Ecochallenge.org

Campus Ecochallenge

Korina Gratton

Sustainable UFV

"Do my best, try new things and continue habits through the year. "

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
858 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

11

pounds

food waste prevented
UP TO

212

pounds of CO2

have been saved
UP TO

645

minutes

being mindful
UP TO

122

plastic containers

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

30

pounds of paper

have been saved
UP TO

77

disposable cups

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

784

gallons of water

have been saved
UP TO

45

minutes

spent outdoors
UP TO

235

minutes

spent learning

Korina's actions

Waste

Learn About & Practice Sustainable Fashion

I will learn about sustainable fashion and begin trying to practice it in my own life.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health

Reduce refined sugar

I will keep track and reduce my consumption of refined sugars, including sweetened beverages, candy, and processed foods.

COMPLETED 30
DAILY ACTIONS

Simplicity

Needs Vs. Wants

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

COMPLETED 30
DAILY ACTIONS

Transportation

Conduct Virtual Meetings

I will not travel for meetings and will instead conduct them virtually.

COMPLETED 30
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Choose Two-Sided Printing

I will save up to .21 lbs (.09 kg) of paper per day by switching from one-sided printing to two-sided when I have to print documents.

COMPLETED 30
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Try a New Way to Prep

I will try a new method of food preparation, such as canning, pickling, or baking bread.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Use a Reusable Mug

I will avoid sending 3 disposable cup(s) to the landfill each day by using a reusable mug.

COMPLETED 30
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Support Native Communities

I will use the resource links provided below and spend 60 minutes learning about the native populations that lived in my area prior to colonization, and what I can do to support those that still exist.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Use Reusable Bags

If at all possible, I will not accept any disposable bags when making purchases.

COMPLETED 30
DAILY ACTIONS

Nature

Support Local Pollinators

At least 30% of crops and 90% of flowering plants rely on pollinators to produce fruit. I will spend 30 minutes researching which plants support local native pollinators and plant some in my yard or local community garden.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Energy

Switch to Cold Water

I will switch to washing my clothes in cold water, saving up to 133 lbs of CO2 a month and 1,600 lbs of CO2 over the course of the next year.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Nature

Explore My Area

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

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

SIGN UP TO VOTE

I will make sure I’m registered to vote. While I’m at it, I’ll sign up to help others register too!

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Stay on the Ground

Instead of traveling by plane, I will find an alternative way to accomplish the goals of an upcoming trip (i.e. telepresence, vacation locally).

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

LEARN ABOUT TRANS, FEMME, AND NONBINARY EXPERIENCES

I will spend 60 minutes learning about the experiences of trans, femme, and/or nonbinary people.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Simplicity

Core Values

We may find more meaning and joy in life when our actions are aligned with our personal values. I will determine what my top 3-5 core values are so that I can better align my actions with them.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Weekly Meal Planning

I will reduce food waste and save money by planning a weekly menu, only buying the ingredients I need.

COMPLETED 30
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Reduce Single-Use Disposables

Cheap, single-use items and disposable packaging end up blowing around as litter more often in poor and POC-majority neighborhoods. I will find out how I can limit single-use items and do my best to limit the waste I generate.

COMPLETED 30
DAILY ACTIONS

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 30
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Practice Loving-Kindness Meditation

I will spend 30 minutes practicing Loving-Kindness Meditation to nurture love and compassion for myself and others.

COMPLETED 30
DAILY ACTIONS

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?

Korina Gratton 10/31/2024 3:08 PM

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope everyone has a safe night! I'm looking forward to all the candy my kiddos will bring home that I will 'help' them eat.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste Use Reusable Bags

What do you do if you find yourself in the situation of needing a bag for items but don't have a reusable one with you or aren't allowed to use the one you brought? Carry things out in your hands? In a cart? Accept a disposable one? If you find yourself in this position often, what system could you put in place to try to create a successful habit of not using plastic bags?

Korina Gratton 10/31/2024 2:54 PM

Depends on what I'm trying to buy or do. Often I know I have the bags in the car, I just forgot to grab them. So I'll take the cart out with me or struggle out balancing and load them into the bags when I get out to the car. Othertimes I ask for a box - or if I'm with someone I'll ask them to watch my cart while I go back out for some. But if I have no bags, I try and buy the paper bags because at least I know I can resuse them or recycle them. My kids like to draw on them, my husband sometimes uses them to cover weeds in the garden, my sister who goes through lots of paper uses them as a waste bag by her desk.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Nature Explore My Area

How might spending more time outdoors enhance your brainpower?

Korina Gratton 10/31/2024 2:43 PM

Science shows that going outside gives your mind a break (even looking at nature photos of water or fire). This helps your brain recharge and be able to work harder or focus better on the next thing. Relaxing outside is good for your overall health and stress levels.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste Learn About & Practice Sustainable Fashion

How can you express your personality, creativity, and values in ways that don't require fast fashion or buying more clothes and accessories?

Korina Gratton 10/31/2024 2:42 PM

Lots of ways! You can buy outfits pieces that you can mix and match in your style. Or add a signature colour that you can add to your outfits. You can also do a clothes swap with friends to get new pieces. Although this is buying clothes - you can also look for second hand clothes like at a thrift store or consignment store to get clothes without contributing to more fast fashion.

Read More
Korina Gratton 10/31/2024 1:23 PM

Can't believe it is the last day! Some of these daily activities have become habits and others I know I'll be adding back in on the next eco challenge (but each year I get better). How about others?

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Korina Gratton 10/24/2024 1:26 PM

The air is so crisp today! It makes me both want to go for a walk and curl up with a book - luckily audiobooks means I don't have to choose.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Simplicity Core Values

What are your top 3-5 core values? How did you narrow it down to those as being your core values?

Korina Gratton 10/23/2024 3:36 PM

It was very hard to narrow it down. And if you ask me again in a month I might change my answers. But I chose the things that I know are reoccuring themes with me.

Learning - I thought I liked having knowledge but I find that I like and am constantly returning to ongoing learning.

Teamwork - While I do like solo work, I also prefer to be part of a team where we can bounce ideas off each other or support each other.

Communication - this is very important to me and the easiest pet peeve to trigger.

Flexibility/Dependability - I'm not sure which word applies best. I like to be depended on and that might be the reason that I try and be so flexible and easy-going at work and at home.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Transportation Stay on the Ground

What was your process like for restructuring your trip? How can you avoid more air travel in the future?

Korina Gratton 10/23/2024 3:02 PM

I think some air travel is unavoidable but in this case we simply decided it would be more fun to visit local communities that we hadn't visited properly in a long time. We got to play tourist in a local town, see the sights and enjoy ourselves - all while being only a couple hours from home.

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Korina Gratton 10/23/2024 2:52 PM

Running late today so found myself reaching for what was easy vs what was sustainable. I think that might be why people get discouraged, when something can easily derail them from their plans. But the nice thing is that you can always pick yourself up and try again. Managed to get back on track later in the day and tomorrow is always another day.

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- Micaela Gates 10/23/2024 9:22 PM
  
  Convenience vs. sustainable is definitely a struggle!
  
  Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste Use a Reusable Mug

Maybe you've heard how good it is to switch from a single use coffee cup to a reusable one, but it's just hard to make the switch. What stands in your way of making this a habit? By identifying the challenges, you can begin to work through them to have better success in taking this action. Knowing the difference you are making, how does it make you feel?

Korina Gratton 10/22/2024 3:18 PM

My main obstacle to this habit is washing my coffee mugs. I get home, and I get busy with dinner and putting kids to bed. I don't always get a chance to unpack my lunch that night and rinse out my mug. And somedays the dishwasher (if we use it) doesn't wash the mugs properly. So lack of planning and preparation. I do have mugs at work, so as long as I remember to bring in my drink supplies, I can use those. And I find myself not missing going through the coffee drivethrough lineups.

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