

Read More