TAMARA FRANKS

High Country UCC

"Loving the earth as it loves me"

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
367 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

32

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

210

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

45

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

210

minutes

spent outdoors

TAMARA's actions

Waste

Visit a Waste Management Facility

I will spend at least 45 minutes visiting a local dump/transfer station, material recovery facility, and/or landfill to learn about the waste stream.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Nature

Go for a Daily Walk

I will take a 30-minute walk outside each day.

COMPLETED 7
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.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health

Take Control

Both system and personal sustainability are important! I will develop a plan with my medical professionals to achieve my best health and live my life to the fullest.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Reduce Animal Products

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

COMPLETED 16
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?

REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste Visit a Waste Management Facility

Field trip! What a fun way to learn about our impact and consumption! What facility did you visit? What did you learn? Did you take anyone with you?

TAMARA FRANKS 10/22/2018 8:15 AM

Visited the Watauga County Waste Center on Thursday, October 18. I learned that my garbage gets shipped off the mountain to Catawba County. I also learned that the new Director of Recycling is doing everything possible to lessen the trash deposited into the landfill. Within this goal, the recycling amounts have plateaued over the last 5 years. The next challenge becomes finding ways to increase what is recycled. A pay for trash vs recycled for free is one thought stream. Disposability is too easy in our lives.

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TAMARA FRANKS 10/14/2018 11:35 AM

I thought eating one non-meat meal and being outside on a walk for 30 min a day would be easy. My lesson learned with this challenge - fact and fiction are two different things. Keeping track makes a difference on the truth and the perception that I am doing good things for the environment. I have a long ways to go.....

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Nature Go for a Daily Walk

How do you experience your neighborhood or city differently when walking instead of driving?

TAMARA FRANKS 10/11/2018 8:31 AM

Not being enclosed within the metal and glass of a car is an incredible difference I experience when hiking or biking. I can hear the creeks and the birds. I can smell the fir trees and the earthy compost. I can feel the ground/roots under my feet and the air on my skin. There is a visceral response from my Spirit when I am "with" nature.

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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?

TAMARA FRANKS 10/09/2018 7:43 AM

Eating meat was taught as the basis of the meals for my own growing up years. Celebrating vegetables - their taste, ways of preparing them and cool diversity of them - may help shift focus away from meat.

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