Mitchell McDonald

capstone

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
197 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

1.0

organic meal

consumed
UP TO

3.0

locally sourced meals

consumed
UP TO

3.3

pounds of CO2

have been saved
UP TO

24

plastic straws

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

36

plastic containers

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

40

plastic bottles

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

0.0

people

helped

Mitchell's actions

Waste

Skip the Straw

Plastic bags and small plastic pieces like straws are most likely to get swept into our waterways. I will keep 6 plastic straw(s) out of the landfill and ocean each day by refusing straws or using my own glass/metal straw.

COMPLETED 4
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Use a Reusable Water Bottle

I will keep 10 disposable plastic bottle(s) from entering the waste stream by using a reusable water bottle.

COMPLETED 4
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Buy From a Farmers Market

I will purchase produce and meat from a local farmers market or food co-op.

COMPLETED 2
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Locally-Sourced Meals

I will source 1 meal(s) each day from local producers.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Food

Choose Organic Ingredients

I will enjoy 1 meal(s) cooked with organic ingredients each day.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Community

Host A Watch Party

I will host a watch party to screen a documentary about an issue that matters to me.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Help Others

I will offer to help 2 person(s) who are in need each day.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Energy

Power Down the Computer

I will power down my computer and monitor when not using it for more than 2 hours, saving up to (1.1) lbs of CO2 each day that I do this.

COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS

Energy

Turn it off

I will keep lights, electronics, and appliances turned off when not using them.

COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS

Energy

Adjust the Thermostat

I will adjust my thermostat down 2 degrees from usual when I use the heat, and up 2 degrees when I use air conditioning.

COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Use Reusable Bags

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

COMPLETED 4
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?

Mitchell McDonald 2/16/2025 8:09 PM
I was unable to complete this challenge today. Normally i am pretty helpful to people around me and a lot of the times ill go out of my way to help someone if i care about them. unfortunately today i spent the whole day doing homework so i actually ignored everyone so that i could work on helping myself! While i think it its important to look out for others, you can only do so if there are other people looking out for you too. A fun (or maybe not fun) analogy I once saw for his is if you spend your time looking out the window to call 911 when your neighbors house is on fire, you wont turn around to see that your house is also on fire. This is a rather colorful way of saying that if you are only looking out for and helping others you cant possible have time for yourself. As a society we have a very self centric world view where we are the number 1 priority and no one else matters. this way of thinking discourages helping others to your own detriment because it is likely that you will not receive the same treatment from other people.

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- Amy Minato 2/21/2025 1:45 PM
  - TEAM CAPTAIN
  when my kids were little i had absolutely no time to help anyone else (including myself) so I get it. the time i put into them helped make them independent adults giviing me more time to give back to the community now
  
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- Pierre Kaptanian 2/17/2025 3:57 PM
  Yeah me too; hard to be worried about the community when it's so hard to make it ahead! I bet without a degree it'll be hard to help anyone; so kudos for prioritizing the homework in the short-term. Defer it to when you an opportunity to help someone
  
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Mitchell McDonald 1/26/2025 11:48 PM
things are going very well considering that most of these are things i do anyways. our apartment is pretty warm anyways so the thermostat stays off and if i get cold i just put on a layer normally. i always turn my laptop off when its not actively being used because it extends the life of the PC. and lights are always off in the apartment when no one is home to use them.

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- Pierre Kaptanian 1/28/2025 7:22 PM
  I've thought a lot about the thermostat thing lately. I know middle class folks that turn the thermostat down to save money and wealthy folks that keep their windows open for fresh air and connection to seasonality. The poor example frames their sustainable choice as a loss and the rich example frames it as a gain.
  
  So much of our choices are driven by yeah habit, marketing, culture that it's interesting sustainability often calls for sacrifice and suffering. I remember growing up with doom and gloom maxims around the 5-minute shower and inevitably took the longest showers of anyone I knew.
  
  Good read about choices and sustainability here: The Elusive Green Consumer
  
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- Amy Minato 1/28/2025 9:35 AM
  - TEAM CAPTAIN
  i think so much of these kind of changes involve getting used to new habits like wearing layers, etc
  
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Mitchell McDonald 1/19/2025 3:28 PM
I do not use plastic water bottles because I have my own water bottle and why would I pay for water like that when tap water is basically free anyways.

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- Amy Minato 1/29/2025 5:59 PM
  - TEAM CAPTAIN
  agreed. do you only drink water then? or might there be other drinks you could switch out to reduce waste?
  
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