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Maren Coffman's avatar

Maren Coffman

capstone spring 21

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 408 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    7.0
    locally sourced meals
    consumed
  • UP TO
    7.0
    meatless or vegan meals
    consumed
  • UP TO
    18,788
    gallons of water
    have been saved
  • UP TO
    1.0
    documentary
    watched
  • UP TO
    1.0
    person
    helped
  • UP TO
    210
    minutes
    spent outdoors

Maren's actions

Visions of Sustainability

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

Consumption and Economy

Support Local Businesses

I will buy from local businesses instead of shopping online.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Help Others

I will offer to help 1 person(s) who are in need this week.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Locally-Sourced Meals

I will source 1 meal(s) from local producers each day 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

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

Consumption and Economy

Buy Only What I Need

I will not buy anything except items required for health and safety.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

Install a Toilet Tank Bank

I will reduce the amount of water flushed and save up to 11 gallons (41 L) of water per day by installing a toilet tank bank.

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

Practice Gratitude for Earth

This week, I will spend 30 minute(s) each day outside, practicing gratitude (prayer, meditation, journaling, etc.) for Earth and the nature surrounding me.

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?


  • Maren Coffman's avatar
    Maren Coffman 5/27/2021 7:05 PM
    This week I decided to put a home depot bucket out in my backyard to collect rainwater to water my indoor plants. This was such a simple and easy task as I already had a bucket on hand and it rained quite a bit this past day or so! My indoor plants seem to love that fresh rainwater! 

    • Annika Franck's avatar
      Annika Franck 5/31/2021 12:07 PM
      Maren that is so awesome! I'm glad you were able to get some use out of all that rain!

  • Maren Coffman's avatar
    Maren Coffman 5/20/2021 10:02 AM
    This week, with the help of having very little money, I was able to only buy what I needed for health and safety. This was actually really great for having little money in the first place. I think the fact that I am able to do this now will make it easier for me to do it down the road when I do have more money. I definitely recommend it! 

  • Maren Coffman's avatar
    Maren Coffman 5/12/2021 9:37 PM
    Earlier this week I went to a nearby farm and picked up some local produce. I decided to use only local vegetables every day this past week for dinner. Not only is it great to shop local and reduce the transportation footprint, but honestly my veggies had a lot more flavor! Win-win!

  • Maren Coffman's avatar
    Maren Coffman 5/05/2021 11:25 PM
    For this week's eco-challenge I decided to reach out to an environmental organization I have been interested in called 350pdx. A few years ago I attended one of their events where they showed a documentary of a man doing important activism and protesting against oil companies. Based on the fact that I had such an amazing and memorable experience at that event, I really wanted to become more active within this organization. I reached out via email for more information and opportunities to be active with this community and I am waiting to hear back. I am very excited about this organization and the work they are doing to address anthropogenic-induced climate change. I hope to hear back soon!

  • Maren Coffman's avatar
    Maren Coffman 4/28/2021 1:34 PM
    This week I decided to install a toilet tank bank to help reduce the amount of water used when flushing the toilet. There are specific toilet tank banks that you can purchase, but I found out you can fill a half-gallon container with water and set that in the toilet tank and it will serve the same purpose for a fraction of the cost. What's more, is that I reused an old bottle for this eco-challenge! Yay to recycling! This was an extremely easy task you just need to turn off the water, place an empty water bottle in the tank, allow it to fill with water and cap it, turn back on the water, flush, and you'll be saving about 11 gallons of water a day!

    • Maddy Reeb's avatar
      Maddy Reeb 4/28/2021 2:05 PM
      That is so awesome that you were able to repurpose something while installing your toilet tank bank. That does sound like an easy task that would add up in saving a lot of water. Thank you for sharing!

  • Maren Coffman's avatar
    Maren Coffman 4/21/2021 8:43 PM
    This week I decided to make it a point to eat vegetarian for at least one of my meals each day. This was actually a pretty simple task to do. I quickly realized that I already eat mostly vegetarian for breakfast and for lunch. For dinner one of the nights this week I made vegetarian tex-mex nachos using potato wedges instead of chips and it was actually quite delicious! I didn't even really notice that I was missing out on the meat because the bean mixture was so flavorful. I definitely want to push myself to eat vegetarian for more than one meal a day. 

  • Maren Coffman's avatar
    Maren Coffman 4/15/2021 12:46 PM
    This week I decided to practice gratitude for the earth by spending 30 minutes outside for a week. In total, I completed 210 minutes of being outside. With the weather being as nice as it has been, I really appreciate the reminder that this week's eco-challenge provided me to get outside more. My mood is definitely impacted by the amount of sunshine that is outside so I know that the extra 210 minutes I gave myself outside also benefited my mental health. I look forward to implementing this practice into my everyday life. Being outside truly does wonders and opens your mind up to new things and experiences. 

  • Maren Coffman's avatar
    Maren Coffman 4/07/2021 10:01 PM
    This week I decided to watch a documentary on the connections between food and disease. I wanted to gain more insight into the realities of the food we eat and the health problems that arise from eating certain foods. The documentary I watched was "What the Health" available on Netflix. "What the Health" took a deep dive into the food we eat and the horrific impacts certain foods are having on our bodies. This film opened my eyes to how terribly I have been treating my body by the foods I tend to eat. It even turned on a light bulb in my head that made me realize that a lot of the health problems I have may easily be coming from the food I eat. 

    I recommend this film to anybody and everybody!

    • Lena Stepp's avatar
      Lena Stepp 4/08/2021 11:47 AM
      I'm gonna check that out, I had a moment this morning where I was like, "wow what did I eat yesterday I feel like crap." Time to re-evaluate!