Drawdown Ecochallenge 2025

CHARLOTTE GAYNER

"I have a deep love for the outdoors, even if I don't always get out enough. I love birdwatching, scuba diving, hiking, and learning about plants and animals. However, I know that love for all of these things is not enough to protect them. Shrinking ecosystems, climbing temperatures, plummeting air qualities, and more threaten my way of life just as much as it does my neighbor's. I am joining this ecochallenge to become more conscious of the things I do in my day to day life that help and harm our home."

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
177 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

1.0

carbon footprint

calculated
UP TO

270

gallons of water

have been saved
UP TO

10

minutes

spent learning

CHARLOTTE's actions

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates

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 ACTION

Buildings

Fix Leaky Faucets

Low-Flow Fixtures

I will fix faucets or report leaky faucets to facilities that have been wasting up to 9 gallons (34 L) of water a day or 270 (1,020 L) gallons of water a month per faucet.

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 2
DAILY ACTIONS

Transportation

Use Muscle Power

Multiple Transportation Solutions

I will cut my car trip mileage by only taking necessary trips, and I will only use muscle-powered transportation for all other trips.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Coastal, Ocean, and Engineered Sinks

Cook With Seaweed

Seaweed Farming

I will use seaweed in a new recipe.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Electricity

Calculate My Household Carbon Footprint

I will calculate the carbon emissions associated with my household and consider how different lifestyle choices could reduce our carbon footprint and our impact on the environment.

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
Coastal, Ocean, and Engineered Sinks

What recipe did you make and how did it turn out? Will you cook with seaweed again?
CHARLOTTE GAYNER 4/29/2025 10:31 PM
I tried making seaweed salad to go with my salmon bowl today! I had never made seaweed salad and it was very easy. All I had to do was rehydrate dried seaweed and add oil, vinegar, sugar, and salt once rung out. It was very tasty, I would make it again! Another added bonus was that I did not have to use the oven or stove for my vegetables, reducing the amount of gas and power I used for the day. Here is the recipe I used, if anyone else would like to try! https://www.seriouseats.com/seaweed-salad-recipe

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Transportation

How do your transportation choices affect your engagement in your community? Does your experience or enjoyment differ while walking, riding transit, biking or driving?
CHARLOTTE GAYNER 4/29/2025 10:10 PM
The past month, my roommate and I have been walking to get groceries instead of driving. I have enjoyed it as I get out more, spend less since I have to carry it all back with me, and spend less on gas. I did not realize how quickly the small trips add up on my tank! I feel like I am more aware of sanitation and road conditions in our community after doing this. I am also much more aware of the amount of money I spend on groceries and gas.

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- Gavin Yang 4/29/2025 11:00 PM
  I definitely relate to limiting my spending during grocery trips since I have to carry it back. It makes for good exercise but is also makes it hard to buy heavier items, especially any sort of liquid like milk or yogurt.
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Industry

What are some more "Rs" you could add to your daily practice to reduce your waste?
CHARLOTTE GAYNER 4/29/2025 6:33 PM
I think I can "reconsider" and "repurpose" more. I can reconsider if I really need the specific product with wasteful packaging and see if there is a more environmentally friendly option available to me. I can repurpose plastic to go containers to organize drawers, store food, and even craft with the young girl I babysit.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Buildings

What are other easy and low-cost ways to reduce your water usage at home?
CHARLOTTE GAYNER 4/29/2025 6:29 PM
My roommate and I had been putting off asking our landlord to fix a bathroom faucet that has a very slow drip, viewing it as a small amount of water and not a priority. However, after learning that a leak as slow as ten drips a minute can waste about one gallon of water a day, we decided it needed to be fixed. We saw our landlord while coming back from class and asked him to take a look. It only took him a few minutes to fix and he was happy to do it for us!
Other easy and low-cost ways to reduce my water usage at home include taking shorter showers, only running the dishwasher when it is full, and being ready to get into the shower right when it is almost warmed up (rather than waiting a few extra minutes after it is warm). Even better, I could take cold showers to eliminate the water wasted when warming it up, though that may take more adjustment.

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- Ayla Saruhan 4/30/2025 2:18 PM
  This is so relatable, Charlotte! My roommate and I have been thinking about buying our own energy saving light bulbs instead of asking the landlord to replace them. The lights he chooses are bright white and they always seem to need to be replaced shortly after being installed. These bright bulbs typically tend to be cheaper than long-lasting energy saving light bulbs which is probably why our landlord prefers them but those couple of extra dollars are worth it for us as people who are conscious of their impact on the environment. We decided the next time the lights go out we will replace them ourselves rather than rely on maintenance.
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

How does knowing the difference between use by, sell by, and best by dates empower you to make better decisions?
CHARLOTTE GAYNER 4/29/2025 9:13 AM
I get a lot of anxiety around food dates because I hate being sick (like everyone else). This has caused me to throw away perfectly good food just because it is past the best by date on the container. I watched about 10 minutes of YouTube videos explaining why "best by" dates do not matter. It makes me feel a bit more relaxed around the items in my pantry and I am interested to see how this reduces the amount of money I will spend on groceries, not having to replace items I threw away for no reason.

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- Kaia Evulich 4/29/2025 11:38 AM
  Hi Charlotte! I also completed this challenge, and I had a very similar experience. It is interesting to think about how a factor such as anxiety can contribute to food waste and potentially climate change. I think a lot of it boils down to education. I was never taught about the differences between food labels. However doing this challenge also helped me put my mind at ease about food safety. I personally hate throwing away unused food, so sometimes I do not buy enough groceries out of fear of my items going to waste. I think that knowing how items are labeled will make me feel more confident about my grocery purchases because I will feel comfortable keeping items longer!
  
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CHARLOTTE GAYNER 4/29/2025 9:07 AM
Yesterday, I got coffee with a friend at a local coffee shop. Usually when I do this, I will get my drink in one of the single use plastic cups and throw it away shortly after, often in the trash instead of recycling. This time, however, I decided to bring my reusable hot cup that was given to me by my sister. I typically only use it if I am bringing my own coffee someplace, so I was hesitant to bring it with me. I was especially hesitant because it is from Starbucks and I was not going to Starbucks. However, the barista was more than happy to make my coffee in it and even gave me an extra discount for bringing my own cup. It felt good to reduce my single use plastic consumption and to get an economical benefit (even if it was only $0.10).

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- Ella Eslamian 4/29/2025 10:04 AM
  Hi Charlotte! I love this! It’s awesome that you decided to bring your reusable cup, even though it wasn’t the "perfect" fit for that coffee shop. And the extra discount is a great business! I think it’s so easy to get stuck in the routine of using single-use cups, but it’s cool to see how you pushed past that and made a small change.
  
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CHARLOTTE GAYNER 4/08/2025 10:57 PM
I recalculated my carbon footprint today! I remember first calculating this in my senior year of high school and having a score of 4.5-5 Earths needed to sustain everyone if they lived like me. While it has improved, now down to 3.8 Earths, I still have a long way to go. When looking at the specifics of this score, I saw that my mobility is rated as the highest source of my carbon footprint. I am interested to see what I can do to reduce this!

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