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Carol Mikkelsen's avatar

Carol Mikkelsen

Sustainable Ballard

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 403 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    2.0
    documentaries
    watched
  • UP TO
    1.0
    petition
    signed

Carol's actions

A Call to Sustainability

Sign a Petition

I will sign petitions in support of an environmental or social initiative in my state.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Attend a Meeting

This week, I will attend one local event or meeting concerning a current issue in my community such as a planning meeting, a town hall, or a training on taking action.

UNCOMPLETED
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

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

Learn About My Watershed

I will find local resources for learning about my watershed and the particular water issues my region faces.

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

Ecological Principles

Join An Outdoor Project

I will join an outdoor restoration project in my community.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

A Call to Sustainability

Explore My Area

I will explore at least one new hiking trail or nature walk in my area.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Connect with a Nonprofit

I will connect with a local nonprofit, environmental or otherwise, and find out how I can get involved or become a member.

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

A Call to Sustainability

Pay Attention to Current Events

I will watch or read the news each day this week with a specific focus on sustainability issues and happenings.

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?


  • Carol Mikkelsen's avatar
    Carol Mikkelsen 12/05/2018 10:57 PM
    Thanks, Hugh.  I always appreciate your perspective and insight.  I think I've 'been around' the earth a tad longer than you, but you've been 'consciously green' for longer than this Chicago-bred "girl."  Way, way too many quotation makrs for a short post, but you know what i mean.  


  • Carol Mikkelsen's avatar
    Carol Mikkelsen 12/04/2018 11:00 PM
    Hi team.  I didn't mention in our meeting tonight that the SDOT group I work with is focused on Public Space.  It's messy as it involves permitting (you put this in shared space, now you need a permit) and programming (block parties, festival streets, parklets, streateries, weddings, marketing, food trucks, lots of activation (think "vibrancy," yay!)), but also what competing desires for shared space means ("I want this, you want that -- you're obviously wrong.").  It's a relatively new group and not fully focused yet,  but it's front and center for community and has great potential (to inject effectiveness or  maintain and increase bureaucracy).  It's a very interesting place to work.  We think about public space all the time.  There are always (always) two or more sides to an idea, approach, program, policy, ACTIVATION of public space.  Yikes.  I can tell you that this group wants to do good things.  I can not at this time tell you that they/we fully understand what is good (my opinion, not necessarily that of my colleagues).  But good intentions abound.  

    • Hugh Geenen's avatar
      Hugh Geenen 12/05/2018 9:24 PM
      Messy and good intentions are frequently intertwined with newly formed groups. Good luck! 

  • Carol Mikkelsen's avatar
    Carol Mikkelsen 11/20/2018 9:35 PM
    Hi Team -- an organization I mentioned briefly at tonight's meeting:  https://pugetsoundkeeper.org/.   Also, Jenny was right -- the water to our taps all comes from the watersheds rather than any of it being returned from the treatment plant: https://www.seattle.gov/util/MyServices/Water/WaterSystemOverview/index.htm.  It does pass through a treatment facility, but this is not the same as the sewage treatment facility 'downstream.'  
    I will try not to make things up at the next meeting....  :)

    • Hugh Geenen's avatar
      Hugh Geenen 12/02/2018 11:53 AM
      We’re all doing the best we can, Carol. FWIW, I make things up all the time...  😬

  • Carol Mikkelsen's avatar
    Carol Mikkelsen 11/20/2018 6:48 PM
    While flying home from vacation yesterday, I became conscious of the extraordinary amount of plastic cups and utensils 'consumed' on one 5-hour flight.  It's pretty astounding -- why haven't I noticed this before?  Sadly, I was drinking from one such plastic cup when enlightenment arrived. (One step at a time....)

    • Hugh Geenen's avatar
      Hugh Geenen 12/02/2018 11:56 AM
      You’re making an argument to carry a reusable water container all the time. It’s well worth the reminder... 

  • Carol Mikkelsen's avatar
    Carol Mikkelsen 11/09/2018 11:08 PM
    Oh, sorry fellow team members. I'm going on vacation tomorrow and hate flying in big metal objects so I had extra coffee today and am now out of hand.  Nonetheless -- third post in a row: I hope we can speak in a future meeting (that I can attend), about choices.  I'm staying at a 'school/camp' for a week which I'm not  conflicted about, but then I'm adding on 3 days in an AirBnB cabin.  It's solely wood-heat.  Is that pollution-bad or carbon-better or .....   I lived with solely wood heat on Vashon Island many, many years ago, but I could never 'do the math' on this.  Meanwhile, I am checking my linen closet for items with which to fashion non-plastic produce bags. I can (and will) do this, but it doesn't seem overly effective. 

    • Hugh Geenen's avatar
      Hugh Geenen 12/02/2018 12:00 PM
      Would be interested in the conversation because I am unclear if the choices are around transportation or accommodations. Or both... 

    • Margaret Wetter's avatar
      Margaret Wetter 11/17/2018 1:29 PM
      I'd love to have a conversation about choices at one of our upcoming meetings.  And producing non-plastic produce bags ... definitely want to do this!

  • Carol Mikkelsen's avatar
    Carol Mikkelsen 11/09/2018 10:58 PM
    Also -- Earth Institute folks -- you might want to think about enabling your group participants to create additional Actions. Yours are great, but the scope is unlimited -- why not create more opportunities to motivate.  Thanks, A Participant

  • Carol Mikkelsen's avatar
    Carol Mikkelsen 11/09/2018 10:55 PM
    So. Fellow group members who seem to not be on this website much, if at all - no worries, I check facebook once in forever.....I am heading out tomorrow on a PLANE, then renting a CAR to go to a small mountain town in  VA followed by a small non-mountain town in north GA, thus increasing my carbon footprint, but also increasing my understanding of folks who live and think and care about things differently than me (maybe). I just want to note that prioritizing between the many juggled balls is very tough, but being aware of the environmental impact, makes me equally aware of many other impacts.

  • Carol Mikkelsen's avatar
    Carol Mikkelsen 11/05/2018 8:32 PM
    Was inspired by a couple in the grocery store this weekend. They had a large glass container for their bulk coffee beans, and multiple cloth mesh bags for their produce and other items. The store has a simple sticker system. Check in at the counter to get your jars/containers weighed on the way in. I've found some appropriate materials, linens at home -- should be easy enough to make produce bags. Won't decrease my massive carbon footprint, but one step at a time!

  • Carol Mikkelsen's avatar
    Carol Mikkelsen 10/30/2018 5:38 PM
    Completed the challenge of reading the paper with a focus on stability this week. Interesting note:  I often skip the business-focused sections of the papers, but there's some relevant sustainability-impacting news in there. Overall, the shift in focus was valuable. It broadened my thoughts and made me think more long-term. Good exercise. 

  • Carol Mikkelsen's avatar
    Carol Mikkelsen 10/27/2018 4:17 PM
    https://www.ted.com/talks/emma_marris_nature_is_everywhere_we_just_need_to_learn_to_see_it