Andy Nousen

AKMI

"I would like to do something good for all of our children and grandchildren."

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
548 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

0.0

plastic straws

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

4.0

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

0.0

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

323

gallons of water

have been saved
UP TO

10

minutes

being mindful

Andy's actions

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

Water

Conserve Toilet Water

I will save up to 12 gallons (45 L) of water a day by flushing only when necessary.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Find Local Recycling Depots

I will spend at least 20 minutes finding out where to recycle the recyclable items that I can't put in my curbside bin.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

High Impact Action Track

Install Alternative Energy

Energy

I will install alternative energy systems, such as solar electric systems or solar water heaters.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Simplicity

Support a Sharing Economy

I will create or support a sharing economy with family, friends, and neighbors.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

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

Health

Know My health

I will get my Core Four Biometrics tests (blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar and BMI).

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Simplicity

Meditate

I will meditate or create a moment of silence for 5 minute(s) each day to reflect on things important to me.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Reduce Animal Products

I will enjoy 3 meatless meal(s) and/or 1 vegan meal(s) each day this week.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

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.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Participant Feed

REFLECTION QUESTION
Simplicity

What are some of the barriers to sharing economies? What is your plan for supporting or creating one in your community?
Andy Nousen 10/24/2019 4:37 PM
Trust -- will others try to take advantage of you by spamming you or stealing from you if you reveal what you have? Will they share your info more widely than you want?
Time, convenience, control -- is it worth the effort to find, coordinate sharing, and will the equipment be abused?

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste

Our ability to recycle certain things ebbs and flows based upon many factors. Luckily there are places that accept uncommon things to recycle or dispose of in a less harmful way. What did you find when looking for places to recycle items that can't be recycled in your curbside bin?
Andy Nousen 10/24/2019 4:33 PM
There are some great websites that help find places to recycle all kinds of materials/objects. Amazingly, they have good detail down to the local city level. In particular, I learned that there are other places in Corvallis besides the main recycling center that accept fluorescent bulbs. Probably this info changes frequently, but at least it is a place to start investigating.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste

What concerns you the most about how we are affecting the planet? Consider both local and global actions.
Andy Nousen 10/23/2019 9:07 AM
Mass species extinction, human population explosion, desertification, acidification, displacement of human populations, oil/war/beef profiteering, pollution, overflowing landfills, toxicity of the environment, disease, loss of natural beauty, loss of simple shared values, commercialism, political strife, militarism.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food

Why do people in richer countries eat more meat than people in other places? How does eating more meat affect our planet and other people?
Andy Nousen 10/23/2019 8:49 AM
Perhaps richer countries eat more meat because meat is flavorful and filling, easy to cook, and serves as a sign of wealth and mastery. And all that is reinforced by marketing and advertising! Unfortunately, eating meat makes us less sensitive to the needs and value of other forms of life. Spiritually, each time we eat meat we are effectively practicing ignoring other sentient beings' direct suffering for our own pleasure. Economically, it shifts vast amounts of land and water usage toward animal agriculture. This is grossly inefficient, polluting, and inhumane. It contributes to climate warming and consequent drought and flooding of increasing severity which in turn lead to famine, homelessness, political instability, migration, war, genocide -- in short, untold suffering for many generations to come.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Health

How do you deal with the physical and emotional stress of the big problems we face? How can you help others cope?
Andy Nousen 10/21/2019 2:32 PM
I read and listen to old wisdom and new ideas about our problems, and identify things I can actually do about them. I talk about them sometimes with others. Eventually, I am finding opportunities to do some of those things. But I have to admit the prospects for 90% of humanity are economically, socially, and environmentally bleak. I often need to actively clear my mind or move onto something else to take a break from worrying.

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Andy Nousen 10/10/2019 3:00 PM
Nope, I'm definitely stuck. I can't open any new challenges. It says I can only have 5 open at once. But even after closing some, I get the same error message. The website is very attractive, and the content is great, but the navigation and interlocks are sometimes non-intuitive.

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Andy Nousen 10/10/2019 2:45 PM
I was having trouble understanding how to complete action cards, or start any new ones, so I watched the training video again which helped me realize there were no buttons shown. Then I re-selected an overall challenge to participate in, and now the cards have buttons which allow marking them complete. I'm not sure how the challenge selection became un-selected, but hopefully there will be no further confusion.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
High Impact Action Track

How is your region being affected by climate change? How will it be affected in the future?
Andy Nousen 10/10/2019 2:33 PM
Greatly increased warm dry windy spells with fires and smoke spreading hundreds or thousands of miles during the summers. Greatly decreased snowfall in the mountains, often followed immediately by warm rain which deplenishes the snowpack.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Water

What would a sustainable water future in your region look like? What needs to change?
Andy Nousen 10/08/2019 9:17 AM
We need to be careful about paving too much area and accelerating warm, dirty runoff into the rivers.

We may need additional reservoir capacity to make up for the lack of natural snowpack storage. This would help sustain sufficient flow for river fish species and for agriculture in the summer.

We also may need to manage forests differently to reduce risk and extent of fires and subsequent erosion during heavy warm rainy periods.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Water

How can your region/household prepare for changing water situations in order to become more resilient?
Andy Nousen 10/08/2019 9:06 AM
In our region (Pacific NW), we are likely to have more dry periods, less snow, and more sudden and severe flooding periods. So we need to do things that will allow more water to be absorbed and stored during wet periods for slower release afterward. Things like wetlands/swales near parking lots, and green driveways made from broken up or patterned/sideways concrete blocks instead of solid pavement. This also helps cool the water before it eventually flows into our rivers, which can help salmon and trout species survival. Also capturing roof runoff in barrels for later lawn (or better yet, garden) watering.

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