Ecochallenge.org

2019 People's Ecochallenge

October 2 - October 23, 2019

Ronnda Zezula

PCC SOC 228

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
600 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

1.0

waste audit

conducted
UP TO

360

minutes

not spent in front of a screen
UP TO

150

gallons of water

have been saved
UP TO

1.0

community event

hosted or attended
UP TO

300

minutes

being mindful

Ronnda's actions

Simplicity

Have a Garage Sale

I will have a group garage sale with friends, family, and/or neighbors.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Simplicity

Eat Mindfully

I will eat all of my meals without distractions, e.g., phone, computer, TV, or newspaper.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Water

Eco-friendly Gardening

I will plant native species, landscape with water-efficient plants, and use eco-friendly fertilizers.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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

Simplicity

Needs Vs. Wants

I will adopt a "Needs Vs. Wants" approach and only buy things I need.

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

Simplicity

Support a Sharing Economy

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

COMPLETED 0
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

Waste

Go Paperless

I will reduce the amount of paper mail that I receive by 3.4lbs (1.5kg) a month or 41lbs (18.6kg) a year by opting into paperless billing, ending unwanted subscriptions and opting out of junk mail.

COMPLETED
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.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Simplicity

Meditate

I will meditate or create a moment of silence for 20 minute(s) each day to reflect on things important to me.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

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

Simplicity

Less Screen Time

I will replace 60 minute(s) of screen time each day with other activities.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

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?

Ronnda Zezula 10/23/2019 10:26 AM

Hooray, Team, it's the last day - we did some great things in this challenge! For me personally, being mindful and meditating were the hardest challenges. I will need to continue practicing them. The most fun and rewarding challenges were the ones I roped my family in to doing with me. I hope my kids learned there is value in not being plugged in all the time (and that their friends won't abandon them if they don't keep their string going instantaneously). There were some home and garden challenges that were things I have been wanting to do for years but never made the time to do them. It was good to have the motivation needed to finally jump in and get them done. I am grateful for having participated!

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Ronnda Zezula 10/22/2019 9:44 AM

I have finally finished all of my challenges and answered all of the reflection questions based on my experiences. This has been a wonderful exercise for me and for my family! I hope local schools pick up on this and challenge the kids to take part, it really would help them to picture their place in the ecosystem and know they have the power to make positive impact changes themselves.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Water Insulate Water Pipes and Water Heater

How do you think climate change will affect your region’s water supply? Think about the effects of weather, storms, salinity, and sea level rise, among other changes. How can you find out more about climate change’s impact to your region's water?

Ronnda Zezula 10/22/2019 9:41 AM

In my immediate community I think climate change might make things more dry and cause people to use public water more than they should to maintain the old school beauty standards they have set. Almost all of our surrounding areas are being built up by homeowner's associations that require people to keep their grasses green and plants from dying out during their natural seasons. I could research more about the local watershed to understand the impact on our area.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Water Collect Rain Water

Trace the water that flows down the drain from your house to the largest body of water nearby. What is the route it takes?

Ronnda Zezula 10/22/2019 9:38 AM

The water travels a straight route from our house to the local river, running along a slight downhill path that crosses neighbor's pastures and yards.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Water Eco-friendly Gardening

What are the most prominent water concerns in your area? Examples include drought, flooding, pollution, access, security, and privatization.

Ronnda Zezula 10/22/2019 9:37 AM

Right now the most prominent water concerns in our area are how people use water (too much and for things that they don't need) and the chemicals being introduced in to our river and aquifers from household/landscaping products and also construction. There is an amazing amount of construction occurring around our immediate area, we have seen a change in the river over the last few years and also in our own well water.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Water Install a Low-Flow Showerhead

How can your region/household prepare for changing water situations in order to become more resilient?

Ronnda Zezula 10/22/2019 9:34 AM

I think our community needs to institute a program that requires people to let their lawns die in dry months. I know that isn't a popular thing to do, we love our lush green lawns, but honestly watering lawns causes so many issues in our area! The runoff of chemicals people use to keep their yards green and weed-free goes in to our local river (not to mention our well water). Most people use automatic sprinklers that turn on even when it's raining and some are timed for midday, which is a horrible time to water.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste Advocate For More Food Packaging Options

What concerns you the most about how we are affecting the planet? Consider both local and global actions.

Ronnda Zezula 10/22/2019 9:31 AM

What concerns me most is how ignorant most of society seems to want to remain. Until people accept there is a problem it will be difficult to get enough of them motivated to make the huge changes necessary. Many people seem to want to make the problems someone else's fault and not look at what they can do. This is probably more due to lack of information than unwillingness. People just don't see what they can do, if they believe there is a problem in the first place, so they live their lives and think someone else (generally the government) will fix it.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Simplicity Needs Vs. Wants

How is creativity necessary for practicing simplicity?

Ronnda Zezula 10/22/2019 9:28 AM

We had to practice a good deal of creatively, the whole household participated in needs vs. wants because I rarely buy things for me and generally spend all resources on the kids. Because my youngest two are high-schoolers, we had to get creative to keep them able to participate in the things their friends were doing together (all wants) while focusing on only meeting needs. For example, my daughter's middle school friend group goes to all football games and then a local restaurant after. They all got split-up by high school boundaries so this is their only way to physically keep in touch. That gets expensive, and often each girl's parents drop off and pick up (waste of money and gas). We wanted to keep them connected to each other in person, so we connected with the parents and we all took carpool shifts for the remaining games. When it's our carpool night, the girls all come back to our house after to eat and hang out.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Simplicity Eat Mindfully

Mindful eating is healthier for us than eating with distractions. How do your eating experiences differ when practicing mindfulness?

Ronnda Zezula 10/22/2019 9:23 AM

I noticed I eat less (aka more healthfully) when I am not distracted. It is just far too easy to down an entire bag of chips when watching TV and not notice until my stomach hurts. The chips may be veggie, but an entire bag of them isn't healthy!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Simplicity Meditate

What would you like to invest more time in reflecting on?

Ronnda Zezula 10/22/2019 9:21 AM

I need to continue practicing meditation, it is really difficult for me to clear my mind and focus on not-focusing on everything I am not doing in order to meditate.

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