Kerisa Fitzgerald

Cooler Communities

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Kerisa's actions

Action Track: Building Resilience

Support Pollinators

At least 30% of crops and 90% of flowering plants rely on pollinators, including monarch butterflies, to produce fruit. I will spend 20 minutes researching which plants support local native pollinators and plant some in my yard.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Wildlife

Leave No Trace

I will respect and protect biotic communities by practicing the seven principles of Leave No Trace when doing nature activities alone or with family and friends.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Oceans

Support Organic Growing Methods

I will buy organic cotton and foods grown without the use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Action Track: Building Resilience

Connect While Social Distancing

I will connect with at least 2 person/people a day through phone call or video chat to support mine and other’s mental and emotional health during this challenging time.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Forests

Forest-Friendly Foods

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

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Fresh Water

Eco-friendly Gardening

I will plant native species, landscape with water-efficient plants, and use eco-friendly fertilizers.

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
Oceans Support Organic Growing Methods

It is often said that “you can’t feed the world with just organic food.” What is your response to that statement?

Kerisa Fitzgerald 4/18/2020 4:23 AM

I believe there is a difference between buying "Organic" labeled food and buying locally-grown or sourced organically-grown foods. If you focus on locally and organically grown, eat less packaged food, and cook and prep more of your own meals, I think you find you can actually spend less while eating better!

Also, farms aren't meant to be 5000 acres of one single crop (say gmo soybeans to make all those packaged foods). Those farms cannot run organically because they are inherently dependent on injections of synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, etc. If you plant little farms and gardens everywhere, you certainly can grow organic food to feed the world. Not long ago, likely everything your grandparents ate was "organic"!!!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Wildlife Leave No Trace

Educator Stephanie Kaza advises her students to focus on what they care about most when addressing the enormity of ecological problems. Is there a specific area you feel particularly called to work on?

Kerisa Fitzgerald 4/13/2020 4:54 AM

This is great advice. The one thing I feel most strongly about is land conservation. Oddly, I have been shy or slow to approach this. To me, conserving healthy forests and farmland is an important step in addressing many ecological/environmental issues. I think sometimes cities have more consciousness around conservation than towns, because they know the value of open space more than places that appear to have a ton, when in fact they are slowly losing it all to development. I want to get more active with my town and the surrounding towns to develop a land conservation plan, so that we are pro-active, instead of reactive, as land changes hands and is vulnerable to development.

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- Ulrike Nagel 4/13/2020 8:21 AM
  
  Yes, this is definitely true in my rural area, where subdivisions are creeping into the forests and don't seem to be as destructive, but are slowly taking up more and more space, especially due to zoning that asks each house have 0ne or even two and a half-acre around it, which, in a desire to protect the open space feeling, actually destroys it...you are making me aware that I will write a letter to the editor about this!
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Forests Forest-Friendly Foods

How difficult or easy was it to change your diet?

Kerisa Fitzgerald 4/04/2020 4:25 AM

The palm oil is the hardest because of the packaged foods my kids love, but I feel this is an important cross-global issue that we can have a huge impact on.

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- Ulrike Nagel 4/04/2020 11:32 AM
  
  Hi Kerisa, yes, palm oil is in just about everything, I applaud you for taking on this challenge!
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Fresh Water Eco-friendly Gardening

What are the most prominent water concerns in your area? Examples include drought, flooding, pollution, access, security, and privatization.

Kerisa Fitzgerald 4/03/2020 6:53 AM

We started getting notices that our town was high in a pollutant, and I learned it was caused by extreme rain events that meant we had to add more chlorine that in turn created this pollutant in our drinking water. Climate change causes more extreme weather events, including heavy, long-lasting rains that our systems are not equipped for.

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- Kerisa Fitzgerald 4/04/2020 4:22 AM
  
  Mary Jane - here is the letter we received if you want to read more https://www.eastlongmeadowma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/8776/More-on-HAA5s
  We do get our water from Springfield, but it may have been the chlorine treatment that E.L. does once it gets here that triggered it.
  
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- Mary Jane Eustace 4/03/2020 11:49 AM
  
  Wow, I wasn't aware of this. Is the source of your drinking water different from Springfield MA? I don't recall seeing these notices. And did the town suggest what you can do about it?
  
  I wonder what other secondary effects are happening due to climate change that we don't yet know about.
  
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