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Welcome to Choices for Sustainable Living Discussion Course!

Watch the short video below to learn the basics.
You'll be an Choices for Sustainable Living Discussion Course expert in no time!

Ecochallenge.org
Choices for Sustainable Living Discussion Course
Diann B's avatar

Diann B

CinciNature

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 331 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    7.0
    meatless or vegan meals
    consumed
  • UP TO
    60
    miles
    traveled by carpool
  • UP TO
    222
    pounds of CO2
    have been saved
  • UP TO
    2.0
    documentaries
    watched
  • UP TO
    1.0
    hour
    volunteered

Diann's actions

Visions of Sustainability

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.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Visions of Sustainability

Eco-friendly Gardening

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

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Consumption and Economy

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

Transportation

Try Carpooling

I will commute by carpool 60 mile(s) each day this week and avoid sending up to 221.57 lbs of CO2 into Earth's atmosphere.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Volunteer in my Community

I will volunteer 1 hour(s) in my community this week.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Pick Up Litter

I will pick up litter on my street and ask others to join me in taking care of our neighborhood.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

Say No to Plastic

Plastic bags and small plastic pieces like straws are most likely to get swept into our waterways. This week, I'll say "no" to plastic bags at the store and plastic straws in all of my drinks.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

Watch The Story of Bottled Water

I will watch The Story of Bottled Water to learn more about bottled water's impacts on the environment.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Reduce Animal Products

I will enjoy 1 meatless meal(s) and/or 0 vegan meal(s) each day this week.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Ecological Principles

Reduce My Footprint

I will calculate my ecological footprint and talk with my family or roommates about way we can reduce our negative enviromental impact.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

A Call to Sustainability

Watch a Documentary

I will watch a movie about a sustainability issue I would like to know more about.

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?

  • Diann B's avatar
    Diann B 3/08/2022 10:29 AM
    Good, I am learning some ways that I can minimize my impact on the earth.
    Read More
  • Diann B's avatar
    Diann B 3/02/2022 5:58 AM
    I kept track of all the items I threw away this week that were headed to the landfill because I was unable to recycle them or compost them.  Most of what I threw away were tissues and paper towels.   That makes me think that I should research better ways to dispose of the tissues or if I should start using handkerchiefs again.  I have started minimizing the use of paper towels by using washable ones but I can certainly do more of that.
    Read More
  • Diann B's avatar
    Diann B 2/22/2022 7:39 AM
    The class has helped me to increase my awareness of my personal actions and how they affect the environment.  This is leading me to take actions that are more earth friendly.
    Read More
  • Diann B's avatar
    Diann B 2/08/2022 2:39 PM
    This week I watched the video about the Story of Bottled Water and I 'said no' to single use plastic straws and plastic bags in stores.  While I usually mean to take my own reusable bags into stores I usually forget to do that.  So this week I put the reusable bags on the front passenger seat in my car and I put a small fold up tote bag in my purse, in order to help me remember to take a bag into the store.  I also refused plastic bags in the store when I was buying something and just carried the product out with me.  This is such an easy thing to do on my part and there is no reason that I can't do it.  I plan to be more conscientious about the use of plastic in the future. 
    Read More
    • Jennifer Goldschneider's avatar
      Jennifer Goldschneider 2/10/2022 5:19 PM
      Well done! This is one of those activities that I feel can inspire others, because you use your reusable bags in public and other shoppers can see them. The more of us who do this, the better the chance that it will "catch on" and become normalized in our culture.
      Read More
  • Diann B's avatar
    Diann B 2/02/2022 12:33 PM
    This week I chose to have one meatless meal per day and I went a little further and decided not to use any dairy or other animal products, even eggs.  This has been more difficult to do than I thought it would be, particularly eliminating eggs and all other animal products.  Meal choices have been difficult in terms of eating foods that are filling.  I also follow Weight Watchers, so I am trying to integrate the two sets of restrictions.   Sadly, even pasta uses eggs. I read and downloaded the resource, "Meat Eater's Guide" and I think taking a smaller first step would work better for me, following some of the suggestions in the article.  Heeding categories such as organic, grass fed, and wild caught might be good first steps to try.
    Read More
    • Allison Danneels's avatar
      Allison Danneels 2/02/2022 5:18 PM
      Many pasta shapes are just flour and water.  I recommend making croatian pasta called Pljukanci - very easy to make and very good
      Read More
  • Diann B's avatar
    Diann B 1/29/2022 9:41 AM
    For week two I chose to take the footprint quiz and discuss it with my family.  I was surprised at the number of earths that I require, but was heartened to see that some of our choices have been helpful, such as our choice to build and live in a passive-solar house and to buy hybrid cars.  The area that we could most readily make some personal changes would be in our food choices since those are choices that we make daily and also weekly when we grocery shop.  I am also thinking about our transportation usage and how we could minimize that.  Since we are too far to walk to anything but other houses and we are nowhere close to public transportation, our options are to carpool more and to double up our necessary errands (even more that we already do)  so we can minimize our trips and mileage.  
    Read More
    • Jennifer Goldschneider's avatar
      Jennifer Goldschneider 2/10/2022 5:29 PM
      I also drive a hybrid, and continue to be infuriated each year when I register the vehicle and have to pay the extra $100 surcharge to replace what I am not paying Ohio in gasoline taxes. Way to punish people for saving energy, Ohio!
      Read More
  • Diann B's avatar
    Diann B 1/24/2022 2:17 PM
    It's going well. For my first challenge I watched the documentary, "Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet" presented by David Attenborough and Johan Rockstrom.  I appreciated learning the overview on the 4 Biosphere Boundaries, namely, Biomes, Biodiversity, Fresh Water, and Nutrients, and what the world's level of danger is in each of these boundaries. 
    Read More
    • Jennifer Goldschneider's avatar
      Jennifer Goldschneider 1/25/2022 11:03 AM
      Knowledge is power! Taking the time to view this documentary will make you better prepared to talk about these issues with friends and family.
      Read More