Jamie Grace

Carnegie Mellon University

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
400 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

163

conversations

with people
UP TO

73

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

90

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

1,175

minutes

spent outdoors
UP TO

1,075

minutes

not spent in front of a screen
UP TO

15

pounds

waste composted

Jamie's actions

Wildlife

Research a Wild Animal

I will spend at least 60 minutes learning about a wild animal I find interesting, including their life cycle, habitat, ecosystem functions, and interactions with humans (if any!).

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

Action Track: Building Resilience

Spend Time Outside

I will replace 60 minute(s) each day typically spent inside (computer time, watching television, etc.) with quality time outside that follows CDC guidelines for preventing disease spread.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Action Track: Building Resilience

Connect While Social Distancing

I will connect with at least 10 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

Food

Compost Food Waste

I will avoid sending up to .69 lbs (.31 kg) of food waste to the landfill each day by composting my food or learning how to.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Reduce Animal Products

I will enjoy 2 meatless meal(s) and/or 1 vegan meal(s) each day of the challenge.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Oceans

Learn about Our Oceans

I will spend at least 60 minutes learning about how our oceans support life on Earth by producing oxygen, regulating climate, and providing habitat, food, and jobs.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Forests

Explore My Area

I will explore at least one new hiking trail or nature walk in my area while following CDC guidelines for social distancing.

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 Learn about Our Oceans

What is one way in which oceans support your life on Earth? What is one way you can help take care of ocean health with your actions?

Jamie Grace 4/17/2020 11:27 AM

Oceans being large bodies of water support my life on earth because their temperature and stability influences the weather and climate, from a thermodynamic perspective.

I try to contribute to ocean health by not using the items that are known to pollute the oceans, such as hygiene products with microbeads, plastic straws, throw away plastic water bottles or other plastic drink containers, and plastic bags when shopping. In general, I try to be mindful of packaging and if I can avoid it.

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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?

Jamie Grace 4/17/2020 11:23 AM

Reduction of waste that makes it to landfills has been a particular focus of interest for me. Having taken a lot of geography classes in college, I had one in particular where the students were each assigned to take specific topics, do larger research, and then teach them to the rest of the class. The student who had waste management was a young man who had worked for a city at the landfill, so his topic came with a lot of depth from personal experience as well as information about the science of it. It became obvious to me that holistically we need to be aware of the life cycle of "stuff" and figure out how to reduce what makes it to the landfill in the first place.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Action Track: Building Resilience Spend Time Outside

Rachel Carson said that we need the beauty and mysteries of the natural world for our spiritual and emotional development. Does that ring true for you? What are the implications for a culture that spends most of its time indoors?

Jamie Grace 4/17/2020 9:17 AM

I have long felt that connection to the outdoors is very valuable for my personal spiritual and emotional state and its development. Spending most of our time indoors has pivoted human attention away from what is natural for humans to a state of being aware of things that are not as natural. Collectively we are not aware of, alert to, or in tune with the world around us if we aren't spending time outside. We take notice and action of the spaces we place ourselves in, and tend to filter out the rest. Our awareness and connection to nature helped our species survive that within a few generations most of us have turned away from. Spending time outside helps us focus and reconnect in an environment that is natural for our species to be in tune with for both survival and internal peace.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Action Track: Building Resilience Connect While Social Distancing

How does connecting with others help your own mental and emotional health? How can it help support others?

Jamie Grace 4/17/2020 8:52 AM

Humans are naturally social creatures, so situations that require isolation to assure our safety and health are counter-intuitive to our instincts of care and connection. Finding ways to still interact with others helps maintain a feeling of community and interaction, making ourselves and our friends and family feel less alone and hopefully more mentally and emotionally stable in these trying situations.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Forests Explore My Area

How can spending more time outdoors enhance your sense of place?

Jamie Grace 4/10/2020 11:32 AM

The more time I spend outdoor, the more I am thoughtful about the space and intentional about my actions to protect it mindfully.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Reduce Animal Products

Why do people in richer countries eat more meat than people in other places? How does eating more meat affect our planet and other people?

Jamie Grace 4/10/2020 11:28 AM

I learned about the impact of meat consumption on the climate in college as a geography minor. I have been eating vegetarian now for 15 or so years. Production of meat sources is very intensive on the water systems where they are raised and produces in some cases a considerable amount of methane gas, particularly for beef production. I would assume that richer countries consume more meat because they can afford money and resource to use an animal for a one time event whereas poorer countries might not be able to do the same.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Compost Food Waste

New to composting? Be sure to check out the action resource links to learn tips and more about it. As you transition from throwing food away to composting, what do you notice about how much you are tossing? How will you use your compost once it is ready?

Jamie Grace 4/10/2020 11:19 AM

I have been composting with a compost bin that I got from a class that I took from Pennsylvania Resource Council a few years ago, and it is such a simple way to reduce how much trash leaves your home weekly. My kitchen trash bag is significantly less full as I have stuck to this commitment. The best thing I did to make this even easier was to purchase a pail that I keep in my kitchen so I can keep scraps for several days without it becoming smelly. While it is more "stuff," it makes the management cycle of compositing realistic for me (especially in winter when you don't want to be opening your bin a lot). I will use my compost in my flower bed as it becomes ready.

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