Steve O'Rourke

St. Louis Goes Green!

"Making the planet a healthier & happier place!"

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
312 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

11

conversations

with people
UP TO

24

gallons of water

have been saved
UP TO

10

minutes

spent outdoors
UP TO

10

minutes

not spent in front of a screen

Steve's actions

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.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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

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

Spend Time Outside

I will replace 10 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 3 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

Action Track: Earth Day Together!

Earth Day Action: Share Eco Tips

Through social media or on the Earth Day Ecochallenge feed, I will share my favorite environmentally friendly habit with my friends, even if it’s not an Earth Day action.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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

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

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?

Steve O'Rourke 4/22/2020 7:12 PM

I'm doing the challenge because I want to contribute to and play with an outstanding St. Louis team! This is a great chance to share and showcase our ideas and practices that make a sustainable lifestyle. Frankly, the whole thing has been a bit overwhelming; even though I'm home all the time, I'm as busy as ever and just now getting the hang of how this program works! So I'm trying to catch up in the fourth week, celebrating Earth Week!

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Steve O'Rourke 4/22/2020 7:07 PM

A few years ago (2014) we took advantage of the Bring Conservation Home program offered by the Audubon Society. Mitch Leachman pointed out all of the invasive and non-native species that were either volunteer or planted with the best of intentions. Since then, I've added dozens of species to my landscape, including milkweeds, American beauty berry, witchhazel, chokeberry, golden ragwort and many other perennials. For more details, see https://energuidance.com/2014/04/30/bringing-conservation-home/
One of three bunches of milkweed sprouting in warming weather!

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- Steve O'Rourke 4/24/2020 11:58 AM
  
  LOL - if I don't put down markers or add it to my landscaping map I'm lost. The iNaturalist app helped identify some plants that got lost in the shuffle when I did the spring competition last year!
  
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- Freddie Brandt 4/24/2020 10:47 AM
  
  I was wondering what was sprouting in my front yard! :) I couldn't remember from the year before what was there. YAY milkweed! Thanks Steve.
  
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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?

Steve O'Rourke 4/22/2020 8:56 AM

Our biggest challenge is this area to manage the abundance of rain water that we get. Rather than funneling it into non-permeable channels, we need to slow the flow and allow water to seep back into the earth to naturally recharge our aquifers.

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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!

Steve O'Rourke 4/22/2020 8:53 AM

Dear Mother Earth,

Thank you for providing a home to such a wide diversity of minerals, plants, animals and other forms of life that make up this incredible earth. We are so blessed to have such rich and abundant resources to make our lives comfortable. Thank you for the beauty of the mountains, oceans, forests and plains; the sunsets and sunrises, and the beautiful blue skies and clouds that replenish our rivers and streams with fresh rainwater and snow to melt from mountaintops. Thank you for the rich diversity of food we grow, the flowers and plant that provide beauty and health; the trees that provide shade, shelter and wood for fabrication. Thank you for the variety of natural materials that we mix and sculpt to create a built environment that protects us from the elements and nurtures our bodies. Thank you for animals that comfort and entertain us, work for us and offer their bodies as food for sustenance. I so appreciate this wonderful place we call home, and live with intention to honor you in all that I do.

Namaste.

P.S: I love you!

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- Steve O'Rourke 4/22/2020 11:35 AM
  
  I can't think of another planet I'd rather live on! Let's give a big shout-out and a lot of love to Mother Earth!! :-D
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Action Track: Earth Day Together! Earth Day Action: Share Eco Tips

What environmentally friendly habit have you most recently implemented? How do you ensure that you are successful in creating or changing a habit?

Steve O'Rourke 4/21/2020 9:37 PM

We've been using cloth napkins for a while now, and use cloth tags and towels rather than paper. With the scarcity of toilet paper these days, we have decided that we can use washable cloth as an alternative for #1!

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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?

Steve O'Rourke 4/21/2020 9:29 PM

Human interaction is more important to some people than others, but essential to emotional health. Connecting over shared interests of gratifying, as is finding agreement and solutions in the work environment.

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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?

Steve O'Rourke 4/21/2020 9:23 PM

Connecting with the Earth is grounding. My wife has inspired me to walk on the grass barefoot, and stand against a tree. These simple actions can bring us closer to nature and provide natural uplifting.

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Steve O'Rourke 4/19/2020 6:39 PM

I've been an active advocate for sustainability for the past 15-20 years, and have lead an award-winning green team in the St. Louis Green Business Challenge. I'm pleased to say that my family members are all not only supportive, but leading in their own way to embrace sustainability in our home.

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Steve O'Rourke 4/17/2020 9:31 AM

Established an account and ordered groceries from Shipt to support a struggling gig economy, while practicing safe social distancing at home!

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