Bob Henkel

St. Louis Goes Green!

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
348 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

108

gallons of water

have been saved
UP TO

85

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

330

pieces of litter

picked up
UP TO

16

plastic bottles

not sent to the landfill

Bob's actions

Fresh Water

Conserve Toilet Water

I will save up to 12 gallons (45 L) of water a day by flushing only when necessary.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Fresh Water

Use a Reusable Water Bottle

I will use a reusable bottle and stop purchasing bottled water, saving 2 disposable plastic bottle(s) a day.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Action Track: Building Resilience

Connect Local, Support Local

We encourage teammates to connect to other local green organizations (including each other) and practice supporting local businesses at least once a week. Re-share a post, order curbside, make a donation to your favorite non-profit, or find a local business to make a purchase from! Let’s keep making St. Louis a greener, healthier, and more sustainable place to live, work, and learn! Have other or more specific actions to add to the Connect Local, Support Local Building Resilience Challenge please email Fbrandt@mobot.org.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

People

Keep My Community Clean

I will pick up 10 piece(s) of litter each day while following the CDC’s current guidelines for prevention of disease transfer.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Reduce Animal Products

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

COMPLETED 11
DAILY ACTIONS

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
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?

Bob Henkel 4/30/2020 7:36 AM

richer countries have greater access to meat because of the cheap and efficient yet horrific manner in which meat is generally raised in confined feeding operations. More sustainable methods of raising animals using rotational pastures can have a lesser impact and can actually show benefits to soil health within a system of management. Joel Salatin and the Polyface Farm in Virginia was an early pioneer in this methodology reducing inputs and use of resources to raise meat. I have never felt that I needed meat at every meal and I have spent many years eating many more meatless meals than meat meals. When I do eat meat, I choose more sustainably raised options (pastured) and definitely avoid CAFO type operations.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Fresh Water Conserve Toilet Water

What would a sustainable water future in your region look like? What needs to change?

Bob Henkel 4/27/2020 8:52 AM

I am encouraged by the increasing number of rain gardens and water management landscaping systems being installed in the region through MSD grants and the Deer Creek Watershed Alliance. Creating more permeable surfaces to slow, spread, and sink storm water into the ground to reduce runoff events is so important to reducing flooding events downstream as well as reducing contamination of of our freshwater rivers and streams. Sustainable water future would be keeping more water onsite for our use, pumping and treating less water from the Missouri River watershed by using less water. Having maintenance turn off automatic sprinklers when it is raining would be a step in the right direction, as well as fixing leaks.

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- Jill Jonas 4/27/2020 5:34 PM
  
  Thanks for the thoughts. I've been moving toward adding a rain garden to help with erosion in my backyard, but I hadn't even though about the downstream benefits to flood prevention. Now I'm even more motivated to get make the rain garden fully happen.
  
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Bob Henkel 4/21/2020 8:18 AM

I love being motivated to get outside. Morning walks with birdsong in the park with the smell of flowering trees and shrubs fill the air and help reduce my stress level. During this time of high anxiety, I need the green space to help me cope and find connection to things beyond myself.

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- Jill Jonas 4/21/2020 4:13 PM
  
  Yes! Totally a must do... I've also found that being outside and being mindful of the sounds and wonder of the outdoors is the best remedy for stress too.
  
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Bob Henkel 4/20/2020 8:05 AM

Today is big day of scheduling at the Virtual St. Louis Earth Day Festival. I hope to get outside tonight. Probably won't be hard to eat vegan today, might not eat anything. But that counts, right?

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- Bob Henkel 4/20/2020 12:49 PM
  
  I appreciate your enthusiasm to motivate me to keep my energy going and I was being slightly facetious for rarely a day goes by without me eating (a lot) but I respectfully disagree that not eating doesn't count as Americans tend to eat much more on average than most other world citizens. Not eating or rather, eating less, is helping the planet whether my meals are meatless, without dairy or in fact without anything at all. Eating one meal/day rather than three must be helpful. It certainly can be a challenge for me to not eat, especially when it is my "go-to" stress reliever when on a computer all day. Working outside all day, fully engrossed in a project, is when I don't event think about eating. Food and our consciousness, how it relates to our self-image, binge and anxiety eating, all these are important factors to consider in how I walk through this world when 172,000 people last year in St. Louis didn't know from where their next meal would be. That number is certainly much higher now. I guess I was being too flippant this morning but thanks to your feedback, Emily, I realize how important it is for me to be more conscious about my food choices and eating habits. thank you!
  
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- Emily Andrews 4/20/2020 12:18 PM
  
  Not eating doesn't count. You gotta fuel yourself to keep going. Just like we have to take care of pollinators, etc.
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
People Keep My Community Clean

How does the act of picking up litter connect you more to your community?

Bob Henkel 4/03/2020 6:58 AM

I started with just a few pieces and then i just couldn't stop until I filled my bag. I usually see trash everywhere and feel so depressed and helpless at the enormity of litter, but having created the intention and prepping myself with a bag and litter picker-uper (that's the fun part - the litter grabber!) plus the sunshine and the amazing flowering trees in the park, I felt like I was on a vacation, Instead of being so focused on walking to where I need to go, I was fully present in the moment: feeling the breeze on my skin, the sunshine, hearing the birdsong and that little crinkle of plastic as it entered my bag. So many people in the neighborhood said hello to me as I passed by, many more than usual. I also realized that some areas were less littered than I thought they would be.

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- Lisa Young 4/04/2020 2:51 PM
  
  Awesome and inspiring!
  
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