Derek Ho

Nature, God, and Social Justice Spring 2025

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
920 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

160

pounds of CO2

have been saved
UP TO

34

plastic bottles

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

44

disposable cups

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

3.3

pounds of paper

have been saved
UP TO

915

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

60

minutes

spent outdoors

Derek's actions

Waste

Use a Reusable Mug

I will avoid sending 2 disposable cup(s) to the landfill each day by using a reusable mug.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Go get a check up

I will make an appointment for my annual physical.

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

Simplicity

Go For A Daily Walk Outside

I will take a walk outside for 30 minutes each day.

COMPLETED 21
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Support Pollution Reduction

I will spend at least 60 minutes learning about water and air quality issues in my area, how they are impacting human and environmental health, and how I can help.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Go Paperless

I will reduce the amount of paper mail that I receive by 0.11lbs (0.05kg) a day or 3.3lbs (1.6kg) a month by opting into paperless billing, ending unwanted subscriptions and opting out of junk mail.

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

Waste

Use a Reusable Water Bottle

I will keep 1 disposable plastic bottle(s) from entering the waste stream by using a reusable water bottle.

COMPLETED 20
DAILY ACTIONS

Nature

Explore My Area

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

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Visit A Local Farm

I will visit a nearby farm to pick my own fruits and veggies.

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
Waste

Reducing your paper mail can reduce mental clutter as well as physical waste -- by reducing what is coming in, you can reduce what is going into the recycling bin too. How does it make you feel? What is the next step you will take to reduce your waste?
Derek Ho 4/22/2025 5:24 AM
It feels good to part ways with a habit that is so environmentally damaging. Before this challenge, I had dismissed printing as something that we just normally do in the course of our lives. However, this challenge really made me rethink the need to print everything, especially in today's digital age. As such, the next step I will take is to carry forward this habit of using electronic material whenever possible to save trees.

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Derek Ho 4/21/2025 6:29 AM
As this challenge comes to an end, we should all keep in mind that our actions have meaning. Hopefully we can continue the eco-friendly habits we fostered over the past three weeks and bring them into our daily lives, even without this challenge looming over us. Most importantly, we managed to achieve our 15,000 point goal! Go team!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Transportation

What was your process like for restructuring your trip? How can you avoid more air travel in the future?
Derek Ho 4/21/2025 6:28 AM
To restructure my trip I simply explored alternatives to flying. I realized that train travel was a viable alternative for a trip I have coming up this summer, so I decided to take a break from the constant habit of flying to try something new for once. To avoid more air travel in the future I think it will be important for me to consider all possible alternatives before defaulting to booking air travel. Hopefully, more people will do the same and we can cut down on CO2 emitted from transportation!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Nature

How might spending more time outdoors enhance your brainpower?
Derek Ho 4/20/2025 11:43 AM
Spending time exploring new outdoor trails, especially over break, allowed me to truly rest and recharge. I hope this will enhance my brainpower as we get ready to return to campus and especially as we enter finals season. Moreover, exploring unknown areas brought me closer with the natural environment and my local neighborhood in general!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Health

How do you practice self care?
Derek Ho 4/16/2025 12:13 PM
I usually practice self-care by dedicating at least an hour every day to do something relaxing. Whether it is playing video games or watching a random movie, I find that this practice enables me to decompress from the other wise hectic life we all lead here.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste

While water bottles are needed for health and safety in certain places, we can do more to reduce the unnecessary use of them. What are the barriers to you using reusable bottles and tap water instead of bottled water? How could you make this a permanent habit?
Derek Ho 4/14/2025 9:00 AM
For me the biggest barrier to using reusable bottles is a lack of access to clean, filtered water. At least in my residence hall, I have to go down 5 flights of stairs to get to the water fountain. To make this a permanent habit, I've started using the Brita pitcher that I brought with me to campus but never bothered to touch. Now, I filter the water and use a reusable bottle, which reduces waste!

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Derek Ho 4/10/2025 3:53 PM
It is incredible how these seemingly small actions actually matter. This really encourages me to complete these tasks everyday and I hope it can motivate us all. We can do this, our actions matter!

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Derek Ho 4/09/2025 11:59 AM
I find it fascinating how these daily tasks have become so well integrated into my daily routine. It has gotten to the point where I do these actions at the same time every day without even having to think about them. More generally, I think this means that incorporating eco-friendly habits into our daily lives is really not as challenging as we sometimes make it out to be.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste

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?
Derek Ho 4/07/2025 12:49 PM
Perhaps the biggest thing that stood in my way was the inconvenience of having to wash the reusable mug after every use. With a single-use coffee cup, I could just throw it out after I finished the coffee and use a new one every time I wanted to brew another cup. However, I realized that this was not good for the environment and it feels good to know that my relatively minor contribution is advancing the goals of the climate movement. Being lazy is not a good excuse for destroying the environment.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Energy

What do you plan to do with the money you save from making more energy efficient choices?
Derek Ho 4/05/2025 7:11 AM
It feels great knowing that such a simple action -- pressing the cold water button on the laundry machine -- can make a significant contribution to environmental justice. While I won't save any money per se (Georgetown charges the same amount for cold/hot water laundry), I will feel proud that my actions made a difference.

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