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Welcome to Campus Ecochallenge!

Watch the short video below to learn the basics.
You'll be an Campus Ecochallenge expert in no time!

Ecochallenge.org
Campus Ecochallenge
Elizabeth Conlon's avatar

Elizabeth Conlon

capstone spring 2026

Elizabeth's points

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 241 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    450
    gallons of water
    have been saved
  • UP TO
    40
    minutes
    spent learning

Elizabeth's actions

Food

Listen to a Food Podcast

I will spend 1 minutes listening to a podcast about food.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Food

Enjoy a Meatless Meal

Producing 1 kg of beef emits as much greenhouse gas as driving 150 miles, meanwhile, 1 kg of veggies or grains leaves a much lighter footprint! This week, I’ll shrink my climate impact by having 1 meatless meals and/or 1 vegan meals each day.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Watch a Documentary about Food Sovereignty

I will watch 1 documentaries about food sovereignty: the right of local peoples to control their own food systems including markets, ecological resources, food cultures and production methods.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Advocate for More Food Options

Access to affordable, nutritious food is a food justice issue. I will advocate for local or organic food options at work, on campus, or in the spaces I frequent.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health

Enjoy Fruits and Veggies

Adding fruits and vegetables to our meals nourishes our body and the planet. I will prepare and enjoy 3 servings of a variety of colorful fruits and veggies.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Water

Install a Low-Flow Showerhead

If allowed, I will install a low-flow showerhead in my dorm or apartment to save water. If not, I’ll advocate for them or look for other water-saving habits.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Check Recycling Near Me

Recycling rules vary by location. I’ll spend 10 minutes learning which plastics my local or campus recycling program accepts. This helps me avoid “wishcycling” — tossing items in the bin and hoping they’ll be recycled, even if they aren’t.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Energy

Calculate my Digital Carbon Footprint

I will calculate my digital carbon footprint and take steps to reduce my CO2 emissions.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Participant Feed

  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Water
    How can your dorm, apartment building, or campus prepare for water-related challenges like shortages or extreme weather?
    Elizabeth Conlon's avatar
    Elizabeth Conlon 5/03/2026 7:46 PM
    Oregon is preparing for another drought summer. This week I had to weigh the advice from Michael Pollan, "Grow your own food," against the reality of a west-facing apartment. My porch will experience over 100 degree heat this summer and growing any plant on my porch will require a great deal of water to compensate for both that, and that container gardens lose water faster than plants in the ground. That is on top of the logistics of finding plants that are drought tolerant and heat resistant. I decided the ecological choice was ironically putting fake plants on my porch that require no water, and researching which herbs I can safely grow indoors around my cats (cats are allergic to all alliums and my cat is a little gremlin who will attempt to eat them). This way I can grow my own food while still conserving water, and have greenery on my porch that doesn't use up water and die anyway.
    Read More
    • Amy Minato's avatar
      Amy Minato 5/04/2026 1:24 PM
      is there any way to shade your porch? you can get herb kits and even a grow lamp for indoors
      Read More
    • Sam Dare's avatar
      Sam Dare 5/03/2026 11:29 PM
      It's looking like it might be a pretty hot and dry summer. While planning a long bike ride in between winter and spring term and I had a look at some of the snowpack measurements on mt hood during that time. I think I remember seeing that we had less than half of the snowpack on the mountain compared to whats considered normal.
      I love the indoor herb garden idea! We have a rosemary bush in the backyard and some chives beside our front porch. It might be nice to add some more variety to our list of home grown herbs.
      Read More
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Food
    What podcast did you choose and what did you learn on the podcast you listened to?
    Elizabeth Conlon's avatar
    Elizabeth Conlon 4/25/2026 9:50 PM
    This week for the ecochallenge I picked, “Listen to a food podcast.” My community nutrition class had us frequently listen to a podcast from Duke University called, “Leading Voices in Food.” I picked the episode, “Are healthy, environmentally sustainable diets economically achievable for everyone?” The podcast has a panel of very educated professors of agriculture from two different universities.
    Andrew Muhammad says that agriculture is a global industry and operates like an ecosystem where one country's decisions affect others. He emphasizes that there is a delicate balance in worldwide food and one must balance sustainability, availability, obesity, and income all while trying to mitigate climate change. He notes that as wealth in a community increases, food spending decreases. Also, as a community gains wealth, they very quickly shift off of cultural starches (rice, cassava, corn, oats) and start incorporating high density protein, dairy, and ultra-processed foods into their diet. Professor Muhammad says that taxes and subsidies can be used as a way to shift behaviors.
    Emiliano Lopez Barrera is another professor of agriculture who works in modeling the logistics of eating and purchasing patterns by altering variables in distribution patterns, diet, climate, and sustainability. By using modeling software he can try and determine who will benefit from changes to the food system and who will be harmed. If you incentivize people to eat sustainable food, there will be benefits, but there will also be spillover consequences to other groups.
    So, are healthy, environmentally sustainable diets economically achievable for everyone? Well golly, I wish I knew, but even when asked the question directly, Professor Lopez Barrera, like a true scientist, never answers it. Instead he tells us more about modeling systems.
    If I had to guess, given my many semesters in nutrition education, the answer is “no,” or at least, “Not in the way we as Americans are used to eating.” It’s easy to say “yes” if one is eating cassava porridge and beans as a primary food source, but globally, with European style eating patterns of meat and dairy, I’d say not.

    Works Cited

    Wilson, Norbert. “E282: Are Healthy, Environmentally Sustainable Diets Economically Achievable for Everyone? - World Food Policy Center.” World Food Policy Center, 2025, wfpc.sanford.duke.edu/podcasts/are-healthy-environmentally-sustainable-diets-economically-achievable-for-everyone/. Accessed 26 Apr. 2026.
    Read More
    • Amy Minato's avatar
      Amy Minato 4/27/2026 2:53 PM
      it's especially hard for folks who live in food deserts...i think we have to revamp the whole system and incentivize healthy foods (which also tend to be sustainable)
      Read More
    • Igor Sulety's avatar
      Igor Sulety 4/25/2026 11:35 PM
      Podcast about healthy mind - it was about meditation.
      Read More
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Energy
    What did you learn about your digital habits that surprised you the most?
    Elizabeth Conlon's avatar
    Elizabeth Conlon 4/17/2026 6:41 PM
    According to https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/carbon-footprint-calculator, my annual carbon footprint is 7,860 lbs of CO2. This puts me below the average, but I live in an 800 square foot apartment with my husband. I have no desire for more. Footprint reducing activities I have tried that haven't worked include: Buying a "smart" thermostat and installing it to control the heat in the winter. This one didn't work because my building is from the 70's and the thermostat is directly connected to the wiring in the house. Washing my clothes in cold water: the laundry room water is so cold it didn't dissolve the laundry powder or packs, it also takes twice as long to fill the tub on top-loading washers (we don't have HE machines here.) Hanging my laundry on my balcony (got a letter from management when I hung my mattress cover over the railing. The dryer wouldn't finish the job.) Many things that people would like to do to help reduce their footprint are banned by resident management and HOA's, like xeriscaping a yard, hanging a laundry line, or planting native plants in the median outside your home instead of grass.
    Read More
    • Amy Minato's avatar
      Amy Minato 4/20/2026 5:16 PM
      good points about management curtailing sustainability efforts..
      Read More
    • Edgar Padilla Fierros's avatar
      Edgar Padilla Fierros 4/20/2026 4:48 PM
      I'm at 8190, but I fear I may have filled out some things wrong, but still well below the US average. It would be nice if it expanded transportation to include a little more detail, like use of public transit, more options on the waste part of it and other things for home energy. But it's nice to know I'm better than most, if I am reading this correctly. But I agree about housing codes and riles limiting what one can achieve with their space to live more sustainably
      Read More
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Waste
    What did you discover about recycling and waste management in your area that more people should know? How might you share that knowledge?
    Elizabeth Conlon's avatar
    Elizabeth Conlon 4/11/2026 7:07 PM
    When you start to get serious about trying to recycle and reducing your waste, you begin to understand how broken up the system is. Recycling is definitely not putting everything in the recycling bin. If I need to recycle the steel in the mini propane tanks for my grill, that is a specific recycling center for hazardous waste. If I need to recycle batteries, I go to Batteries and Bulbs, if I want to recycle broken electronics, that is Best Buy, plastic bags? That is at Winco. I understand how people could get fatigued trying to do the right thing and being sent in different directions all across Portland. Recycling is a lot more than bottles and cans, and for those who are serious about trying to keep chemicals and metals out of the water table by keeping these items out of landfills, there is an investment of time and research. Batteries and Bulbs even requires you to pay them to recycle your batteries. Best Buy requires you to wait in line and a sales associate has to document each piece you are recycling. None of this promotes sustainability and makes trying to be considerate feel like a chore. I still do it though, because I care.
    Read More
    • Amy Minato's avatar
      Amy Minato 4/13/2026 3:18 PM
      it is exhausting. do you know about James recycling? they take almost everything. thank you for putting in the effort
      Read More
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Food
    How was your experience intentionally trying to eat less meat?
    Elizabeth Conlon's avatar
    Elizabeth Conlon 3/31/2026 5:10 PM
    Today I picked up a tofu banh mi on campus, which not only was a vegetarian option, but supported an immigrant owned business, and a campus business.
    Read More