Krisitlyn Gray Wolf Vercruysse

MSR DESIGN

Points Total

0 Today
0 This Week
837 Total

Participant Impact

up to

88

miles

traveled by bike
up to

88

miles

not traveled by car
up to

52

pounds of CO2

have been saved
up to

1,125

minutes

spent exercising
up to

40

minutes

spent learning
up to

66

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
up to

525

minutes

spent outdoors
up to

22

pounds

waste composted

Krisitlyn's Actions

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.

Completed
One-Time Action

High Impact Action Track

Learn About Local Environmental Justice Concerns

Health

I will spend 20 minutes researching environmental justice concerns in my region, their causes, and local initiatives to address these concerns.

Completed
One-Time Action

Energy

Choose Clean/Renewable Energy

I will sign up for my utility company's clean/renewable energy option.

Completed
One-Time Action

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

Nature

Go for a Daily Walk

I will take a 25-minute walk outside each day.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Transportation

Go by Bike

I will commute by bike 8 mile(s) each day and avoid sending up to 4.8 lbs of CO2 into Earth's atmosphere.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Exercise Daily

Exercise is a great stress blaster! I will exercise for 30 minute(s) each day.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

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 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Reduce Animal Products

I will enjoy 2 meatless meal(s) and/or 1 vegan meal(s) each day this week.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

High Impact Action Track

Ditch the Lawn

Water

I will replace my lawn with a drought-tolerant landscape and save the water, money, and time I used to spend cutting the grass.

Completed
One-Time Action

Feed

Reflection Question
Community Support Native Communities

Indigenous 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?

Krisitlyn Gray Wolf Vercruysse 10/23/2019 11:17 AM

In order to keep up any action it needs to be in balance with the rest of your life. If you fall to far to one side - it becomes unsustainable - in more than one way. I am sure most of us error on the side of comfort so let's all make a pack to make our selves a bit more uncomfortable to help the environment.

PS if you are looking to learn more about native american culture in the MN region - take a listen to this podcast - https://www.sceneonradio.org/episode-35-little-war-on-the-prairie-seeing-white-part-5/

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Krisitlyn Gray Wolf Vercruysse 10/23/2019 6:56 AM

I am finding more meals to make vegan and am thinking about how to make dinner parties better for the environment. Our food waste has also gone done a fair bit since the start of this challenge. We slowly chip away at our lifestyle to be better for the environment. Every year when we do this challenge - it's good to get one more thing (if not 2 or 3) introduced to the daily grind.

We can do what we can - but we can also give or be informed of bigger efforts to help this world. drawdown.org is our go to source for getting more information on what we can do. follow the link to their version of the top 10 most viable global climate solutions and see if there is something in there that you feel great about and give. https://www.onepercentfortheplanet.org/stories/2019/8/21/10-most-viable-global-climate-solutions I think there is something for everyone's interest. There is women empowerment, solar, protecting rainforest, and education on diet - pick your interest.

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Krisitlyn Gray Wolf Vercruysse 10/18/2019 10:01 AM

The followings ideas about going vegan by a Wisconsinite. Reducing any amount of animal protein is great and being vegetarian comes easy for me...however the idea of being vegan seems like asking a lot. In trying it out - I have come to find that taking it meal by meal is super helpful. It's more of a conversation about reduction. So I found that OATLY is an amazing milk substitute (go with the barista blend and be blown away) and oatmilk is one of the better substitutes on the market as far as the environment and they sell it at Target - no excuses. It is low in emissions and water consumption compared to others like almond, soy and rice milk. It's a small move but every morning I start my day out vegan and I barely notice. Now I just have to work on my cheese consumption. The following article does a good job of breaking down the various milk alternatives...not shown is the boss of milk substitutes (environmentally speaking) - hemp milk. Apparently it makes a mean latte. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46654042

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Reflection Question
Energy Choose Clean/Renewable Energy

How might you be able to get others involved in advocating for the shift to clean energy?

Krisitlyn Gray Wolf Vercruysse 10/15/2019 9:53 AM

I can write this reflection. Anyone on xcel energy can go to wind power for about $5 a month upcharge on their electricity bill.....WHAT A DEAL! It's easy to sign up. I don't know why I wait until now to do it. DO IT!

https://www.xcelenergy.com/programs_and_rebates/residential_programs_and_rebates/renewable_energy_options_residential/windsource_for_residences

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Reflection Question
High Impact Action Track Ditch the Lawn

What is the main water source in your region?

Krisitlyn Gray Wolf Vercruysse 10/15/2019 9:44 AM

after looking into the water system in MN - our water source is supplied by around 100 municipal water supply systems and 10% by private wells. After traveling around Asia for the last 9 months and only being able to drink out of the tap for five days of that trip, having great potable water is a real gift that should be appreciated and not wasted. And just to throw in there, we should be protecting all the fresh water supplies we have in MN - coming from the land of 10000 lakes - we should not use chemicals on our lawns and try and eat produce that is organic and realize that when leaves are in the streets those get emptied into one of our lakes or the Mississippi River. Be mindful of all the fresh water we have around us!

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Reflection Question
Food Reduce Animal Products

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?

Krisitlyn Gray Wolf Vercruysse 10/11/2019 12:38 PM

Meat is a luxury because it takes resources to produce and store. It's crazy to think that all the fields that are used to grow corn and hay for feed could be used for human consumption. Also the way we produce meat in this country is terrible for both the environment and our health. Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran is a great read as he's a philosopher and it's already turned a couple of my friends into vegetarians. He brings up a ton of great points and investigates all sides of the story of eating meat. The book started as a hunt to find out about good food to feed his children and ended up being an argument for vegetarianism. READ IT!

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Reflection Question
Transportation Go by Bike

How do your transportation choices affect your engagement in your community? Does your experience differ while walking, riding transit, biking, or driving?
Krisitlyn Gray Wolf Vercruysse 10/11/2019 12:22 PM
I am lucky as I live a perfect distance from work and have a very bike friendly route. I had this in mind when picking out our house location - so that's not an accident. We've had discussions with friends about what it would take to sell our car and just go to public and renewable transportation and below are some of the talking points.

both of our families live a drive away - answer - rent a car during for that event.

we live in MN (winter) and have the ability to take our dog into work - I don't think uber takes dogs so this is part of the reason we still have a car.

hanging out with friends - we are lucky to have most of our friends within biking distance and take advantage of this with frequent bike rides but in the end we don't want our transportation to limit our friendships.

however - we only have one car so there are times when one of us is forced to take an alternate mode of transport to whatever event we want to attend which I think is one great reason for having just one car per family (but we don't have kids)

so with that in mind - we bike as much as we can (even in the rain) - carpool as much as we can - at some point we shall get an electric car.

this isn't to say you shouldn't push yourself to go down to one car or no car or to force yourself to bike in the rain.

But to decrease my reliance on our car - I am committing to biking more in the winter. Maybe I will lose a toe or an ear lobe but it's worth it. right?!
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Reflection Question
Energy Upgrade My Windows

How does improving your home's energy efficiency help you better live out your values?

Krisitlyn Gray Wolf Vercruysse 10/11/2019 8:43 AM

So I have to admit that upgrading our windows wasn't the most exciting purchase of my life and was crazy expensive. We have a 1909 house with lovely wood windows - lots of lovely windows. The house is drafty with the original windows and we already keep our thermostat fairly low and the combination requires more bundling up than one would like so to help us keep our thermostat temperature low we decided to upgrade all 27 of our windows. We hope it increases our comfort and lowers our heating bill. We'll let you know mid January how we feel about the investment!

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Reflection Question
Nature Go for a Daily Walk

How do you experience your neighborhood or city differently when walking instead of driving?

Krisitlyn Gray Wolf Vercruysse 10/07/2019 2:08 PM

We walk our neighbor everyday with a dog. We walk down streets that we wouldn't drive on as they are off the beaten path. I spend most of the time admiring gardens - saying hello to fellow passersby - see various fairy gardens. Walking is the best way to really see your neighborhood and getting to know your neighbors.

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Reflection Question
Health Exercise Daily

How can you incorporate other personal values (like quality time with friends or spending time in nature) into your exercise routine?

Krisitlyn Gray Wolf Vercruysse 10/04/2019 10:10 AM

Get a dog! They take up resources (for sure) but they get you out in nature - in all sorts of weather.

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