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Grace Marshall's avatar

Grace Marshall

capstone spring 21

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 226 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    7.0
    locally sourced meals
    consumed
  • UP TO
    25,620
    gallons of water
    have been saved
  • UP TO
    5.0
    hours
    volunteered

Grace's actions

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

Ecological Principles

Research Renewable Energy Options

I will find out if my local utilities offer an option for supporting renewable energy investment.

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

Food

Support Local Food Systems

I will source 1 meal(s) from local producers each day this week. This could include signing up for a local CSA, buying from a farmer's market, visiting a food co-op, foraging with a local group, or growing my own ingredients.

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

Volunteer in my Community

I will volunteer 5 hour(s) in my community this week.

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?


  • Grace Marshall's avatar
    Grace Marshall 5/12/2021 9:35 PM
    I signed up for renewable electricity this week through Portland General Electric's "Green Future Choice" plan! It costs $0.008/kWh on top of my normal charges, and makes it so that all of the energy I get is renewable. They break it down roughly into 75% wind energy, 20% solar, 3% biomass, 1% geothermal, and 1% low impact hydro. I had to look up what low impact hydro was - basically it's energy generating projects that keep impact to water flow and animals to a minimum. 

  • Grace Marshall's avatar
    Grace Marshall 5/06/2021 9:29 AM
    This week, since I was too late to join the Detrash Portland event happening at Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge this Saturday, I decided to get ahead of them and pick up trash on each of my morning runs around Oaks (3 so far this week). It made the running a bit slower, but I came back will a full paper grocery bag of trash each time. It felt really good to help clean up an area that I use so frequently.

  • Grace Marshall's avatar
    Grace Marshall 4/28/2021 3:57 PM
    Got my low-flow shower head! This is the model I went with: https://www.waterpik.com/shower-head/products/fixed-mount/ecoflow/VBE-423/. I just unscrewed the old shower head and replaced it with this one, and it was super easy to do myself, and I just needed a wrench and some pliers. I tried it out for the first time today and was super happy with the water pressure - I almost didn't notice a difference, and I'm very excited to watch my water bill go down!

    • Abigail Jones's avatar
      Abigail Jones 4/29/2021 9:41 AM
      Thanks for the link! Such a smart way to continue to have built-in water savings in your lifestyle.

  • Grace Marshall's avatar
    Grace Marshall 4/21/2021 6:37 PM
    Hey everyone, this week for my Eco Challenge I plan on cooking each dinner with ingredients that I got from the farmers market (the locally sourced foods challenge). Early in the week I made the first recipe for my vegetarian cookbook, sweet potato gnocchi with kale rabe, which was surprisingly good leftover. I made salmon chowder last night that I'm going to eat for the next couple days before freezing the rest, and for my last couple cooks I'm planning on mushroom risotto and ratatouille. It was kind of difficult finding the produce that I needed at the market, as it's still early in the season for a lot of things (especially stuff I needed for the ratatouille) but I made it work, and it sometimes resulted in fun substitutions (like kale rabe instead of broccoli rabe, which I couldn't find). 

  • Grace Marshall's avatar
    Grace Marshall 4/14/2021 9:34 PM
    This week for my Eco Challenge I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather we're having and explore a trail I haven't done before (the "Explore my Area" action). This one was perfect for me because I haven't been living in Portland for all that long. I did the Trail of Ten Falls loop today out near Silverton, and it was absolutely gorgeous - the waterfalls were beautiful and there were very few people out on the trail. I love hiking on early weekday mornings because it's so much less crowded, and I can enjoy the sounds of nature and the quiet. 

  • Grace Marshall's avatar
    Grace Marshall 4/07/2021 4:48 PM
    Hi everyone! This week for my Ecochallenge I volunteered five hours of my time with Portland Animal Welfare Team doing vet tech work. We provide free veterinary care to the pets of people experiencing homelessness. This was my second time volunteering with PAW Team, and it's been so rewarding each time, both because I'm helping animals get the care that they need and because I'm helping people keep their family pets through rough situations. 

    • Abigail Jones's avatar
      Abigail Jones 4/08/2021 8:59 AM
      What an awesome way to show love to the animals in Oregon and their people!