Skip to main content
April 1 - April 30, 2020
Matthew Dashnaw's avatar

Matthew Dashnaw

FGCU Eagles

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 536 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    47
    pieces of litter
    picked up
  • UP TO
    2.0
    public officials or leaders
    contacted
  • UP TO
    1.0
    community event
    hosted or attended
  • UP TO
    315
    minutes
    spent learning
  • UP TO
    29
    pounds of CO2
    have been saved
  • UP TO
    496
    minutes
    not spent in front of a screen
  • UP TO
    496
    minutes
    spent outdoors
  • UP TO
    54
    conversations
    with people
  • UP TO
    2.0
    documentaries
    watched
  • UP TO
    40
    plastic straws
    not sent to the landfill
  • UP TO
    4.0
    hours
    volunteered
  • UP TO
    3.0
    advocacy actions
    completed
  • UP TO
    33
    plastic bottles
    not sent to the landfill

Matthew's actions

Action Track: Earth Day Together!

Earth Day Action: Write a Love Letter, Poem, or Song to Earth

I will express my love and gratitude for our Earth by writing a love letter, poem, or song to Earth.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Oceans

Join a Cleanup Effort

I will host or participate in a trash pickup at a local river or beach that follows the CDC’s current guidelines for prevention of disease transfer.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

People

Connect While Social Distancing

I will connect with at least 4 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

People

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

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

Oceans

Say No to Plastic Straws

An estimated 71% of seabirds and 30% of turtles have been found with plastics in their stomachs. When marine wildlife ingest plastic, they have a 50% mortality rate. By asking for no straw when placing a drink order, I will keep 5 plastic straw(s) of out of the ocean each day.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Oceans

Learn about Our Oceans

I will spend at least 30 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

Fresh Water

Use a Reusable Water Bottle

I will use a reusable bottle and stop purchasing bottled water, saving 5 disposable plastic bottle(s) a day.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

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

Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates

I will spend at least 20 minutes learning how to differentiate between sell by, use by, and best by dates.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Building Resilience

Volunteer in my Community

I will volunteer 3 hour(s) in my community helping people who are most at need right now, including elderly and immunocompromised people, people without childcare, and people whose jobs have been affected by social distancing measures.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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

Climate

Stay on the Ground

Instead of traveling by plane, I will find an alternative way to accomplish the goals of an upcoming trip (i.e. telepresence, vacation locally).

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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

Wildlife

Seek Alternative Gifts and Souvenirs

Bringing home unique souvenirs from trips you’ve enjoyed is meaningful, and giving people unique gifts from other places is fun. Seek souvenirs and gifts that support local communities and do not cause harm to the environment or wildlife.

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?

    Matthew Dashnaw's avatar
    Matthew Dashnaw 4/29/2020 5:56 PM
    It is important to support local organizations and businesses because they provide for your community and ensuring their success improves the ability for them to provide for your fellow community members. This will help build a self efficient resilient community that reduce its dependence on larger scale industries or stores to provide them the goods or services needed. 
  • 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?

    Matthew Dashnaw's avatar
    Matthew Dashnaw 4/29/2020 5:51 PM
    I can advocate by educating people of what goes into the bottling making process and how it requires more resources to create a bottle then the resource that will be stored inside of it. Advocating for the funding of reusable bottles or production can be done by showing the earth the effects of plastic pollution and introducing them to organizations trying to clean our oceans. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    People 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?

    Matthew Dashnaw's avatar
    Matthew Dashnaw 4/29/2020 5:49 PM
    It does ring true for me because i view nature as a get away from what has become modern day life. It is an opportunity to explore, observe and relax in untapped nature. to me this promotes thinking, wonder growth with a sense of connection nature an develops a more principled idea of how i can affect or help my environmental surroundings. The implications for a culture that spends most of its time indoors is a lack of exploratory opportunities and ability to appreciate natures beauty and all it does for us. And by staying in doors we will never understand the graveness of our actions or inaction's.  
  • 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?

    Matthew Dashnaw's avatar
    Matthew Dashnaw 4/29/2020 5:42 PM
    I could shift my reliance on a vehicle to sustainable options to reduce my carbon footprint by car pooling, walking to locations within 10-15 minutes and limiting my need to travel by only making necessary trips instead of on the whim decisions. An can also reduce the amount of water and plastic i consume by utilizing reusable water bottles, mugs, containers and shopping bags. Reducing water consumption or waste by only flushing toilets when needed and turning off the tap when brushing teeth or not utilizing the water. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Wildlife Seek Alternative Gifts and Souvenirs
    How do your consumption choices affect the health of wildlife and other communities?

    Matthew Dashnaw's avatar
    Matthew Dashnaw 4/29/2020 5:36 PM
    My consumption choices can impact the health of wildlife of communities by either helping local businesses and ecosystems thrive or cause destruction. By choosing local environmentally friendly gifts or resources you empower businesses trying to make a difference and help the ecosystem thrive by using reusable, sustainable and environmentally friendly items that won't pollute the environment, result in lose of land or require the killing of species or use of harmful chemical substances. 
  • 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?

    Matthew Dashnaw's avatar
    Matthew Dashnaw 4/29/2020 5:29 PM
    The empower me to make conscious decisions regarding the food i buy to get the most out of it by reducing my waste. Understanding this allows me to gauge whether a product or food item is still okay enough to eat or use before throwing it away as waste. sell by dates do not represent the product going bad but rather the stores date too sell the food item to ensure optimal freshness. Bets by dates are a relative notification telling you the product is best use or consumed by then. It does not say that a product will spoil if used in the short period after. Expiration dates indicate the predicted time that the food will start the spoil or become a hazard to consume. One thing to understand though is the product you buy and compare it's expiration date to its potential shelf life if its a nonperishable. If its milk, eggs, cheese, chicken etc. abide by the expiration date to ensure safe consumption. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Climate Stay on the Ground
    What was your process like for restructuring your trip? How can you avoid more air travel in the future?

    Matthew Dashnaw's avatar
    Matthew Dashnaw 4/28/2020 6:19 PM
    Instead of traveling to Seattle this past spring break i decided to take an opportunity to explore the everglades national park during the downtime I had created by the corona virus pandemic. I did this prior to the closure of national parks. I also have spent time doing virtual tours of other national parks and cities like Portland and Seattle to still see the nature i want to explore and enhance my understanding of it and its terrain for future trips. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Action Track: Building Resilience Volunteer in my Community
    How does volunteering enhance your community and/or change your relationship with it?

    Matthew Dashnaw's avatar
    Matthew Dashnaw 4/28/2020 6:15 PM
    Volunteering connects you to more people who reside in it. It enhances your ability to interact and engage with community members and gain vital perspectives to how they feel about the environment surrounding them.The changes that will present themselves is the creation of evolving understanding of your community and the people in it. This in return creates a relationship of mutual respect and understanding. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Action Track: Earth Day Together! Earth Day Action: Write a Love Letter, Poem, or Song to Earth
    What are you grateful for about our planet? Share what you created or your general thoughts of love and gratitude with everyone else!

    Matthew Dashnaw's avatar
    Matthew Dashnaw 4/28/2020 6:10 PM
    I'm grateful for the vast arrays of ecosystems and nature dense areas to visit. The opportunity allows for me to explore the different landscapes and natural structures present not only in Florida but across the globe. The earth has so mush to offer and explore its hard to not be grateful fro all it provides in return by asking we simply take care of it. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    People Keep My Community Clean
    How does the act of picking up litter connect you more to your community?

    Matthew Dashnaw's avatar
    Matthew Dashnaw 4/28/2020 6:05 PM
    The act of picking up liter raises your awareness to how you live in your community. It makes your presence a stronger one through cleaning it up and ensuring its ability to prosper without liter or trash hindering it. It also connects you to the role you play within and ecosystem as a protector, providing in ample opportunity to flourish with presence of your peers.