Ecochallenge.org

2018 People's Ecochallenge

October 3 - October 24, 2018

Johanna Johnson

PNC

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
1,124 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

125

pounds of CO2

have been saved
UP TO

15

minutes

being mindful
UP TO

44

miles

not traveled by car
UP TO

450

minutes

spent outdoors
UP TO

96

gallons of water

have been saved
UP TO

80

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

450

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

3.0

locally sourced meals

consumed
UP TO

17

pounds of paper

have been saved

Johanna's actions

Transportation

Car Share

I will sign up for a car-sharing service, or organize car sharing with my neighbors, to cut down on the number of vehicles on the road.

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 16
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 17
DAILY ACTIONS

Nature

Go for a Daily Walk

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

COMPLETED 15
DAILY ACTIONS

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 15
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Buy From a Farmers Market

I will purchase produce and meat from a local farmers market or food co-op.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Work from Home

I will work from home 2 day(s) to avoid my commute's carbon output.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Go Paperless

I will reduce the amount of paper mail that I receive by opting into paperless billing and ending unwanted subscriptions.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Launch a Recycling Program

I will start a recycling program at my workplace or school. If a recycling program exists, I will advocate for ways to improve and expand it.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Try a New Way to Prep

I will try a new method of food preparation, such as canning, pickling, or baking bread.

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

Health

Audit Toxic Cleaning Products in my Home

I will spend 30 minutes researching toxic chemicals found in cleaning supplies and personal care products and remove them from my home.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health

Learn More about Food Deserts

I will spend 20 minutes learning about food deserts and find out how I can advocate for healthy and fresh food in my region.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Simplicity

Meditate

I will meditate or create a moment of silence for 15 minute(s) each day to reflect on things important to me.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY 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
Health Learn More about Food Deserts

What are the implications of access to nutritious food for a community?

Johanna Johnson 10/24/2018 1:39 PM

I am fortunate to be in an area that has the resource necessities to provide nutritious food to our community. Now to look outside my community to see if I can help out in anyway.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Simplicity Meditate

What would you like to invest more time in reflecting on?

Johanna Johnson 10/24/2018 1:38 PM

how people I surround myself with behave towards others and how they feel as well as myself. Sometimes things can be stressful and tempers can flare. I want to be able to acknowledge such situations and to not buy into it, but to help solve or alleviate tensions. We can all get along and work together.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste Launch a Recycling Program

How might thinking creatively help us address big systems problems differently?

Johanna Johnson 10/24/2018 6:07 AM

Brainstorming is a great time and you never know what will come out of it. I enjoy sitting around with friends or co-workers to discuss a topic. And then doing a sky's the limit type idea think tank. Have a note taker and just do a free for all shouting out everything no matter how big or small. You never know what will come out of it. Something that may start off as a joke could actually become the change!

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?

Johanna Johnson 10/24/2018 6:05 AM

family has worked hard on reducing water consumption for our showers, and sink usage. We regularly fill up old milk jugs to have water on hand for just in case times for us or our neighbors.

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?

Johanna Johnson 10/24/2018 6:04 AM

Adding regular faucet and toilet checks for leaks to the monthly household chore list.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Try a New Way to Prep

Canning and pickling food is a great way to have delicious summer fruits and vegetables all year round. Just make sure to follow the canning and pickling guidelines from the USDA. What are some foods that you would like to preserve and enjoy later in the year?

Johanna Johnson 10/24/2018 6:03 AM

I canned tomatoes for the first time. This year's tomato crop was huge and had so may tomatoes and sure didn't want them to go to waste. Prepared some sauces and stewed ones for the freezer but wanted to get some better shelf life. Also had my first crop of asparagus and pickled some. What a refreshing, quick, healthy snack.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Buy From a Farmers Market

What is one food choice that you make, or could make, that would do more good and less harm?

Johanna Johnson 10/24/2018 6:01 AM

Support local markets. Get wide variety of fresh items. Helps inspire my meal planning too.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste Go Paperless

Reducing your paper mail can be such a freeing action to take -- by reducing what is coming in, you can reduce what is going into the recycling bin too. How does it make you feel? What is the next step you will take to reduce your waste?

Johanna Johnson 10/24/2018 6:00 AM

It feels good to help reduce paper waste. One thing the family does now is for items still coming in, if the backside is blank, we use that as note paper and when it's been used we recycle it.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Transportation Work from Home

It takes the average worker in the United States 26 minutes to travel to work. One way to fix long commutes would be to make cities more affordable. An even simpler option: promote the use of telework. Are you in an industry that would allow you to work from home? What are some obstacles you might find yourself facing while working from home?

Johanna Johnson 10/18/2018 5:25 AM

I am fortunate enough to have a flexible work environment and can work from home if needed. The nature of my job also requires after hours support, so I could be working all sorts of hours and shifts. Thankfully most often I can do that from home. One obstacle I have with working from home is that I never seem to get up from my desk! That is not a healthy habit. With it just me at home, I find I work way more hours than if I only went to the office. At the office being around my co-workers at least gets me up and walking taking breaks and leaving my desk for lunch. Also if I'm always work from home, I miss out on the relationships of being together. In person work garners trust and friendship and additional caring to the job. That all can also be accomplished with the tools we have to do our jobs, but in person interaction in my mind is an asset.

Read More
Johanna Johnson 10/10/2018 5:43 AM

So far so good! I look forward to getting my day started and working on my challenges. It's one of those "nice" to do lists :-)

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