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October 3 - October 24, 2018
Heather Reinhart's avatar

Heather Reinhart

KINK programming

"I am not an eight year old robot, I am a 27 year old person in denial"

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 1,027 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    1.0
    energy audit
    conducted
  • UP TO
    165
    gallons of water
    have been saved
  • UP TO
    330
    minutes
    spent outdoors
  • UP TO
    22
    pounds
    waste composted
  • UP TO
    88
    pounds of CO2
    have been saved
  • UP TO
    1.0
    waste audit
    conducted

Heather's actions

Transportation

Improve a Bus Stop

I will improve a bus stop in my neighborhood by posting the stop schedule, adding seating or shelter, adding art or flowers, picking up litter, or some other small improvement.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Energy

Online Energy Audit

I will complete an online energy audit of my home, office, or dorm room and identify my next steps for saving energy.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Nature

Do Nature Activities

I will engage in nature-based activities alone, or with my friends or family, for 15 minute(s) each day. (This can be anything from going on a walk or hike, to noticing the leaves changing color, to reading a book with nature themes.)

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Energy

Switch to Cold Water

I will switch to washing my clothes in cold water, saving up to 1,600 lbs of C02 over the course of the next year.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Weekly Meal Planning

I will reduce food waste and save money by planning a weekly menu, only buying the ingredients I need.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Personal Waste Audit

I will collect all of my unrecyclable, non-compostable trash to raise my awareness of how much I send to the landfill.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health

Happiness

I will write down three things every day that I am grateful for, or send one email every day thanking or praising someone.

COMPLETED 21
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Compost Food Waste

I will avoid sending up to .69 lbs (.31 kg) of food waste to the landfill each day by composting my food or learning how to.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Water

Install a Toilet Tank Bank

I will reduce the amount of water flushed and save up to 11 gallons (41 L) of water each day by installing a toilet tank bank.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health

Eliminate Toxic Plastics

I will avoid buying toxic plastics - including polycarbonate, polystyrene and polyvinyl - and instead replace them with bioplastic or durable options.

COMPLETED 22
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
    Transportation Improve a Bus Stop
    How can you advocate for transportation systems which minimize environmental impact while also meeting human needs?

    Heather Reinhart's avatar
    Heather Reinhart 10/24/2018 9:27 AM
    I ma not sure how to answer this question. Public transport is more green to start with. I imagine pushing for solar power and electric modes of transportation would be the best option.

  • Heather Reinhart's avatar
    Heather Reinhart 10/23/2018 9:25 AM
    Happy last day everyone and happy Eco saving adventures all year long!
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Energy Online Energy Audit
    What most interested or surprised you about your own energy footprint?

    Heather Reinhart's avatar
    Heather Reinhart 10/23/2018 9:24 AM
    I am quite surprised at how good of a score my home (8.6 out of 10, 10 being the best) got considering it is an older home and sometimes I can feel the energy seeping in or out. I do try to keep the energy usage down in the winter by keeping the temperature around 67 or 68 and low 80's in the summer. I have a couple dogs though and don't want them overheating or freezing either!

    • Peggy La Point's avatar
      Peggy La Point 10/23/2018 10:33 AM
      We had an energy audit( done by the folks who do it when you are selling a home) and ended up with a 7 on our 1910 home. Our high score came from our solar panels, radiant floors and thick insulation. We have a bunch of old windows and I thought that would have a bigger impact. 

  • Heather Reinhart's avatar
    Heather Reinhart 10/22/2018 8:21 AM
    I hope everyone else enjoyed the amazing sun-shining weekend we just had. I was out at my parents farm soaking up the sun and eating their garden veggies!
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Waste Personal Waste Audit
    Why is it so difficult to understand the impacts our purchases and waste have on other people, animals, and places? How might your experience with this challenge impact your future consumption and choices?

    Heather Reinhart's avatar
    Heather Reinhart 10/22/2018 8:20 AM
    I believe it is difficult to understand our waste impacts because most of us don't actually see them. Someone else takes it away and we never have to see or hear from it again. If we didn't have trash service I think people would be way more aware of their impact because they would have to figure out what to do with it all themselves.

  • Heather Reinhart's avatar
    Heather Reinhart 10/18/2018 11:29 AM
    Setting reminders for when I get home are a great way to remember things I wanted to get done that I normally wouldn't. Either a task that is out of norm or one I routinely forget. Today I am setting a reminder to do en energy audit on my home. We'll see if I can make it happen!

  • Heather Reinhart's avatar
    Heather Reinhart 10/17/2018 1:37 PM
    If not everyone is looking at their emails, NEI has put out a pretty awesome looking raffle if you donate certain amounts to them. Check it out!

  • Heather Reinhart's avatar
    Heather Reinhart 10/17/2018 9:21 AM
    Today's sunrise was another spectacular one and my trash pile for my waste audit is coming together! I will try to show a photo when done. Am I supposed to do this for a week since it's a one time challenge or for the whole challenge? Anyone know? It wasn't quite clear.

    • Heather Reinhart's avatar
      Heather Reinhart 10/17/2018 1:35 PM
      Ok, thank you Peggy :)

    • Peggy La Point's avatar
      Peggy La Point 10/17/2018 12:44 PM
      I`m doing a waste audit for the entire 3 weeks. I`ve been carrying it daily and then putting it in a bag. You could do a week or the entire challenge.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Waste Compost Food Waste
    New to composting? Be sure to check out the action resource links to learn tips and more about it. As you transition from throwing food away to composting, what do you notice about how much you are tossing? Do you know how your compost will be used and the benefits it has on the environment?

    Heather Reinhart's avatar
    Heather Reinhart 10/17/2018 9:16 AM
    I notice there was a lot of food scrap going into the garbage especially when I cook a lot. I use a large Tupperware to put them in before they go  to the compost bin and it can fill up fast. Meaning frequent trips outside, this challenge is a good reminder to keep it up and not get lazy when the inside container gets full.

  • Heather Reinhart's avatar
    Heather Reinhart 10/16/2018 9:34 AM
    Last years ECO challenge, my big goal was to make a compost bin. I didn't manage to pull this off until after the challenge but it was so easy and now food scraps are composting away in my back yard and it doesn't smell at all. I took a rubbermaid tote and drilled a ton of holes on all sides, not the lid, then layered with leaves and grass clippings and have since just been tossing in the food scraps and very occasionally mixing it all around, oh, and tossing in the slugs because they love that environment and I am hoping it keeps them away from my garden! If you want to try this and need help, feel free to contact me! ;)