Ecochallenge.org

Earth Day Ecochallenge

April 1 - April 30, 2020

Holly White

LiveGreen/UNMC/Nebraska Medicine

"Growing More, Consuming Less"

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
1,248 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

130

pieces of litter

picked up
UP TO

1.0

public official or leader

contacted
UP TO

399

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

691

minutes

not spent in front of a screen
UP TO

691

minutes

spent outdoors
UP TO

60

conversations

with people
UP TO

1.0

documentary

watched
UP TO

2.0

advocacy actions

completed

Holly's actions

Food

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

Oceans

Advocate For More Packaging Options

Plastic packaging can clog our water ways and the stomachs of sea creatures. I will advocate for alternatives to single-use packaging at local grocery stores, markets, at work, or on campus.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

People

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

People

Spend Time Outside

I will replace 30 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

Food

Grow Your Own Vegetables

I buy locally grown produce whenever possible. In the summer months, this means many trips to the Farmers' Markets around town. With increasing uncertainty about the status of Farmers' Markets this year, I have been working hard to expand my own garden, not only to grow more vegetable on my own, but to create areas for plants to attract hummingbirds, bees, butterflies and other pollinators.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Wildlife

Research a Wild Animal

I will spend at least 10 minutes learning about a wild animal I find interesting, including their life cycle, habitat, ecosystem functions, and interactions with humans (if any!).

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Climate

Join the National Parks Conservation Association.

Go to www.npca.org and join. If you are able, please make a donation. I joined to help stop politicians from getting away with shrinking the size of our national monuments and stripping them of protections from oil and gas drilling.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Fresh Water

Conserve Water

Create a way to avoid watching water simply go down the drain and make it a daily habit. Reduce shower time (many experts agree, it really is better for your hair if you don't wash it every day). Instead of pouring water used to steam or boil vegetables or water from your pets' dishes down the drain, transfer that water to a watering can to water your plants.

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

Fresh Water

Get Involved in the Water Justice Movement

I will spend at least 10 minutes a day using the resources provided to learn about water justice and find out how I can get involved in local initiatives.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

People

Keep My Community Clean

I will pick up 5 piece(s) of litter each day while following the CDC’s current guidelines for prevention of disease transfer.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Forests

Advocate for Forest Protection

I will contact 1 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

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

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

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

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
People Connect While Social Distancing

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

Holly White 4/30/2020 9:10 AM

My sister is a RN caring for COVID-19 patients right now. This causes anxiety for my parents, her siblings (me included), her husband and her children - not to mention, her. I think it helps a great deal to hear her voice every day. She's a superhero who remains upbeat and is always quick to laugh. I know this eases the tension my parents are feeling, which is critical as they are elderly. I also connect with my friends who are single and undergoing sheltering in all alone. I find it is really important to remind one another that we are all in this together and that we are not truly alone. Talking someone off the ledge really helps put things in perspective. If I think this is bad, there are others finding it far worse. We need to be present for one another, so we can get through this and make things better together.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Oceans Advocate For More Packaging Options

What concerns you the most about how we are affecting the planet? Consider both local and global actions.

Holly White 4/30/2020 7:40 AM

I feel that there is a vast deficit of information in our communities. I think if more people knew they were sacrificing human lives in Chile and Mexico in order to continue consuming those healthy fats in their avocados, they would stop and think more and strive to make choices that aren't just healthy for them, but for everyone. I know the person who chucks a plastic sprite bottle in the trash doesn't consider this an act of evil. But ask the sea lion at the Henry Doorly Zoo who carries the scars from when he had to be rescued from ocean plastic wrapped around his neck and now must live out his days in captivity. Maybe people just don't care about others? In which case, maybe if they were reminded that this is THEIR air and THEIR water that's at stake here, they would be more inclined to make the necessary lifestyle changes to protect it. People just don't know. I feel like they would care more if they did. The lack of education is my greatest concern.

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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?

Holly White 4/30/2020 7:18 AM

There are so many answers to this question. I will stick to the easiest one: Food Choices. What you eat matters, and you can have big effects in small ways. Take ground beef, for instance. If each American beef eater gave up just one quarter pound of ground beef per week, the reduction in energy required to produce that ground beef would have the equivalent effect of removing four to six million cars from the road. Choose only sustainably managed fish for dinner to help eliminate dependency on open-ocean fishing fleets that rely entirely on dirty fossil fuels and emit an estimated 130 million tons of carbon dioxide each year. Eat lower on the food chain and add more locally grown fruits, vegetables and grains. Remember, fresh is best! Frozen, processed, packaged and pre-cooked foods you find in the grocery store increase energy use. Make an effort to buy foods that were grown close to home bearing in mind that smog-forming emissions from food brought in by airplane are equivalent to those produced by 1.5 million cars each year. I talked about demanding only conflict-free avocados in a different post, in which case you are helping to preserve basic human rights in Chile and Mexico AS WELL as reducing airplane emissions to get that fruit from there to here.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Fresh Water Eco-friendly Gardening

What are the most prominent water concerns in your area? Examples include drought, flooding, pollution, access, security, and privatization.

Holly White 4/29/2020 9:12 AM

Lawns. I guess this is an access issue. Most people in my neighborhood do not have rain barrels. The water that is piped into our homes is the water used to keep lawns green. Is this a fair answer to the question? Eastern Nebraska has been subject to great flooding in recent years, but my neighborhood has not been affected directly. I worry about pollution. At the end of the day, however, my biggest concern has to do with the misuse of water and the fact that most people in this country continue to take it for granted.

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- Melanie Stewart 4/30/2020 6:33 AM
  
  A really good point--most people don't realize how much money (and time) they spend on lawns, and they have almost no ecological benefit. Plant natives!! :)
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Watch a Documentary about Food Sovereignty

How does food sovereignty address the complex agrarian transition to modern food systems?

Holly White 4/29/2020 8:58 AM

Food sovereignty puts people and the environment ahead of corporate farming which has proven to be a threat to public health and the environment. It rejects the notion of food as just another commodity for large-scale agribusiness. It localizes food systems and places control over land, water, seeds, livestock and fish populations back into the hands of local food producers. It advocates for the rights of local food producers to share these resources in sustainable ways. It works well with nature, boosting beneficial ecosystem functions. It promotes the rights of all people to healthy food that is socially and environmentally sustainable.

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Holly White 4/28/2020 11:33 AM

I began watching the docuseries, "Rotten." The first episode is titled, "The Avocado War." I was very sad to learn that my love of the avocado and my weekly consumption of it has been violating basic human rights to water in Chile and has been a magnet for extortion, murder and oppression in Mexico. The fruit is so critical to Chile's agricultural economy that it has literally taken precedence over human life, draining the rivers and depriving the poor access to water in a country where water has been privatized. Because it takes 18 gallons of water to produce a single avocado, there are avocado and water cartels in Mexico. We must act by advocating for the kind of certification system in place for coffee producers and start demanding and only paying for conflict-free avocados in this country. If that means no more guacamole for me, then so be it.

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- Melanie Stewart 4/30/2020 6:44 AM
  
  I didn't know that either!! Thanks for sharing, I'll have to see if I can find this.
  
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Holly White 4/27/2020 8:37 AM

I unplugged and worked outside in the garden all day Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately, that meant no checking in to the Earth Day Ecochallenge and sacrificing some point for the team. Sorry everyone, but it was soooooo worth it! I hope you all enjoyed the weekend as much as I did!

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- Melanie Stewart 4/27/2020 12:41 PM
  
  Don't apologize for that!! Unplugging is important and to be able to spend outside is fantastic--I'm glad you go the chance to do both!!!
  
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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!

Holly White 4/23/2020 10:47 AM

I went to www.deartomorrow.org and wrote a letter to my nieces and nephews. This is what it said:
Dear Nieces and Nephews,
I tried. Each day in my today, I make it a point to learn a new way to make a difference and to implement what I learn so you can have a better tomorrow. I hope you respect Mother Nature and Science. These are great entities that deserve your worship and care. They will persist well into the future, beyond human existence. I hope that you and all people of your tomorrow understand that all other species on earth have equal importance to humans. I hope humans remember with shame that in the past we subjugated those who love the sweetness of life as much as we. I hope that in your tomorrow you are looking at and loving a great abundance of species on earth. I hope that what seems like a small gathering of people who care about your tomorrow today soon becomes a great army of people who can work together in harmony to clean up today's messes so that you can have clean air, water and healthy food. I hope you are loving your neighbors (all of them around the globe) and above all, I hope you are loving all creatures great and small. I love you.

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- Melanie Stewart 4/23/2020 12:10 PM
  
  This is nice, thank you for sharing! And thank you for sharing the resource too.
  
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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?

Holly White 4/21/2020 10:53 AM

Sunlight and fresh air are a primal need, a fact many people aren't aware of. Spending too much time (most of it for about 90% of our population) indoors throws off our circadian rhythm leading to seriously negative effects such as fatigue, Seasonal Affective Disorder and even respiratory problems. Not only is indoor lighting insufficient for our needs, but the indoor air quality of most homes can be up to five times more polluted than outside air. The implications for a culture that spends most of its time indoors are dire. Spending too much time indoors can lead to eye, nose & throat irritation, fatigue, and it increases the risk of developing asthma by up to 40%. I have been outdoorsy all my life, so this "challenge" to spend more time outside is really just an excuse to spend MORE time outdoors. If I must be inside on a nice day, I open up the windows so I can at least hear what the birds and other critters are up to on the other side of them.

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Holly White 4/17/2020 8:08 AM

Story of the week (quite possibly the year for me): At 9:30 pm on Wednesday as my husband and I were about to start getting ready for bed, our doorbell rang. We have a NEST doorbell, so my husband was able to answer from his chair. It was a desperate-sounding lady who explained that as she was cleaning the bird cage, her Quaker parakeet managed to fly out of the house when one of her teenage children opened the door. She said he was in our tree out back and could she please enter our yard to try to coax him down. Of course we said yes, by all means - we are bird owners ourselves. I brought out some bird food and an extra cage that we own to try to help her coax him down. As we kept calling to him he would say his name, Nemo, and "nighty night." This went on for a good half hour until he flew into our neighbor's tree. We went over there and pretty soon our 80-year-old neighbor was out helping us. Unfortunately our efforts failed and Nemo flew off to who knows where. We were all downhearted and we left without hope knowing the weather that was predicted for Thursday. We promptly posted that Nemo was missing on Facebook Nextdoor and simply prayed for the best. All of Thursday I felt terrible, watching first the drizzle that started in the morning and then the piles of wet, heavy snow that kept building and building. Still, knowing my neighborhood and the people I reached out to personally in our search for Nemo, I maintained hope. Sure enough at 11:30 pm, I received the message! WE FOUND NEMO and he is okay!!! I had never met Nemo's mom before Wednesday night and now I have two new friends for life (including Nemo)! Today looks so beautiful to me now!

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