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Welcome to Drawdown Ecochallenge!

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Drawdown Ecochallenge

Addy Davidson

Elders Climate Action

Points Total

  • 100 Today
  • 165 This Week
  • 698 Total

Participant Impact

  • up to
    20
    locally sourced meals
    consumed
  • up to
    7
    zero-waste meals
    consumed
  • up to
    55
    minutes
    spent learning

Challenges

Materials

Research Cement Alternatives

#36 Alternative Cement

I will spend at least 30 minutes researching cement alternatives that reduce the carbon footprint of concrete.

Uncompleted
One-Time Challenge

Materials

Go Paperless

#70 Recycled Paper

I will reduce the amount of paper mail that I receive by opting into paperless billing and subscriptions.

Uncompleted
One-Time Challenge

Materials

Mulch the Base of Trees and Plants

#46 Water Saving - Home

I will prevent water runoff and increase absorbency by mulching the base of trees and plants in my yard.

Uncompleted
One-Time Challenge

Food

Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates

#3 Reduced Food Waste

I will spend at least 10 minutes learning how to differentiate between sell by, use by, and best by dates.

Completed
One-Time Challenge

Food

Zero-waste Cooking

#3 Reduced Food Waste

I will cook 1 meal(s) with zero-waste each day

COMPLETED 7
DAILY CHALLENGES

Electricity Generation

Advocate for Solar Installation

#10 Rooftop Solar

I will create a plan to and advocate for solar installation at my business, apartment building, or campus.

Completed
One-Time Challenge

Buildings and Cities

Research Retrofitting Incentives

#80 Retrofitting

I will spend at least 45 minutes finding out if my city, region, state, or country offers incentives for retrofitting existing buildings.

Completed
One-Time Challenge

Buildings and Cities

Research Heat Pumps

#42 Heat Pumps

I will spend at least 45 minutes researching heat pumps to see if installing one makes sense for my home/building.

Uncompleted
One-Time Challenge

Materials

Recycle Everything I Can

#55 Household Recycling

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, making sure to not contaminate recyclables with non-recyclables.

COMPLETED 11
DAILY CHALLENGES

Food

Smaller Portions

#3 Reduced Food Waste

I will use smaller plates and/or serve smaller portions when dishing out food.

COMPLETED 11
DAILY CHALLENGES

Food

Support Local Food Systems

#4 Plant-Rich Diet

I will source 30 percent of my food from local producers each day. This could include signing up for a local CSA, buying from a farmer's market, visiting a food co-op, foraging with a local group, or growing my own ingredients.

COMPLETED 11
DAILY CHALLENGES

Action Track: Social Justice

Fund Family Planning

#7 Family Planning

I will donate to supply a community with reproductive health supplies.

Uncompleted
One-Time Challenge

Feed

  • Addy Davidson 10/16/2019 7:05 PM
    Reuse!!  Did not buy new, bought used.  Sanded, scscrape, painted and added new fabric.  Spiffy. 
    Read More
  • Reflection Question
    Action Track: Social Justice Fund Family Planning
    When family planning focuses on healthcare provision and meeting the expressed needs of women, it results in empowerment, equality, and well-being, and the benefits to the planet are side effects. Why is family planning an important civil rights consideration?
    Addy Davidson 10/16/2019 11:33 AM
    Women are so disadvantaged in many MANY cultures.  And yet, what do we need for the future?  Many, many women.  Who does the domestic planning in almost every culture?  Many, many women.  Women are uniquely qualified to make decisions about family size, occupation, schooling, etc.  Empower the women!
    Read More
  • Reflection Question
    Materials Mulch the Base of Trees and Plants
    Name some of the human activities impacting the health of water systems, both locally (your watershed) and globally (freshwater and oceans). What can you do to improve the health of water systems?
    Addy Davidson 10/16/2019 11:07 AM
    Filtration!  Locally, we reuse a lot of water on our garden (from the house).  We reuse shower water to flush toilets, and we reuse laundry water to water landscaping.  The mulch, the earth, and the tree itself filter the water, so the fruits produced by the trees are unaffected.  More filtration of various water sources can render grey water useful again.  People can investigate filter basins online.
    Read More
  • Reflection Question
    Food Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates
    How does knowing the difference between use by, sell by, and best by dates empower you to make better decisions?
    Addy Davidson 10/16/2019 10:51 AM
    One thing we do with our Earthquake kits is: we buy groceries based on "best by" dates.  They have to be 1.5 years in the future.  Then we store that food for a year, and next year (when there's still about half a year on the clock), we refresh the earthquake kit food and donate 'last year's' to a food pantry.  That way we get the "use" of the canned food in case of an emergency, and still can donate it when it's good to be used.  Otherwise, that would be wasted (because we tend to eat fresh and local, not canned).   This is a project I enlist the grandkids to help me with.
    Read More
  • Reflection Question
    Materials Research Cement Alternatives
    Concrete is a good example of a material that most of us encounter every day, but its carbon footprint may not be obvious. What other everyday materials might have a large carbon footprint? How can you find out more?
    Addy Davidson 10/16/2019 10:46 AM
    This is a real research project, isn't it?  Already we know that virtually any plastic (just took pills this morning that came packaged in plastic, individually.  Waste!) is to be avoided.  I'd say, any building material that requires long transport -- exotic woods are obvious, but what about materials that come from China where the manufacture is cheaper?  I'm not sure I check my wallboard to see where it was manufactured.  We will be building next year (a backyard granny flat).  Will need to add this as a punch list item -- where do you get your materials, Mr. Builder?
    Read More
  • Reflection Question
    Materials Recycle Everything I Can
    How could you incorporate other "R's" -- reduce, reuse, refuse, repair, repurpose, etc. -- into your lifestyle? How does considering implementing these "R's" make you feel?
    Addy Davidson 10/15/2019 3:26 PM
    I am very big on "repair".  As time has moved on, it's apparent to me that we are losing our ability to repair items, and that just steams me (as I get older, and more vulnerable to manipulation).  How does "planned obsolescence" benefit any retiree?  It doesn't!  Learning how to make repairs to items just makes me feel more powerful at a time of life when power is often surrendered.  When I was 20, I didn't know how to do much of anything.  Now, in my 60s, I've learned enough I could almost build a house from scratch (except perhaps for the electric -- That one still flummoxes me.)  It's a shame I didn't undertake all this earlier, before basic physical strength began to wane.
    Read More
  • Reflection Question
    Materials Go Paperless
    What do you want to prioritize over material 'stuff' in your own life?
    Addy Davidson 10/15/2019 3:19 PM
    I live close to the grandkids.  Other grandparents don't.  I'm perfectly happy being the "experience" grandparents.  The more remote grandparents can be the "gift" grandparents.  We de-emphasize gifts all the time, all occasions, because we want the kids to understand that "things" aren't the be all and end all.  (Without undermining the contributions of the remote grandparents, of course!)
    Read More
  • Addy Davidson 10/12/2019 9:35 AM
    Today, grandson and I will make kids-favorite fruit leather from 100% fruit, harvested at the peak of freshness (and lowest price) then frozen until now for use.  
    Read More
  • Reflection Question
    Food Zero-waste Cooking
    How are environmental issues like black carbon and other emissions from cooking fires or rudimentary cookstoves also human health and social justice issues? Why do these issues matter to you?
    Addy Davidson 10/11/2019 6:42 PM
    The issues matter because we share the air with everybody.  But one highlight I see is that less modern countries (please don't shoot me for that shorthand) are actually places that can leapfrog what we "developed" countries considered to be good ideas, and they can truly move on to better ideas for the climate -- methane digesters, for example, rather than building systems that were more appropriate in the 1900s (which is the 'established' infrastructure existing in a lot of the world today.)  Hopefully there is less inertia to overcome.
    Read More
  • Addy Davidson 10/11/2019 6:39 PM
    Have been discussing the PG&E power shutdown with online friends most of the day -- exchanging some good info on the whys, the mistakes, the necessities, and other possible approaches.  I lived thru the big fires in San Diego in the 2000s -- completely different terrain, but many similar issues.
    Read More
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