2019 People's Ecochallenge

Ecochallenge.org

October 2 - October 23, 2019

"Simplicity is the solution."

sindhuja's points

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
484 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

56

miles

traveled by bus
UP TO

56

miles

not traveled by car
UP TO

4.0

trees

planted
UP TO

60

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

120

gallons of water

have been saved
UP TO

62

pounds of CO2

have been saved

sindhuja's actions

High Impact Action Track

Plant Trees

Nature

I will plant 4 tree(s) in my community, public parks, or backyard.

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 0
DAILY 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

Transportation

Use Public Transit

I will use public transit 7 mile(s) each day and avoid sending up to 3.96 lbs of CO2 into Earth's atmosphere.

COMPLETED 8
DAILY ACTIONS

Water

Insulate Water Pipes and Water Heater

I will avoid wasting water while waiting for the shower or sink to heat up.

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.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Energy

Switch to Cold Water

I will switch to washing my clothes in cold water, saving up to 1,600 lbs of CO2 over the course of the next year.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

5-Minute Showers

I will save up to 20 gallons (75 L) of water each day by taking 5-minute showers.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Energy

Replace Manual Thermostats

I will replace manual thermostats with programmable ones.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

Collect Rain Water

I will create a rain garden or bioswale or use rain barrels to collect water for outdoor watering needs.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Energy

Turn it off

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

COMPLETED 0
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.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Energy

Heat and Cool Naturally

I will naturally heat and cool my house, office, or dorm room by opening or closing my windows, curtains, and blinds, and by using fans.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Energy

Upgrade My Windows

I will upgrade the windows or weatherstripping in my home or office to reduce air leaks and save on energy costs.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Participant Feed

sindhuja jain 10/20/2019 11:40 AM

Being watchful about our carbon emissions , initially felt like too much . But it is practical and a critical need of the hour .. now that i am accustomed to the habbit of daily challenges on eco challenge to be watchful about me carbon emissions , its in my dna . Its time to grow and take up another challenge to reduce more carbon emissions .

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sindhuja jain 10/18/2019 9:32 PM

I am a spiritual person . I am finding that environmental sustainability efforts is helping me progress spiritually as well.. spiritual and environmental awareness growth go hand in hand.. thank you ecochallenge.org

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sindhuja jain 10/16/2019 5:48 AM

Small things can make big impacts . Peoples eco challenge is a competation for a cause . A need of the hour .

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Transportation

The US spends roughly 20% of its federal budget on defense. In contrast, 2% goes to education, 20% goes to social security and 3% goes to transportation infrastructure. Do these numbers surprise you at all? Why or why not? How would you adjust them if you could?
sindhuja jain 10/12/2019 5:54 AM

Whoa! that is surprising indeed . From environmental sustainability perspective any governament plays an important role in improving the impact of transportation on environment .
One reason for the low percentage may be that there is already a good infrasturcture (good roads etc ) in place which is necassary to keep the environment impact made by transportation under permissible limits.
If thats not true then the governament must review the transportation infrastructure and revise the budget to make the transportation infrastructure better to be good enough to keep the environmental impact under permissible limits ..

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sindhuja jain 10/10/2019 12:24 AM

When I was around 10 year old , a wise friend who was elder to me asked me a question . from then till date I ask that question to myself every now and then. And whenever the answer to that question is better one than the last time I answered it , it means progress in life to me . fortunately the answer has been getting better .

She had asked :
“Do you know how much you contribute to the huge heap of single use plastics that are thrashed?”

That was a thought provoking question. I joined the ‘reduce reuse recycle’ revolution. I took the challenge to reduce.

From then I have been adapting simple practices to reduce the amount of plastics I use .like taking a carry bag for grocery store , refusing to take a straw with tender coconut , etc.

My next area of concern was chips , biscuits and chocolate wrappers . they constituted a major volume to the plastic waste that I generated . I worked on it for around 4 years and very recently I pledged not to consume packaged snacks available in the market and have successfully sustained the practice for about 2 years now.

I recently embraced a reusable alternative to single use non-biodegradable hygiene products and joined the crowd of people who don’t contribute to reject waste that will lie in the landfills for ages which don’t have a scope to be recycled.

When I pass across a heap of waste thrashed irresponsibly, I don’t feel as guilty as before . Because I have reduced my bit which is a great feeling .

Every individual must assess how much single use plastics he/she is using and must eliminate as much as possible . it is not a big deal actually . Even very simple thoughtful actions can have great impact.
THIS IS A NEED OF THE HOUR ! ITS HIGH TIME WE WAKE UP AND TAKE ACTION!

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