Mancala Snyders is participating in the Campus Ecochallenge!

Ecochallenge.org

Campus Ecochallenge

Mancala's points

5 TODAY
5 THIS WEEK
316 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

11

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

6.0

miles

not traveled by car
UP TO

6.0

miles

traveled by foot
UP TO

5.9

pounds of CO2

have been saved
UP TO

292

gallons of water

have been saved
UP TO

2.0

documentaries

watched
UP TO

210

minutes

spent learning

Mancala's actions

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 2 meatless meals and/or 1 vegan meals each day.

COMPLETED 8
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Make Smart Seafood Choices

I will visit seafoodwatch.org or download the app and commit to making better seafood choices for a healthier ocean.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

Conserve Toilet Water

I will save water in my dorm or shared living space by only flushing the toilet when necessary—potentially conserving up to 12 gallons (45 L) per day.

COMPLETED 11
DAILY ACTIONS

Water

Understand My Water Footprint

Each of us has a water footprint, directly linked to our daily activities as well as the water required in the production of things we use each day. Understanding our water use is important for a healthy planet. I will calculate my water footprint and look for a few ways I can reduce consumption or waste, then share what I learned on the feed.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

Take 5-Minute Showers

I will save up to 20 gallons (75 L) of water each day by taking 5-minute showers.

COMPLETED 8
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Learn About Trans, Femme, and Nonbinary Experiences

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

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Explore the Community Feed and Connect with Others

I will spend 10 minutes reading the Ecochallenge feed each day and giving high fives or commenting on posts by people who I don't know, but whose content inspires or interests me.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Transportation

Advocate for Better Public Transportation

I will make 0 phone calls and/or send 5 emails per day to public officials or student leaders to advocate for stronger, more accessible public transportation systems on and around my campus.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Transportation

Walk Instead of Driving

I will walk 1 miles each day instead of driving.

COMPLETED 6
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Watch a Documentary About Racial Injustice

I will watch 2 documentaries about systemic racism to learn more about how it affects us and the planet.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Support Businesses Owned by People of Color

Racial inequity is both a sustainability and justice problem. I will support businesses owned by people of color in my community whenever I shop.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Participant Feed

Mancala Snyders 7/21/2026 12:05 AM

Transportation:
I felt like we talked about transportation so much I couldn't believe I forgot to make a post about it! I do own a car; I didn't get my driver's license until January of this year. I waited for so long because I didn't need a car for a long while. When I moved to Portland, I learned very quickly how Trimet worked and it became part of my daily routine. I moved recently and I am now a walkable distance from where I go to school and where I work. I have options to take Trimet but depending on the wait times it's not always beneficial. I have a car for costco hauls, beach trips and if I want to visit my family just north of Seattle. If I am not traveling to visit my family, I drive my car about 50 miles each month.

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- Mancala Snyders 7/21/2026 12:07 AM
  
  For my ecochallenge, I took the bus to sunflower farms both times we went instead of driving my car! I was very tempted because the bus over there only ran once an hour, but our class lined up really well with the bus's schedule. I also tracked how much I drive my car each month and calculated my emissions because I don't have an electric vehicle,
  
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Mancala Snyders 7/18/2026 1:41 PM

Nature-
I realized quickly into this course that I already do a lot of the tasks this website suggests. However, my challenge has been getting people around me to do the tasks with me! This week I focused on being outside more and getting as much sun as I can and I encouraged my friends to do the same. Unfortunately, we did not have the time to meet up and go on walks together but our challenge was a color walk, where each friend is assigned a color and they have to go for a walk and find that color as much as possible and send pictures into our group chat. It was a fun way to see how much or how little color there is in different parts of Portland as we all live in different areas. My color for the week was purple and unfortunately there is not a lot of purple in my area.

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Mancala Snyders 7/18/2026 1:34 PM

Consumerism -
This week, I focused on what I can do with what I had. I watched this documentary called "Wasted: The Story of Food Waste" and it really made me think about the food I eat and how I could be getting more food from the food I already have. This week I made a strawberry syrup with the heads of the strawberries that I typically toss. I also made some breadcrumbs and croutons from a loaf of bread I had that was stale. I also dried some mint and put some mint in ice cube trays for a nice addition to a summer lemonade. Mint grows as a weed in our garden, so it usually ends up getting put into the compost. I think it was incredibly beneficial to move towards a more low waste approach to food, especially as my apartment building doesn't have a compost system so all my food scraps end up in the landfill, but the theme in our class has been it takes a lot more time to be this mindful and for a lot of us time is a luxury we cannot afford.

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- Jesse Anderson 7/18/2026 3:35 PM
  
  This is definitely an area that I need to improve on. I need to make more of an effort to use the food that I have and find different purposes for it once it is "undesirable". I feel like I always let some of my bread get moldy :(
  
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Mancala Snyders 7/12/2026 7:17 PM

Unfortunately, this week I was unable to host a clothing swap like I wanted, but I have a clothing swap planned for next week Sunday with all of my friends! Part of my job during the academic year is to host clothing swaps but I only got that idea after I started hosting seasonal clothing swaps with my friends. I can recommend hosting clothing swaps with friends enough! Goodwill is evil and too much clothing waste happens from trying to donate, giving clothes to friends expands the life of your clothes and is just a really fun and sweet experience.

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- Amy Minato 7/14/2026 12:51 PM
  
  so cool you're doing this!
  
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- Bernard Garcia 7/12/2026 9:02 PM
  
  I have so many shirts I have never donated to Goodwill, because I'm worried they'll be thrown away eventually. I usually sell at a cheap rate to friends and give away shirts to friends. Sometimes I sell on Ebay I made 400+ dollars on a couple grails recently. I collect band tees mostly and some become sought after in time.
  
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Mancala Snyders 7/05/2026 1:14 PM

This week I have been focusing on my water usage and how I could use less water or use water better. I didn't realize how much water I use in my day-to-day life from drinking water, watering my plants, doing dishes, brewing coffee, mopping, brushing teeth, etc. To reduce my water usage, I noticed I always keep a glass of water by my bed at night, but by the time I wake up I think that water doesn't taste the same so typically I pour it out, instead I have been using that water for my plants. Another way I was able to reduce water usage is I made my friends impossible burgers and usually they eat meat! We learned this week how much water cattle uses so by getting 3 people to eat impossible burgers instead of red meat that decreased their water usage as well. (They loved the burgers)

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- Amy Minato 7/06/2026 8:53 PM
  
  i like impossible burgers too! for me its all about the ketchup..
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food

What did you learn about the impact of your seafood choices on ocean health? What challenges, if any, did you encounter when trying to make more sustainable seafood choices?
Mancala Snyders 7/01/2026 1:45 PM

I typically don't eat any seafood so this was really interesting. On special occasions I can enjoy salmon, shrimp, crab, lobster and that's all the seafood I eat. While looking at the site it showed how a majority of lobster is not environmentally friendly which I found intriguing because there was a lot of environmentally friendly crab options. I don't eat a lot of seafood anyway but it's good for me to know that if I chose to do so I should eat choose crab (which I prefer anyway) over lobster. There were also quite a few environmentally friendly shrimp and salmon options. Looking at the website made me curious on what the grocery stores near me stock up with. I am usually a shy person but this website made me realize the next time I buy shrimp or salmon I should ask the attendant where they get their seafood from.

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- Amy Minato 7/06/2026 8:37 PM
  
  it's great to buy fish directly from native fishers if you're out in the gorge!
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food

How was your experience intentionally trying to eat less meat?
Mancala Snyders 7/01/2026 1:28 PM

Recently my friends have challenged me to eat less meat and so far that journey has gone okay. None of my friends are 100% vegetarian but we try and hold each other accountable to only eat meat a few times a month. It's been a great so far and has encouraged me to eat a lot more vegetables everyday.

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- Amy Minato 7/06/2026 8:35 PM
  
  It helps to have friends on board! what are some recipes you've tried?
  
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- Haley Underwood 7/04/2026 10:49 AM
  
  Hi Mancala!
  That is such a nice goal and challenge to have going on with your friends. I feel like doing challenges with your friends or family make it feel more fun and achievable. I tried to limit my family and I's beef intake this week, as it uses the most water of all items discussed in the textbook. It has been going very well so far and I plan to try to continue this as a habit, as it also has many health benefits to avoid red meat. Thank you for sharing!
  
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- Alison Perreault 7/01/2026 1:34 PM
  
  Great work with this. My 16 year old is vegetarian, which makes her a great influence on me and our family in eating more vegetable each day and practicing "meatless" Monday!
  
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Mancala Snyders 6/30/2026 8:37 AM

When focusing on waste last week I saw that a lot of the actions are things I already do. Without having to think much of it I have a reusable water bottle, I have a reuseable mug, I have a stainless-steel straw. All my junk mail goes into my spam email account, and I have reusable grocery bags. I want to start composting but my apartment building doesn't have a composting bin, I think eventually I will start a worm bin to reduce my food waste. For last week's waste challenge, I decided to pick up trash in my community. There are a lot of smokers near my apartment complex and they are constantly leaving their cigarette buds on the ground, and I have read that the more litter there already is, the more likely people are going to continue to litter there so hopefully by me cleaning that area, people won't throw their cigarette buds there.

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- Amy Minato 6/30/2026 3:08 PM
  
  i had a student who put out small trash bins for cigarette butts in areas like that on campus with a small note. it was very effective!
  
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Mancala Snyders 6/30/2026 8:29 AM

Last week when focusing on cutting back my energy use, I focused on using my fan less, especially in the morning and unplugging it when I am not home. I don't have AC, so I usually go to sleep with my windows open and then close my windows and blinds by the time it gets too warm. By doing these I completed the turn off lights and electronics action, heat and cool naturally and power down my computer action.

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- Amy Minato 6/30/2026 3:09 PM
  
  it's amazing how putting blinds down during the day can keep a house cooler.
  
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