Sasha Pollack
"Excited to take this time to slow down, review my habits and actions to reduce my impact on the planet and lead by example!"
POINTS TOTAL
- 0 TODAY
- 0 THIS WEEK
- 1,133 TOTAL
participant impact
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UP TO10donationsmade
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UP TO385minutesspent learning
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UP TO150minutesspent outdoors
Sasha's actions
Nature
Practice Gratitude for Earth
I will spend 5 minute(s) each day outside, practicing gratitude (prayer, meditation, journaling, etc.) for Earth and the nature surrounding me.
Community
Support Businesses Owned by People of Color
Racial inequity is a sustainability problem. I will support businesses owned by people of color in my community whenever I shop.
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.
Nature
Forage for My Food
I will use the 'Learn More' resources below to find where I can forage for my own food locally.
Nature
Support Local Pollinators
At least 30% of crops and 90% of flowering plants rely on pollinators to produce fruit. I will spend 20 minutes researching which plants support local native pollinators and plant some in my yard.
Community
Support Native Communities
I will use the resource links provided and spend 20 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.
Community
Raise Money For a Nonprofit
I will raise money to support Northwest Earth Institute or another local nonprofit.
Nature
Explore My Area
I will explore at least one new hiking trail or nature walk in my area.
Waste
Advocate For More Food Packaging Options
I will advocate for alternatives to single-use packaging at local grocery stores, markets, at work, or on campus.
Simplicity
Track my Purchases
I will spend 15 minutes each day maintaining a record of all my purchases and learning about my spending habits.
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.
Health
Support Pollution Reduction
I will spend at least 20 minutes learning about water and air quality issues in my area, how they are impacting human and environmental health, and how I can help.
Health
Avoid refined sugar
I will adopt a diet free of refined sugars, which eliminates sweetened beverages, candy, and processed foods.
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.
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.
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?
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REFLECTION QUESTIONHealth Learn About Local Environmental Justice ConcernsWho is most affected by environmental degration and/or environmental irresponsiblity in your community? How are they affected?
Sasha Pollack 10/10/2018 3:07 PMWhile everyone is affected by environmental degradation, it is those without the means to reduce or mitigate the impacts of the degradation in their lives who are most harmed - those who are unable to buy bottled or filtered water or to move to a less polluted area. -
Sasha Pollack 10/08/2018 7:28 PMGreat day today to think about the indigenous people whose land you live on if that's one of your challenges (and even if it's not!!) Here are some great questions to ponder from the "Savage Feminism" FB page
- Name 5 tribes that have traditional territories in the state you live in
- What tribe's land are you standing on?
- How many Native Nations are in the US?
- What are reservations? Why do they exist?
- Name 5 [living] Native celebrities, activists and/or politicians. -
REFLECTION QUESTIONCommunity Support Businesses Owned by People of ColorKeen Independent Research Foundation conducted a recent study that highlights the disparities in the availability of city contracts and loans to businesses, and how this disparity correlates to owners as people of color. The study showed that Minority businesses enterprises (MBEs) are more likely to have difficulties in receiving loans or city contracts. In what ways can you address systemic racism?
Sasha Pollack 10/07/2018 5:19 PMEnsure that local jurisdictions are actually following the federally mandates related to MBE and DBE (disadvantaged, includes women owned biz) when they are spending any federal $$$. -
REFLECTION QUESTIONCommunity Support Native CommunitiesIndigenous speaker and activist Winona LaDuke says that, "most indigenous ceremonies, if you look to their essence, are about the restoration of balance — they are a reaffirmation of our relationship to creation. That is our intent: to restore, and then to retain balance and honor our part in creation." Why is balance important to sustainability?
Sasha Pollack 10/05/2018 1:37 PMFrom my perspective the balance is what the earth and natural processes themselves do - even if in the short term there is a lack of balance, the natural processes tend to balance out populations. As we reflect the balance shown by natural systems, we harmonize with them and therefore create the possibility of long term survival and sustainability. -
Sasha Pollack 10/05/2018 1:30 PMUgh. With the terrible political news today and the arrival of the rains it was hard to drag myself outside for my daily 5 minutes of gratitude and meditation, but of course, as soon as I did it I felt a larger connection to the world and while not a lightness, at least a momentary reprieve. -
REFLECTION QUESTIONNature Practice Gratitude for EarthKathleen Dean Moore says that a sense of gratitude leads to a sense of moral obligation. Do you agree? How do we cultivate a sense of gratitude as individuals, and as a society?
Sasha Pollack 10/05/2018 1:29 PMAbsolutely agree with this - appreciating something and feeling connected to it definitely leads to a desire to preserve and nurture it. I think more education about the natural world and the amazing things it does for us, and alternatively, more awareness about the tragic things we are doing to IT is important at a variety of levels of age and ability. -
Sasha Pollack 10/04/2018 2:17 PMIt is so hard to discover minority owned businesses! Restaurants seem to be the easiest to find so I am making an effort to focus on dining at minority owned restaurants in particular! -
Sasha Pollack 10/03/2018 7:53 PMTook my daughter for ice cream after getting our flu shots and didn't even taste it, but refined sugar is definitely going to be a tough one for me! -
Sasha Pollack 10/03/2018 10:24 AMSo excited to take this opportunity (and my upcoming birthday) to raise funds for opalpdx.org, OPAL environmental justice Oregon. -
Sasha Pollack 9/27/2018 5:06 PMI'm excited for my second challenge (and to finally fix the sinks that I never got around to last time...) Really excited by the new challenges on the list this year, especially around health, community and nature.