Ecochallenge.org

2018 People's Ecochallenge

October 3 - October 24, 2018

Richard Craft

WSP USA & Friends

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
830 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

11

plastic straws

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

11

pounds of CO2

have been saved
UP TO

6.0

lightbulbs

replaced
UP TO

198

gallons of water

have been saved
UP TO

15

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

1.0

energy audit

conducted
UP TO

9.0

pounds of paper

have been saved

Richard's actions

Energy

Choose LED Bulbs

I will replace 6 incandescent lightbulb(s) with Energy Star-certified LED bulbs, saving up to $14 per fixture per year.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Energy

Adjust the Thermostat

I will adjust my thermostat down 2 degrees from usual when I use the heat, and up 2 degrees when I use air conditioning.

COMPLETED 10
DAILY ACTIONS

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

Energy

Power Down the Computer

I will power down my computer and monitor when not using it for more than 2 hours, saving up to (1.1) lbs of CO2 each day that I do this.

COMPLETED 10
DAILY ACTIONS

Energy

Turn it off

I will keep lights, electronics, and appliances turned off when not using them.

COMPLETED 11
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Choose Two-Sided Printing

I will save up to .21 lbs (.09 kg) of paper each day by switching from one-sided printing to two-sided.

COMPLETED 9
DAILY ACTIONS

Water

Ditch the Lawn

I will replace my lawn with a drought-tolerant landscape and save the water, money, and time I used to spend cutting the grass.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

Install a Low-Flow Showerhead

I will save up to 15 gallons (56 L) of water a day by installing a low-flow showerhead.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

Fix Leaky Faucets

I will fix faucets or report leaky faucets to facilities that have been wasting up to 9 gallons (34 L) of water per faucet every day.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

Mulch the Base of Trees and Plants

I will prevent water runoff and increase absorbency by mulching the base of plants and trees at my home or work.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health

Support Pollution Reduction

I will spend at least 15 minutes learning about water and air quality issues in my area, how they are impacting human and environmental health, and how I can help.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

Eco-friendly Gardening

I will plant native species, landscape with water-efficient plants, and use eco-friendly fertilizers.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Skip the Straw

Plastic bags and small plastic pieces like straws are most likely to get swept into our waterways. I will keep 1 plastic straw(s) out of the landfill and ocean each day by refusing straws or using my own glass/metal straw.

COMPLETED 11
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Learn About Local Environmental Justice Concerns

I will spend 20 minutes researching environmental justice concerns in my region, their causes, and local initiatives to address these concerns.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Support Native Communities

I will use the resource links provided and spend 30 minutes learning about the native populations that lived in my area prior to colonization, and what I can do to support those that still exist.

UNCOMPLETED
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?

Richard Craft 10/24/2018 3:48 PM

If anything, this Eco-Challenge has been an eye-opening experience from all the material I have digested. If we are to have a positive impact on our communities, we have to personally step up and make it happen. I like the personal challenges that this campaign has issued and was able to consistently meet my daily goal. The Reflection Questions were more of a challenge. I had to actually sit down and do some research. This of course, added to my awareness of the problems we face in our local communities as well as the global impact we can start to tackle.

Read More
- Meghan Jones 10/24/2018 4:02 PM
  
  Thanks for the inspiring post, Richard.
  
  Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Health Support Pollution Reduction

What environmental factors affect human health in your region, and how do they affect it?

Richard Craft 10/24/2018 3:40 PM

This wasn't the easiest refelction question to answer, but I have spent some time reading about it. From this webpage:
https://www.doi.gov/ocl/hearings/110/ThreatToTheGreatBasin_101107Pellant

Factors Relating to Climate Change
Water Quality
Invasive Species
Wildfires

It's a report from 2007, but the material cited in it are still relevant today. Instead of cutting and pasting portions of it, I invite you to read it in your spare time.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Water Eco-friendly Gardening

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

Richard Craft 10/24/2018 3:29 PM

Ninety percent of Las Vegas' water supply comes from Lake Mead which has dropped more than 130 feet since January 2000. The major concern is the ongoing drought, but polluntants as listed below are becoming a major concern. A report (https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/system.php?pws=NV0000090#.WXjCJ9PyvVo) lists the following:
Bromodichloromethane
Chloroform
Chromium (hexavalent)
Dibromochloromethane
Dichloroacetic acid
Radiological contaminants
Total trihalomethanes (TTHMs)
Trichloroacetic acid
Hormones

Flooding is also a concern with our prevalent soil type which is quick to saturate.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Water Install a Low-Flow Showerhead

How can your region/household prepare for changing water situations in order to become more resilient?

Richard Craft 10/24/2018 3:19 PM

The Las Vegas Valley has been in a drought since January 2000. lake level has dropped over 130 feet since then. Thanks largely to the adoption of water conservation measures in 2003, conservation efforts in the Las Vegas Valley have helped reduce the community’s Colorado River consumption by 28 billion gallons between 2002 and 2017, even as the population increased by nearly 660,000 residents during that time.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Energy Turn it off

How is electricity generated where you live? How does it impact the environment, animals, and humans?

Richard Craft 10/24/2018 3:13 PM

The electricity is generated by Hoover Dam.
From a article entitled "Hoover Dam and the Negative Effects on Environment." (https://www.slideshare.net/Lengkengs/hoover-dam-and-the-negative-effects-on-environment-4204612)
The article cites these factors:
Riverbed lowering
Greenhouse gases ejecting
Ecosystem destroying
Problems about the water

Yet it concludes with "Hoover Dam has a lot of negative effects on environment of Colorado River, but we cannot destroy it. It is a wonder not only for USA but also for the World; moreover, its electricity production is safer than the work of nuclear power plants. What we discover from Hoover Dam can be useful for creating future hydraulic structures. We need to consider the environment before constructing such enormous structure; economic and environmental aspects must be balance so that we will not have to regret any more."

Read More
- Darcy Hasberry 10/24/2018 3:30 PM
  
  I like the conclusion. Very rarely is anything perfect but you can learn from mistakes to make the next endeavor better. Also, the Hoover Dam is very impressive. Built in 1913! There would need to be something simply spectacular proposed to justify destroying it.
  
  Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Energy Online Energy Audit

What most interested or surprised you about your own energy footprint?

Richard Craft 10/24/2018 9:32 AM

Nothing really stuck out except the fact that there has been a small savings compared to last year when we had our house inspected for ways to save on our power bill. I'm sure we'll see more savings as we implement the suggested home improvements.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Water Fix Leaky Faucets

Fixing leaky faucets is one of the tasks that we can easily put off until later. Good job on completing this action! How will you use the momentum from completing this action to increase your water efficiency?

Richard Craft 10/23/2018 5:25 PM

Unfortunately the last time I found out about a leak was when a portion of the garage ceiling came down.. A pipe fitting inside the wall behind the toilet had been leaking. The water bill had been a bit higher for the last 2 months, but I (wrongly) assumed it was because of the hot summer months and that there had been more of a water demand. Checking my water bill AND the other other bills (power, gas, etc.) regularly will be a priority now to catch something like this early before diaster strikes again.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste Choose Two-Sided Printing

Choosing two-sided printing can be an easy adjustment on your computer settings. How can you help others make this same switch? Can it be encouraged company wide?

Richard Craft 10/23/2018 5:13 PM

Two-sided printing is already a default setting in our office. Notify IT in your office to make the settings standard. (Just have to remember to uncheck the settings if one-sided printing is necessary.)

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Energy Power Down the Computer

What are other easy things you could do to save energy and reduce your environmental footprint?

Richard Craft 10/19/2018 12:52 PM

Being very conscious of turning off lights when they are not being used. The thermostat is kept at a very reasonable temperature throughout the year. Overhead and floor fans in the most used rooms are beneficial to keeping the house temperature regulated. The water heater has a circulaing hot water pump on a timer which only activates during the most likely times (e.g. morning showers.)

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Water Mulch the Base of Trees and Plants

Where are your nearest natural bodies of water? How might they be affected by runoff?

Richard Craft 10/18/2018 11:32 AM

The nearest body of water is actually man-made - Lake Mead - formed when Hoover Dam was built to tame the Colorado River in the 1930's. Upstream runoff from the Rocky Mountains and beyond are important to keeping Lake Mead replenished. A decade-old drought has caused the lake to recede its historical low. However, recent data has shown that the lake levels are finally rising, albeit, slowly.

Read More