Ecochallenge.org

Drawdown Ecochallenge

Thomas Cargill

Asheville High School Spring 2024!

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
546 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

6.0

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

2.0

miles

traveled by bike
UP TO

1.5

pounds of CO2

have been saved
UP TO

81

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

277

minutes

spent learning

Thomas's actions

Industry

Learn about Carbon Offsets

I will spend 15 minutes learning about carbon offsets, and why they are a necessary solution in combating a climate crisis.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Buildings

Learn about 'Green Gentrification'

Multiple Solutions

I will spend at least 20 minutes learning about green gentrification and how it relates to city planning for climate action.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health and Education

Research Barriers to Participation and Representation

Family Planning and Education

I will spend at least 30 minutes learning more about the barriers to women's equal participation and representation around the world.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Go by Bike

Bicycle Infrastructure

I will commute by bike 1 miles each day and avoid sending up to (___) lbs of CO2 into Earth's atmosphere.

COMPLETED 2
DAILY ACTIONS

Health and Education

Learn about the Need for Family Planning

Family Planning and Education

I will spend at least 20 minutes learning more about the need for family planning globally.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Electricity

Learn More About Geothermal Energy

Geothermal Power

I will spend at least 20 minutes learning more about the energy generation potential of geothermal energy and consider investing in this technology.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Reduce Animal Products

Plant-Rich Diets

I will enjoy 2 meatless or vegan meals each day of the challenge.

COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS

Electricity

Learn More about Micro Wind

Micro Wind Turbines

I will spend at least 20 minutes learning more about the energy generation potential of micro wind.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Electricity

Learn More about Biomass

Biomass Power

I will spend at least 25 minutes learning more about the energy generation potential of biomass.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Industry

Practice the 5 Rs

Recycling

I will practice the "5 Rs" — refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose, and recycle — to reduce my waste more than I can with just recycling alone.

COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS

Transportation

Go for a Daily Walk

Walkable Cities

I will take a walk for 20 minutes each day and take note of the infrastructure that makes walking more or less enjoyable, accessible, and possible.

COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS

Land Sinks

Research Peatlands

Peatland Protection and Rewetting

I will spend 30 minutes researching the environmental benefits of peatlands and what is being done around the world to conserve and restore them.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Industry

Research the Climate Impact of Refrigerants

Refrigerant Management

I will spend 30 minutes learning about the climate impact of refrigerants and what climate-friendly refrigerants are by using the links below.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Industry

Research Local Waste and Recycling Depots

To learn more about what is and is not recyclable in our area as well as how to properly dispose of hard to recycle materials to reduce my harmful impacts on the local environment AND learn how indigenous peoples and POC are more likely to be impacted by waste sites and pollution on a global scale.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Industry

Recycle Everything I Can

Recycling; Recycled Metals; Recycled Plastics

Contamination prevents what is recyclable from being recycled. I will research and recycle all materials that are accepted by local haulers or drop stations in my community, including electronics and metals.

COMPLETED 4
DAILY ACTIONS

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates

Reduced Food Waste

I will spend at least 30 minutes learning how to differentiate between sell by, use by, and best by dates.

COMPLETED
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
Industry Learn about Carbon Offsets

What are some attributes of an offset that you should consider before purchasing them?

Thomas Cargill 5/29/2024 9:37 AM

When you have carbon offsets there is not a sure way of knowing how much you are contributing or changing. You might not be able to tell how much carbon emissions you are reducing. Maintaining whatever you purchased could also be a problem factor. For example if you are contributing to the protection of a forest.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Buildings Learn about 'Green Gentrification'

Cities and towns need to plan for climate change. How can your city or town make its climate action plans equitable and socially just?

Thomas Cargill 5/24/2024 8:35 AM

For example, I believe in Asheville we could start with finding ways for our rivers to be less polluted. Like how the french broad has become so dirty and the area around it looks and feels worse than it once was. We should start addressing problems one by one over however much time we really need.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Transportation Go by Bike

How does using human-powered transportation make you feel compared to using other methods of transportation?

Thomas Cargill 5/20/2024 9:15 AM

Using transportation using my own body as the power shows me how much we don't think about what we are doing. First, it makes me realize how we do not need to use so many vehicles for small/short trips, there are much more cost and eco-friendly efficient ways. Second it makes me realize that we are lucky we get to use such vehicles for transport cause if we had to only bike to work, school ,etc it would get very tiring.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Health and Education Research Barriers to Participation and Representation

What are some of the barriers that exist to women's equal participation and/or representation in your community?

Thomas Cargill 5/17/2024 9:35 AM

Lots of women struggle with the health problems regarding reproduction. They don't have the proper education to take care of themselves. There is also the problem that even if some girls do know about it, they don't have the money to buy products used for themselves. There are lots of problems with waging in jobs regarding women. Some places have paid less to women just for being a female. Some women are prone to violence within their cities or even their homes, their partners, friends, family, etc. There have been so many cases where women go through sexual or even just violence for little to no reason. I believe these barriers exist because of some cultural and traditional beliefs where people think women are weaker and worth less as a whole. I think as a society in places like the U.S. and lots of other less traditional countries we have moved more towards equality. I think if we were to spread more and more of this message we could help to change society for the better.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Health and Education Learn about the Need for Family Planning

What did you learn about the need for family planning? How do the needs of different people in different places compare to each other?

Thomas Cargill 5/15/2024 9:47 AM

Family planning is needed. If people are just having kids and not thinking about their future it could lead to them being in poverty, homeless, or just overall less healthy. More and more population would not help the economy either and hurt our society. People who live in 1st world countries who have all the resources they need like water, food, energy, etc, have it a lot easier compared to people living in 3rd world countries with rising problems in their governments, resources, etc. Lots of countries with less have to deal with problems from other countries like being taken over and get put into wars.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Electricity Learn More About Geothermal Energy

Geothermal energy is reliable, abundant, and efficient. Project Drawdown states that public investment will play a crucial role in its expansion. In what ways (i.e. with money, time, advocacy) can you invest in geothermal energy?

Thomas Cargill 5/14/2024 9:45 AM

Getting a heating pump installed to your house or applying other geothermal ways of energy to your everyday life. Watching out for what ways you are using energy.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use Reduce Animal Products

Why do people in richer countries eat more meat than people in other places? How does eating more meat affect our bodies, our planet, and other people?

Thomas Cargill 5/13/2024 9:25 AM

Richer countries have the ability to buy so much meat because they have the right amount of money to be able to access it. Eating more meat may help our bodies in some ways while if we eat too much it can harm our bodies, harm our planet with the processing of meats emissions.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Electricity Learn More about Micro Wind

Micro turbines can be placed on large structures to take advantage of stronger, steadier breezes. The Eiffel Tower now sports vertical axis turbines that produce electricity for use on site. Where could micro turbines potentially be installed in your city?

Thomas Cargill 5/13/2024 9:08 AM

There are lots of tall buildings downtown where microturbines could be implemented. As an example, the many many hotels downtown could have microturbines placed to help power the building cleaner.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Industry Practice the 5 Rs

What are some more "Rs" you could add to your daily practice to reduce your waste?

Thomas Cargill 5/10/2024 8:47 AM

For the past few days i have learnt more about mainly reusing plastic bottles from other drinks and filling them up with water and stuff at school. I also have been making sure when recycling to make sure they actually meet the requirements to be put in the recycling bin.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Electricity Learn More about Biomass

Had you ever heard of biomass technology before you took this challenge? What did you learn that surprised you? Share your new knowledge with your friends!

Thomas Cargill 5/09/2024 9:58 AM

I had heard a little about how natural resources can be used but not much. Before i did not know that there were so many other solutions to energy that are much cleaner.

Read More