Skip to main content
April 1 - April 30, 2020
Iris Barkett's avatar

Iris Barkett

Asheville High School

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 525 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    3.0
    public officials or leaders
    contacted
  • UP TO
    107
    minutes
    spent learning
  • UP TO
    625
    minutes
    not spent in front of a screen
  • UP TO
    625
    minutes
    spent outdoors
  • UP TO
    131
    conversations
    with people
  • UP TO
    3.0
    advocacy actions
    completed
  • UP TO
    43
    meatless or vegan meals
    consumed
  • UP TO
    35
    plastic bottles
    not sent to the landfill

Iris's 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

Fresh Water

Use a Reusable Water Bottle

I will use a reusable bottle and stop purchasing bottled water, saving 1 disposable plastic bottle(s) a day.

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

Forests

Advocate for Forest Protection

I will contact 2 congress people or representatives to advocate for public policy that protects forests and improves their ability to sequester carbon and nourish biodiversity.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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

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

Research Benefits of Biodiversity

I will spend at least 30 minutes researching how biodiversity positively impacts our world and how the loss of biodiversity harms it.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates

I will spend at least 30 minutes learning how to differentiate between sell by, use by, and best by dates.

COMPLETED
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: Earth Day Together!

Earth Day Action: Research and Support Local Organizations

I will spend 30 minutes researching local organizations and businesses in my community, then support one of them by writing a testimonial or positive review, ordering curbside, making a donation to my favorite nonprofit, or supporting them in another way.

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
    Action Track: Earth Day Together! Earth Day Action: Research and Support Local Organizations
    Why is it important to support local organizations and businesses? How does it help to build a more resilient community?

    Iris Barkett's avatar
    Iris Barkett 4/21/2020 12:53 PM
    It is important to support local organizations and businesses because they are a crucial part of our society that helps keep us moving. It also builds up a more resilient community because we are not completely dependant on the big corporations. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Forests Forest-Friendly Foods
    How difficult or easy was it to change your diet?

    Iris Barkett's avatar
    Iris Barkett 4/17/2020 6:20 PM
    This was pretty difficult for me but in only some parts. We generally as a household try and eat the best we can, and have very little palm oil. I generally do not drink coffee, but where I struggled was cocoa, since I have nothing to do really I have baked a lot, and chocolate is a big part of that. 
  • 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?

    Iris Barkett's avatar
    Iris Barkett 4/15/2020 9:00 AM
    I currently have only been going to the parkway, so that is one area that I feel called to work on. 
  • 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?

    Iris Barkett's avatar
    Iris Barkett 4/15/2020 8:51 AM
    I think being in nature really helps most humans, it allows us to connect to the world deeper than we would inside. If we spend so much of our time indoors we will not get to experience the beauty of the world. We would allow for a lot of our environments to get neglected. And as a culture, we will be less connected to the world around us. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Action Track: Building Resilience Research Benefits of Biodiversity
    How can you encourage biodiversity by your own actions?

    Iris Barkett's avatar
    Iris Barkett 4/15/2020 8:47 AM
    I can encourage biodiversity by planting more plants in my yard other than grass, I can work to make our land a less monoculture area. I can also talk with family members about planting gardens and working towards a more biodiverse area. 
  • 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?

    Iris Barkett's avatar
    Iris Barkett 4/15/2020 8:34 AM
    People in richer countries eat more meat than people in other places because in other places they are often more likely to conserve the food that they have. Meat is also expensive and richer countries like the US have created industrialized farming so that more people can eat meat. Eating more meat raises a lot of our greenhouse gas emissions, the process alone to grow the animal, (especially cattle). Eating more meat will also affect the farming communities,  and how they farm, and the pricing that goes along with meat. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Food Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates
    How does knowing the difference between use by, sell by, and best by dates empower you to make better decisions?

    Iris Barkett's avatar
    Iris Barkett 4/15/2020 8:28 AM
    Knowing the difference between the use by and sell-by dates helps me know what food I should not be throwing away, and even though it might say sell by one date I can use it for longer, decreasing my food waste. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Fresh Water Use a Reusable Water Bottle
    Using the links provided, investigate the bottling practices of water corporations. There have been many cases where the water rights of the local people have been violated or even completely disregarded when a corporation decides to bottle water from a particular water source. How can you advocate for those who have been harmed - both humans and wildlife - by this bottling process?

    Iris Barkett's avatar
    Iris Barkett 4/03/2020 9:29 AM
    I can advocate for those who have been harmed by the bottling process, by stop using water bottles. And try and educate others about the harm that water bottles cause.  
  • 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?

    Iris Barkett's avatar
    Iris Barkett 4/03/2020 9:21 AM
    Talking to other people is a huge help for my own mental and emotional health. Interacting with people and not just being alone by myself is a huge help just overall.  I am assuming it also helps the other people I am talking with. Having a system of support is also very helpful for everyone involved. Talking with people knowing that they are experiencing the same thing is really nice. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Forests Advocate for Forest Protection
    Higher standards of living are very often dependent on moving our environmental costs elsewhere. What are some specific ways in which the environmental impacts of your own lifestyle might be shifted elsewhere?

    Iris Barkett's avatar
    Iris Barkett 4/01/2020 9:05 AM
    Environmental impacts everyone's lives. The environmental impact of my lifestyle is trash, I produce trash just like any other human. I have more things that I need. And when I throw something away, to me it is gone but then it has to be shipped, which is an increase of use of fossil fuels for it being shipped, and then if it is going to China they just hire people to sort through the recycling, so they are touching everything, they are interacting to chemicals that no one should be exposed to. This is just one impact of my lifestyle that has been shifted to other places.