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October 3 - October 24, 2018
Dain White's avatar

Dain White

EcoINL

"Not really sure what to put here... so these are just some words..."

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 1,019 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    1.0
    community event
    hosted or attended
  • UP TO
    0.0
    hours
    volunteered
  • UP TO
    420
    minutes
    spent learning
  • UP TO
    20
    pounds
    waste composted
  • UP TO
    1.0
    waste audit
    conducted
  • UP TO
    63
    zero-waste meals
    consumed

Dain's actions

Health

Support Pollution Reduction

I will spend at least 60 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

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

Audit Toxic Cleaning Products in my Home

I will spend 60 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 60 minutes learning about food deserts and find out how I can advocate for healthy and fresh food in my region.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Nature

Join An Outdoor Project

I will join an outdoor restoration project in my community.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health

Learn About Local Environmental Justice Concerns

I will spend 60 minutes researching environmental justice concerns in my region, their causes, and local initiatives to address these concerns.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Nature

Forage for My Food

I will use the 'Learn More' resources below to find where I can forage for my own food locally.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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 20
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Support Native Communities

I will use the resource links provided and spend 60 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.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Zero-Waste Cooking

I will cook 3 meal(s) with zero-waste each day

COMPLETED 21
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Weekly Meal Planning

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

COMPLETED 21
DAILY ACTIONS

Energy

Use an Energy Meter

I will use an energy meter to monitor my energy use and identify opportunities to save power.

COMPLETED
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?


  • Dain White's avatar
    Dain White 10/23/2018 2:44 PM
    I wish there was more I could do to change the course we seem to be on... Don't forget to vote, folks - this is mighty important.

    • Veronika Vazhnik's avatar
      Veronika Vazhnik 10/23/2018 2:54 PM
      Never give up trying to make a difference - and yes, we need the system to change, which is difficult to do without political will. I second your sentiment: take your vote seriously!
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Health Learn About Local Environmental Justice Concerns
    Who is most affected by environmental degration and/or environmental irresponsiblity in your community? How are they affected?

    Dain White's avatar
    Dain White 10/23/2018 2:43 PM
    Being from Idaho, I spend a fair amount of time on backroads and see a lot of the impact unregulated agriculture has on the environment. From runoff to erosion, to leaking / polluted machinery. The people who are profiting the most from the land, seem to care the least about protecting the land. Probably because protecting it costs money and/or time. It's sad, but unless a lot changes in our social fabric, there's just nothing that can be done. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Health Learn More about Food Deserts
    What are the implications of access to nutritious food for a community?

    Dain White's avatar
    Dain White 10/23/2018 2:39 PM
    One of the biggest negatives nutritious food has for us, is the cost - it's available, but it's just unreasonably expensive for a family on a budget. We cut these corners with the farmer's market in the summer, but I think a paradigm shift has to change for nutritious food to become the easier option.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Nature Join An Outdoor Project
    How well do you know the area you live in? Is a deep knowledge of your surroundings -- known as a 'sense of place' -- important to you? If so, why?

    Dain White's avatar
    Dain White 10/23/2018 2:36 PM
    My wife and I started a non-profit org for backcountry restoration, citizen science, and community outreach - we're not quite ready to go live with it yet as I'm still working on the website - but this is a very important subject for me, one that I am deeply invested in. 

    • Veronika Vazhnik's avatar
      Veronika Vazhnik 10/23/2018 2:55 PM
      Let us know when you want to go live - I am sure many members of the community will be happy to help.

  • Dain White's avatar
    Dain White 10/22/2018 10:15 AM
    This has been a great project to be a part of - I don't know if I'm going to live my life any differently than I had before, as I was already pretty ecologically minded, but it's definitely given me some additional ideas for ways I can reduce my impact on the world. 
  • 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?

    Dain White's avatar
    Dain White 10/22/2018 10:13 AM
    Last weekend our family went through the garbage we generated and identified a number of products with excessive packaging that we're going to avoid in the future.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Health Audit Toxic Cleaning Products in my Home
    To what extent do you believe that environmental factors contribute to your own health or issues with health?

    Dain White's avatar
    Dain White 10/22/2018 10:12 AM
    We audited the cleaning products in our house, most of which we inherited from the previous owner, and disposed of as much of the worst of it as we could.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Health Support Pollution Reduction
    What environmental factors affect human health in your region, and how do they affect it?

    Dain White's avatar
    Dain White 10/22/2018 10:11 AM
    Our area  has a terrible smoke issue right now that is driving me crazy - this is a great opportunity for me to learn more!

  • Dain White's avatar
    Dain White 10/17/2018 11:52 AM
    I wish I could add more daily challenges... or at least reset some of my one time challenges. 
  • 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?

    Dain White's avatar
    Dain White 10/15/2018 6:51 AM
    For now, our compost will be tilled into the garden area  in late fall and hopefully will help our yield next season. We aren't really planning on using it any more than that at this point in the year. I wish we had a greenhouse, but they're not really viable in Idaho - when it's -20 outside, a greenhouse without another source of heat becomes an icehouse.