Ella Waldrop
POINTS TOTAL
- 0 TODAY
- 0 THIS WEEK
- 312 TOTAL
participant impact
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UP TO2.0milestraveled by bike
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UP TO2.0milesnot traveled by car
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UP TO131pounds of CO2have been saved
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UP TO2.1poundswaste composted
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UP TO3.3pounds of paperhave been saved
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UP TO20minutesspent learning
Ella 's actions
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.
Food
Plant an Herb Garden
I will plant an herb garden in my home, workplace, or dorm room.
Water
Black Rock mission
I read the prompt about not using plastic water bottles, and I do not do that. What I do is go to Black Rock Coffee about once a week and get a blended drink in a plastic cup. I will stop using that one plastic cup a week/ any additional fancy to-go beverages by bringing my own container.
Transportation
Go by Bike
I will commute by bike 2 mile(s) each day and avoid sending up to (___) lbs of CO2 into Earth's atmosphere.
Waste
Learn About & Practice Sustainable Fashion
I will learn about sustainable fashion and begin trying to practice it in my own life.
Waste
Compost Food Waste
I will avoid sending up to .42 lbs (.19 kg) of food waste to the landfill each day by composting my food or learning how to.
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.
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?
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Ella Waldrop 5/28/2025 1:25 PMFor this week's nature-themed ecochallenge, I watched the sunrise for three days in a row. I have always admired sunsets so much, but I work every night and often miss them. My restaurant job keeps me occupied late into the night, which means I often miss most mornings, especially when the sun is coming up. Basically, I am only awake and outside from 10 am until 4/5 when I go to work, then I bike/ walk home at like 11 pm. I know it's not sustainable for my schedule or my sleep to make seeing the sunrise a priority for my daily routine, but I figured it could be a special experience for a few days, and it was! I was able to witness a new type of quiet for my busy neighborhood, and that chaotic noise was literally replaced with bird chirps! No joke!! Overall, it made me feel so much more appreciative and aware of the animals, critters, and nature in my urban area, which makes me feel inspired to seek out more of that energy :)-
Amy Minato 6/01/2025 12:51 PM- TEAM CAPTAIN
Ella
I love the idea of watching the sunrise every morning! since you have a late schedule, you could try for sunsets... -
Robin Hand 5/31/2025 1:49 PMHi Ella,
I think getting up to watch the sunrise is such a good idea, and an easy way to appreciate natural beauty even within a city. This has definitely inspired me to try to wake up to catch the sunrise once or twice a week. Working late does really make it difficult though, especially on top of school responsibilities.
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Ella Waldrop 5/23/2025 10:30 AMFor this week's theme of transportation, I unintentionally met my goal of trying to bike more/ get more comfortable with my route to work. My move this week put me away from any bus lines that would get me to work, so my options are to walk or ride my bike. Luckily, I moved to a street that is a greenway and has lots of fully protected lanes, bridges, etc. This week, I got a spot in my work building's bike storage room and biked to and from work 4 times for a rough total of 16 miles for the week with zero emissions! Now I have a route that makes me feel comfortable, and I love riding in the sunshine and the wind. I will be curious how my feelings change as the weather changes, but I'm going to live these next few months :)-
Amy Minato 5/26/2025 6:49 PM- TEAM CAPTAIN
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Ella Waldrop 5/14/2025 10:04 PMChecking in about transportation this week! I already feel pretty content with my transportation habits; I almost always walk or take the bus wherever I need to go. Conveniently, I just moved apartments this week into NW, and the bus to work options are not as good as I had at my other place. My old apartment had the 44, 12, and 54 lines that took me directly from my house to my work, now I live a mile or so from work and have no great options other than walking and biking. Historically, I am a little scared of biking around cars due to a scary thing that happened with my cousin. I want to challenge myself to get comfortable biking to work and home from work, which is about a 10-minute ride. I did it 3 times this week, woohoo! I am actually still very terrified, especially coming home in the dark, but I am working on it, and maybe once I get comfortable with my route, I will be able to bike to other places and not be scared.-
Amy Minato 5/19/2025 4:08 PM- TEAM CAPTAIN
do you have a bike light? sometimes i read my bike really slowly on a sidewalk if the streets seem dicey. -
Lally Pollen 5/18/2025 6:54 PMHi Ella, Well done for riding to work despite the fear! I hear you, I have my own version of a scary bike past, and think its awesome that you're pushing past the terror. I'm working on a bike return myself, but have yet to make quite as much progress as you have. Me and the ol 44 are currently tight friends, but I am going to take inspiration from you and increase my efforts.
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Ella Waldrop 5/09/2025 1:46 PMFor this week's eco challenge, I wanted to take notice of all the ways I may be using access to water in my daily routines. The first part of this week was just focusing on observation, I noticed I may be using access water when I dont load my dishwaher fully, run laundry loads of heavy, and wait for the water to warm up while I shower and wash my face, which sometimes takes minutes of additonal unnessary running water. The latter part of the week, I tried to change those actions by being mindful of how much water is coming out of the seemingly infinite supply of the magic faucet. All of these were straightforward changes that I will continue beyond this week of water conservation and mindfulness. Going to try and collect some rainfall this coming week to water my plants ! Woohoo:)-
Amy Minato 5/13/2025 3:27 PM- TEAM CAPTAIN
it's true there is a magical sense to our water accessibility. And in Portland, maybe a bit more difficult to think of it as rare... -
Emma Straub 5/11/2025 8:18 AMHi Ella! I really like the changes you've been making to adjust your water consumption. It can be difficult when we have grown up with such a steady supply of clean water to be knowledgeable and conscientious of the water that we are consuming, so I think this is a great step in reducing overall water usage. Let us know how collecting rainfall goes, I'd love to hear what system you use for collection!
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Ella Waldrop 4/29/2025 6:16 PMHi Everyone, maybe a little less optimistic report this week. So basically, I get Black Rock (drive-through coffee) at least every Tuesday (student day woohoo). This is pretty much the only time I am doing single-use plastic cups and that sort of thing, but it definitely does add up. I can see that in my trash can and also feel that in my soul. For my water themed action this week I was going to ask the nice people if I could use my own 16 oz cup instead of the disposable ones and they said no:( I was maybe half expecting this because when I worked at Starbucks a long time ago we had to say no to stuff like this but I thought it was a COVID thing not always a declinable request. Today, I got my BlackRock in a single-use plastic cup, just like every week, only this time I know that I at least asked. Moving forward I will try my hardest to reduce my cosumption to maybe every other week, its one of my only vices and so its hard to rewire my Tuesday brain if anyone can relate...-
Amy Minato 4/30/2025 7:41 PM- TEAM CAPTAIN
wow how disappointing! i heard that you can bring your own cup to starbucks. i think its good to keep asking....then they get the message that people care
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Ella Waldrop 4/24/2025 11:16 PMHi everyone, for the food prompt this week, I planted an herb garden, which is something I have been wanting to do since I really started to get into cooking/ baking these past few months. I cooked a really awesome dinner a couple of weeks ago, and I asked my roommate to grab some herbs, and they were packaged in the most outrageous plastic packaging and I knew I had to make a change! I really lucked out because I already had soil and some pot like vessels from random projects over the years. I have a friends boyfriend that was able to hook me up so there was so barriers for me which felt really cool! I am a little nervous to see how we do together because I havent been so great with plants in the past, but I keep a sourdough starter alive which is equallly demanding! Will update on growth progress hehe :))-
Amy Minato 4/30/2025 8:05 PM- TEAM CAPTAIN
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Lally Pollen 4/26/2025 8:07 PMIt so absurd to have to get such monstrous size packaging for a small bunch of herbs. Great move planting a garden! What herbs did you go plant? Having killed at least one sourdough starter and witnessed the deaths of many others, I can safely say herb care is easier (smells better too). Part of my Eco Change project has involved something similar, seeing which vegetables that we get from the market, I can reroot ultimately to plant outside. The current experiments is celery.
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Ella Waldrop 4/18/2025 6:27 PMFor my second ecochallenge, also focusing on waste, I decided to free myself from all of the random mail I get sent by taking the time to go paperless. I do not receive tons and tons of mail, however, I do get lots from OHP, food stamps, my old car insurance ( I don't even have a car anymore..), and my phone provider! It took me around 20 minutes to unsubscribe from additional sales/ offers, thanks to my laptop knowing all my passwords! While I was at it, I started unsubscribing from random email spam too, just for fun; I will be curious if I actually stop receiving mail from OHP because if you know, you know that they are ruthless:,) Overall, it took a lot less time than I assumed, maybe in the following weeks I will update!-
Amy Minato 4/23/2025 7:00 PM- TEAM CAPTAIN
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Emma Straub 4/19/2025 3:01 PMHi Ella, that's really creative and interesting way to reduce waste! Even if some companies still send out mail without request, it is good to be able to reduce the amount of waste where you can. I feel like I get spam letters all the time about insurance to sign up for or phone contracts to try, so I will have to look into how I can get removed from the mailing list for these companies. I also use paperless functions for medical and phone bills, etc., but I would love to try to reduce my waste even more. Thanks!
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Ella Waldrop 4/10/2025 8:16 PMHey everyone, just checking in about the eco-challenge that I chose for this week, which was to learn about and practice sustainable fashion. I would say about 90% of my wardrobe is gifted/ purchased second-hand, so I wanted to focus on investigating which materials are the most durable for the 2nd handpieces I welcome in, and I wanted to check out some sustainable undergarments. Durable fabrics to look for on clothing tags: hemp, linen, silk, wool, cotton, and other natural fibers. Some good companies: Pico, Mighty Good Basics, and The Very Good Bra! Sidenote: When I first googled ethical and sustainable underwear the first 5 companies that came up were nothing of the sort upon further inspection! (I used Good on You to look into each brand)-
Amy Minato 4/14/2025 5:16 PM- TEAM CAPTAIN
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Ava Miel 4/13/2025 9:47 PMHi Ella, it’s awesome that you not only researched fibers that are more durable and sustainable, but also companies that use these types of fabrics. If you are curious about fabrics and making your own clothing, Mill End fabric store in Milwaukee and Beaverton has extremely high-quality natural fiber fabrics for a fair price and they are a local business! I have found this especially helpful since Joann’s Fabrics went out of business. I also think that making your own clothes will become more relevant as clothes that are made from sustainable materials become more expensive. We may even begin to circle back to past fashion history where we had less clothes, where every one was hand-tailored to our exact measurements. These clothes have been able to survive long enough for us to study these historical garments. What were the five companies that were greenwashing so that I can avoid them?
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