Susan Caplow

University of Montevallo Behavioral and Social Sciences

"let's do this. "

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
643 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

51

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

30

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

30

minutes

spent outdoors
UP TO

315

minutes

being mindful
UP TO

450

minutes

not spent in front of a screen
UP TO

26

whole food meals

consumed

Susan's actions

Simplicity

Limit Social Media

I will limit my social media use to once each day reducing my daily use by 30 minute(s)

COMPLETED 15
DAILY ACTIONS

Simplicity

Eat Mindfully

I will eat all of my meals without distractions, e.g., phone, computer, TV, or newspaper.

COMPLETED 7
DAILY ACTIONS

Nature

Explore My Area

I will explore at least one new hiking trail or nature walk in my area.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Nature

Tend a Garden

I will tend to a garden each day, or work on starting one.

COMPLETED 8
DAILY ACTIONS

Nature

Support Local Pollinators

At least 30% of crops and 90% of flowering plants rely on pollinators to produce fruit. I will spend 30 minutes researching which plants support local native pollinators and plant some in my yard.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Reduce Animal Products

I will enjoy 2 meatless meal(s) and/or 1 vegan meal(s) each day this week.

COMPLETED 17
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Whole Foods Diet

I will enjoy 2 meal(s) each day free of processed foods.

COMPLETED 13
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?

Susan Caplow 10/24/2018 12:41 PM

Got out in the garden again today! still working on making that a habit - I was hoping the challenge would make me do it, but there were quite a few days I forgot to check on my lil' baby lettuces. It's hilarious to garden with Ramona though, she keeps pulling up the plants and eating them.

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Susan Caplow 10/21/2018 9:29 AM

Of all the things I committed to, eating all meals without distraction has been the hardest one. I realized that even before smart phones, before personal computers, I have always had the habit of reading while eating - I did it at my kitchen table in high school with the newspaper! I think this one is somewhat of a tangential sustainability goal, but mindfulness has its benefit to personal wellbeing, which is of course huge for sustainability. I'm still working on this one.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Simplicity Limit Social Media

Social media is a great way to keep us connected with loved ones, makes us laugh, and helps us to learn new things. It can also take more time than we realize or intend to give. After doing this action for a few days now, how do you feel? What do you notice?

Susan Caplow 10/18/2018 6:57 PM

I always feel better when I limit social media, especially nowadays when the newsfeed isn't just friends and puppies, it's all sorts of really bad news. I can't stick my head in the sand about environmental news of course, but limiting my time on social media helps me limit how much energy I put into following what's happening in the world, which gives me more emotional space for real world things like hanging out with Ramona :-)

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Susan Caplow 10/07/2018 1:15 PM

Things are going well so far- although I'm struggling to measure a 30 minute reduction in my social media usage - what is my baseline? and how do I establish the counterfactual? Teammates, any good tips for how you manage social media time?

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Simplicity Eat Mindfully

Mindful eating is healthier for us than eating with distractions. How do your eating experiences differ when practicing mindfulness?

Susan Caplow 9/30/2018 11:53 AM

I find that when eating mindfully, I first have to get over my feeling of inefficiency - I get anxious thinking about all of the multi-tasking I'm missing out on. However, once I actually get settled into the activity, in the end it's much more rejuvenating than it would have been if I was just surfing the net or reading while eating.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Nature Support Local Pollinators

Why is it important to take care of pollinators?

Susan Caplow 9/30/2018 11:51 AM

Pollinators do such important work! I'm hoping to gradually shift our lawnscape into something more native, which will require less maintenance and will provide better habitat. Any suggestions from others on the team are most welcome!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Reduce Animal Products

What do you think contributes to people in North America eating more meat than in other places, and what does this say about North American values and ways of living? How do we start shifting a meat-focused food culture?

Susan Caplow 9/30/2018 9:37 AM

Eating animals is associated with wealth and prosperity, and it's hard to break ourselves free from those assumptions - there's also an obsession with protein as part of the exercise industry, and so a lot of folks think that we all need more protein, but in reality Americans eat several times more protein than is necessary/recommended for optimal health. We also think eating protein will keep us feeling full longer, so it's part of a weight loss strategy too. I think we shift the culture by a) shifting agricultural subsidies away from animal products, and b) modeling healthy plant-based eating.

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