Ecochallenge.org

Drawdown Ecochallenge

Hollis Duginske

Asheville High School Spring 2024!

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
155 THIS WEEK
666 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

65

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

150

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

230

minutes

spent learning

Hollis's actions

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

Health and Education

Learn about the Need for Family Planning

Family Planning and Education

I will spend at least 30 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

Electricity

Learn More about Micro Wind

Micro Wind Turbines

I will spend at least 30 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 20 minutes learning more about the energy generation potential of biomass.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Smaller Portions

Reduced Food Waste

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

COMPLETED 11
DAILY ACTIONS

Transportation

Go for a Daily Walk

Walkable Cities

I will take a walk for 15 minutes each day and take note of the infrastructure that makes walking more or less enjoyable, accessible, and possible.

COMPLETED 13
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 40 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

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Reduce Animal Products

Plant-Rich Diets

I will enjoy 3 meatless or vegan meals each day of the challenge.

COMPLETED 22
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
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?

Hollis Duginske 5/17/2024 11:33 AM

Some of the barriers that exist to women are not being able to control their own bodies and not having a say in what happens to them. An example of this is when girls have their first period they are considered a woman. They are then expected to get married around the age of 14 and then pregnant at 15. They then have to drop out of school and are not educated. They are then represented as someone who should not have a say because they didn't finish school. In my community, I think that women are represented very well. I know a bunch of females who have their own businesses and have a say in the community and are represented as someone who is very intelligent. I think these barriers exist from traditions such as getting married young and having kids young. I believe that we can address these moving forward by getting more women to stay in school and have kids when they want not by a certain age. We could also help women feel like they have more of a voice in their community. We could do this through protests.

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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?

Hollis Duginske 5/17/2024 6:34 AM

I learned that the need for family planning is large. Family planning can help reduce the number of pregnancies including teen pregnancies. There are so many people who don't want to get pregnant but are not using safe and effective family planning methods. This can lead to our population increasing even faster than it is already leading to many problems like deforestation, less food, and more greenhouse gasses emitted.
The needs of different people in different places are different because countries and nations that are more wealthy and developed give people more opportunities to go to school and get educated. Less developed nations don't give the people as many opportunities because there are fewer schools and they are sometimes not as good as the ones in wealthy nations. This makes it so that people don't learn as much about it.

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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?

Hollis Duginske 5/14/2024 12:27 PM

An investment that seems most feasible to me is donating to passive geothermal. I think this is the best option because it can save us so much money and saves us so much energy. This allows us to release less greenhouse gasses. The earth's core is also around the same temp. This will allow us to heat and cool houses and building for a long time with no large consequences to our environment.

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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?

Hollis Duginske 5/13/2024 12:06 PM

Microturbines could be put in many places in Asheville NC such as on some of the taller buildings that are in downtown. We could also put them on some of the mountains that are nearby. We could put them on farms, lawns, or any place that has a lot of room on it.

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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!

Hollis Duginske 5/09/2024 11:23 AM

Before this I had no idea what biomass was, I didn't know it was even a thing. Something that I learned is that it can be made from all kinds of things such as poop or wood. I was surprised to hear that plants and their completion of photosynthesis plays such a big role in it. Another thing that I was surprised to learn was how much oil it can save you if you switch to it.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use Smaller Portions

While dishing food out, we tend to load our plates with more than we need. Using smaller plates helps to mitigate this. Aside from the environmental benefits, what other benefits might come from eating/serving smaller portions?

Hollis Duginske 5/07/2024 10:23 AM

Some benefits that might come from eating less/ smaller portions are giving your food time to digest. Sometimes when we eat Plate/serve large amounts of food we keep eating and eating because we think we have to finish it. After we eat all the food we feel bloated. If we ate less food/smaller portions we could stop and give our food time to digest. We could then think are we really still hungry or have we had enough? This could help us consume fewer calories and stay healthier.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Transportation Go for a Daily Walk

What have you noticed on your daily walks? What have you enjoyed? What infrastructure changes could make your walks more enjoyable or possible?

Hollis Duginske 5/06/2024 8:28 AM

I have noticed on my daily walks, I feel better after. I feel refreshed and have a new mindset and outlook on things. I have enjoyed looking around at nature and observing what is happening around me. I have also enjoyed thinking about everything that Is going on in my life undisturbed. An infrastructure change that could be made is adding sidewalks. This would help me because I wouldn't have to constantly look out for a car. Another thing they could do is add more crosswalks to help cross the streets and not have to wait a long time for it. Another infrastructure change would be to add a green way where you are away from the streets and on a little walk way in nature. This would make my walks more enjoyable because I would not have to hear all the cars.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Land Sinks Research Peatlands

Much of Indonesia's peatlands have been drained so they could be replaced with palm oil or pulp and paper plantations. How can you make choices that help to protect peatlands, even if you live far away from one?

Hollis Duginske 5/03/2024 11:08 AM

One choice that I can make to protect the peatlands is not buying the products that are being made there, in this case, that would be not buying paper from the company until they help bring the peatland back. Another thing that I can do to protect the peatland even if I live far away is to talk to environmental leaders and have them make protests and write letters to the companies telling them all the harm they are causing. To protect the Peatlands we also have to limit how much polluted runoff is going to them, and then reduce these numbers. We can do this by cleaning up trash from the roads and not using as much fertilizer.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Industry Research the Climate Impact of Refrigerants

What did you learn about the climate impact of refrigerants? How do supermarkets contribute to this impact?

Hollis Duginske 5/01/2024 8:53 AM

I learned that refrigerants have a massive impact on the climate. They do this because when they are released they damage the ozone layer. This occurs when UV rays hit it and break it into smaller pieces (chlorine). These smaller pieces then break down the ozone layer. Supermarkets contribute to breaking down the ozone layer by releasing deadly greenhouse gasses leaking from supermarket fridges that keep all of our food and drinks cold.

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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?

Hollis Duginske 4/29/2024 6:47 AM

I think people in richer countries eat more meat because they have more opportunities to get it due to the infrastructure. These would include slaughterhouses and large factories that raise animals just to be killed. These create so much meat that we can sell it cheaply allowing more people to eat it. Eating more meat can affect our bodies in many ways such as having a higher chance of getting coronary heart disease. It affects our planet by giving off large amounts of greenhouse gasses and polluted water. This comes from the animals that are kept in slaughterhouses and the factories that get them ready to be sold and then eaten. eating more meat affects other people because the production needs to be increased leading to more greenhouse gasses emitted.

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