Madeleine Smith

MEDAEcoManiacs

"My mission is to honor this Earth as deeply and fully as I can. "

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
360 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

2.0

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

24

gallons of water

have been saved
UP TO

105

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

3.0

hours

volunteered

Madeleine's actions

Simplicity

Needs Vs. Wants

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

COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Volunteer in my Community

I will volunteer 3 hour(s) in my community during the challenge.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Support Public Transportation

Access to public transportation enables more opportunity and a better quality of life. I will make 1 phone call(s) and/or send 1 emails per day to public officials to advocate for a more comprehensive public transportation system in my region.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Joyful Movement

I will spend 10 minutes doing an activity where I'm both moving my body and enjoying myself.

COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Reduce Animal Products

I will enjoy 2 meatless meal(s) and/or 0 vegan meal(s) each day this week.

COMPLETED 2
DAILY ACTIONS

Nature

Leave No Trace

I will practice the seven principles of Leave No Trace when doing nature activities alone or with family and friends.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Water

Brush My Teeth Without Running Water

I will save up to 8 gallons (30 L) of water each day by turning it off while brushing my teeth.

COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS

Energy

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.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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.

UNCOMPLETED
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?

REFLECTION QUESTION
Community Volunteer in my Community

What is one thing you can do to help your community become more sustainable?

Madeleine Smith 12/21/2023 10:10 AM

Pick up trash, go to public meetings, talk to strangers on the street and learn about them, talk to your neighbors, learn about the infrastructure around you and advocate for transparency, talk to people about the climate

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Nature Leave No Trace

Educator Stephanie Kaza advises her students to focus on what they care about most when addressing the enormity of ecological problems. Is there a specific area you feel particularly called to work on?

Madeleine Smith 12/21/2023 10:04 AM

I've gone up and down eco-friendly rabbit holes inspired by my climate grief - I have reusable "paper" towels and glass tupperware and wooden cooking utensils and natural sponges etc etc. At this point, I try to focus on harm reduction and do what I can with what I have where I am. This really applies to my consumer behaviors - I try to "vote with my wallet" and reward companies that have sustainable(ish) supply chains - this includes choosing farmers markets when I can or even just local grocery stores vs. chains. I also just try and educate the people around me who are open to listening. Focusing on my sphere of influence has helped me manage the enormity of the climate issue. <3

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Madeleine Smith 11/28/2023 10:27 AM

Good! Could be better. Haven't made time for the waste or energy audit. Brushing my teeth without water is a hard thing to remember, but I am trying!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Water Brush My Teeth Without Running Water

What is the main water source in your region? If you don't know, how could you find out?

Madeleine Smith 11/28/2023 10:26 AM

I live in San Francisco, so I believe my main source is the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. It's a controversial history. There are websites with watershed maps that people from anywhere in the US can access to find out where their water is sourced. Ultimately, caring for all watersheds is important.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Health Joyful Movement

What's your favorite activity(ies) in which you experience joy while being active and moving?

Madeleine Smith 11/28/2023 10:25 AM

Riding my bike, stretching, yoga, barre and dance.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Reduce Animal Products

Why do people in richer countries eat more meat than people in other places? How does eating more meat affect our planet and other people?

Madeleine Smith 11/28/2023 10:24 AM

I'd actually really love to see the data on the first part of this question - I think there is a lot of nuance.

I could go on and on about how eating meat impacts our planet and people (it's one of the biggest contributors to global warming), but in short - factory farming is a supply chain system that has scaled the production of meat in really unsustainable ways. The supply chain contributes mass amounts of greenhouse gases; from the actual cows who produce methane, to the tangential supply chain of animal feed, to the transportation required to ship product around the world.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Simplicity Needs Vs. Wants

How is creativity a necessary ingredient for practicing simplicity?

Madeleine Smith 11/22/2023 8:59 AM

Coming from a place of needs vs. wants is not only an environmental task, but a financial one. I feel like the financial piece is a bit stronger, than the environmental for me, but I'm working on that. I notice my creativity for this task coming out when my partner wants unnecessary things 😂 It's easier to critique another than ourselves, right? Whenever he wants something I say "Oh we can do this instead!" or "Oh we can use that for the same thing!". It's fun to get creative in this way and it feels really gratifying.

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