April 1 - April 30, 2020

Denise Frizzell

"My mission is to wake up, grow up, and show up to make a contribution toward a more sane, compassionate, and sustainable world for all."

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
676 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

1.0

documentary

watched
UP TO

120

minutes

spent learning

Denise's actions

Action Track: Building Resilience

Watch a Documentary about Food Sovereignty

I will watch 1 documentary(ies) about food sovereignty: the right of local peoples to control their own food systems including markets, ecological resources, food cultures and production methods.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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

Forests

Choose Better Wood Products

I will only purchase wood and paper products from ecologically certified sources like Forest Stewardship Council.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Fresh Water

Eco-friendly Gardening

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

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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 30 minutes researching which plants support local native pollinators and plant some in my yard.

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?

Denise Frizzell 4/30/2020 2:53 PM

Wow, the last day of our 2020 EcoChallenge--good job, Team ERUUF!! Thanks, Tom for leading us again this year! I'm excited to share that I/we (Bev and I) have a few sustainability actions in the works in addition to an eco-friendly flower garden--a green kitchen remodeling project. For our green kitchen remodeling project, we are refurbishing our cabinets (stipping (Franmar Soy-Based Stripper) and staining (TimberSoy), replacing our countertops with a solid surface that consists of recycled polyester (Durat), changing the faucet to low-flow, and replacing a light fixture to LED. Just think--with every choice in our lives, we have the opportunity to live more sustainably and positively contribute to our common future!

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Denise Frizzell 4/26/2020 6:20 PM

I/we took a waste reduction action today--we signed up for Fillaree refillable, sustainable soap products today (fillaree.com) which is based in Durham! They offer personal care and home cleaning products. They ship free but given there are several refillable stations as well as a storefront. Does anyone here on our ERUUF Eco-Challenge Team have this product-service? Just curious. I'm looking forward to trying it.

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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.

Denise Frizzell 4/22/2020 6:29 PM

One of the most prominent water concerns in our area is soil erosion. My understanding is that we have a prominence of clay soil in our area which is more vulnerable to erosion. Given our townhouse community was built in the early 1980s, many, if not most, individual homeowners and the HOA are wrestling with the impacts of longterm erosion on foundations.

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Denise Frizzell 4/22/2020 6:21 PM

My challenge is going okay but the open one-time challenge (planting an eco-garden) is on pause until we hear back from Leslie of Leslie's Garden, and my open daily challenge is not something I actually do daily (purchase wood and paper products). However, on the eco-friendly gardening front, our townhouse community has an issue with poison ivy and our Landscaping Working Group, which Bev and I are on, are working to identify and implement a non-toxic solution (anyone have a goat we can borrow?).

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Denise Frizzell 4/20/2020 6:33 PM

Our COVID-19 crisis has me thinking a lot about the teaching around crisis & opportunity being a pair---sides of the same coin, if you will. What if we use this crisis to reimagine every aspect of our lives, individually and collectively to create more reflective lives and a more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable world? What if the pain of this crisis forced us to shift from "the bottom line" to the triple bottom line (people, planet, and profit) or from GDP to quality of life indicators?

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Denise Frizzell 4/19/2020 6:13 PM

To honor my commitment to choose better wood products, I purchased some office supplies this past Friday to include a FSC sourced planner and copy paper, sugar cane notepads and manilla file folders with 100% recycled content. Bev and I are also looking to replace a small side kitchen countertop with a FSC wood. We are waiting for an estimate on a Torzo Blue Stain Pine product.

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Denise Frizzell 4/14/2020 7:12 PM

I/we took another step toward our goals of supporting pollinators and more eco-friendly gardening by meeting with Leslie Fiddler of Leslie's Gardens today to discuss creating an eco-friendly design for our front flower-shrub garden which she agreed to do. We look forward to seeing her proposal!

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Denise Frizzell 4/13/2020 6:13 PM

I joined the Eco-Challenge, because I am committed to living more sustainably in all areas of my life, a commitment I've held for several years. Thus, over time, I have made numerous lifestyle changes from home energy efficiency investments, to hybrid & EV vehicles to vegetarian a diet (now about 85% vegan). For this year's Eco-Challenge, I chose the actions I did to support improving in different life areas.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Action Track: Building Resilience Watch a Documentary about Food Sovereignty

How does food sovereignty address the complex agrarian transition to modern food systems?

Denise Frizzell 4/13/2020 5:59 PM

Food sovereignty addresses the complex agrarian transition to modern food systems by re-learning and returning to native agricultural knowledge and practices. At the same time, it addresses the weaning off of the unhealthy and unsustainable staples provided by a U.S. government-sponsored war on their sovereignty and way of life.

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Denise Frizzell 4/09/2020 6:29 PM

One of my challenges is to watch a documentary on food sovereignty which has been on my mind all week as something I would do during evening hours. However, I have not yet done so as the days and evenings seem to fly by with the bedtime hour arriving before getting to watching the PBS special suggested by Earth Day EcoChallenge. Thus, I reset the intention to watch the recommended PBS documentary this weekend.

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