Skip to main content
Vera Heimburg's avatar

Vera Heimburg

Asheville High School/SILSA

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 666 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    87
    meatless or vegan meals
    consumed
  • UP TO
    20
    minutes
    spent exercising
  • UP TO
    2.0
    women, BIPOC, and immigrant-owned businesses
    supported
  • UP TO
    413
    minutes
    spent learning

Vera's 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 1
DAILY ACTION

Health and Education

Support Businesses Owned by Women, POC, or Immigrants

Sustainable Intensification for Smallholders

I will spend 20 minutes researching and shopping from 2 businesses owned by women, people of color, or immigrants.

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 30
DAILY ACTIONS

Industry

Learn About & Practice Sustainable Fashion

Multiple Industry Solutions

I will learn about sustainable fashion and begin practicing it in my own life.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates

Reduced Food Waste

I will spend at least 23 minutes learning how to differentiate between sell by, use by, and best by dates.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Sinks

Research Peatlands

Peatland Protection and Rewetting

I will spend 15 minutes researching the environmental benefits of peatlands and what is being done around the world to conserve and restore them.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Sinks

Learn More about Silvopasture

Silvopasture

I will spend at least 18 minutes watching videos and/or reading about the environmental benefits of silvopasture.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Sinks

Forest-Friendly Foods 1

Tropical Forest Restoration

I will spend at least 30 minutes researching the impact of my diet to see how it contributes to deforestation.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Reduce Food Waste

Reduced Food Waste

I will keep a daily log of food I throw away during Drawdown Ecochallenge, either because it went bad before I ate it, I put too much on my plate, or it was scraps from food preparation, and commit to reducing my food waste throughout the challenge.

COMPLETED 16
DAILY ACTIONS

Buildings

Learn about 'Green Gentrification'

Multiple Solutions

I will spend at least 60 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

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

Industry

Learn about Carbon Offsets

I will spend 30 minutes learning about carbon offsets, and why they are a necessary solution in combating a climate crisis.

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

Electricity

Learn More About Geothermal Energy

Geothermal Power

I will spend at least 30 minutes learning more about the energy generation potential of geothermal energy and consider investing in this technology.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Test Drive an Electric Bike

Electric Bicycles

I will test drive an electric bike at a local distributor to see if it makes sense to use one in place of my car, or to extend the area I can cover by bike.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Sinks

Buy Bamboo

Bamboo Production

When they are available, I will purchase products made from bamboo instead of wood, plastic, or metal.

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

    Vera Heimburg's avatar
    Vera Heimburg 4/21/2025 3:37 PM
    Something I noticed while on my walks was that there are a lot of cats in my neighborhood. I have enjoyed petting the cats along with just getting in the sunlight for at least some time everyday. I also really enjoyed having some alone time. Some infrastructure that could make my walks more enjoyable is if there was a trail near my home that is in walking distance. The places that have to walk are more public areas and roads that do have side walks but they are next to roads and things so it would be nicer if there was a train that was more in nature that I could simply walk to.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Land Sinks
    Are bamboo alternatives readily available in your community? If not, what are other sustainable alternatives?

    Vera Heimburg's avatar
    Vera Heimburg 4/21/2025 12:23 PM
    I find that if I look I can find lots of different products made from bamboo. I have purchased lunch containers and socks that are both completely made of bamboo. If bamboo products where not available some other sustainable alternatives are cork and hempcrete.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Transportation
    Half of all trips made in the US are three miles or less; 72% of them are driven. Private vehicles account for 60% of trips of a mile or less. Do you often drive short distances instead of biking or walking? If so, how might incorporating an electric bike into your lifestyle help you make more climate-friendly choices?

    Vera Heimburg's avatar
    Vera Heimburg 4/21/2025 10:04 AM
    My home is very close to things that I do visit often, like a grocery store that is a walkable distance, and cafes where I like to do homework. An electric bike could benefit my life greatly because even thought those things are close-ish to my home I sometimes chooses to drive if I am very tired and having an electric bike as another option would very much cut down on the short turn car rides I take.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Electricity
    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?

    Vera Heimburg's avatar
    Vera Heimburg 4/21/2025 9:53 AM
    Some ways that people can invest in geothermal energy is to literally be an investor, support research and development. You can work to invest in utility companies that use geothermal energy, you can donate to research centers that are working on researching geothermal energy. You can also support policies that support geothermal energy development, and those things to do with infrastructure development. Another really good think you can do is to contact your elected officials and show your support for geothermal energy and further educate them about its benefits. If you want to do something more direct you can simply volunteer at places that specialize In climate options and advocate for geothermal energy.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Industry
    What did you learn about the climate impact of refrigerants? How do supermarkets contribute to this impact?

    Vera Heimburg's avatar
    Vera Heimburg 4/21/2025 9:26 AM
    I learned just how big of a negative impact refrigerants have on our environment and ourselves. I learned how they caused a hole in the stratosphere and how they can negatively impact your personal health. Supermarkets largely contribute to the negative output of refrigerants into our atmosphere and bodys because supermarkets have mass amount of refrigerators.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Health and Education
    What did you learn about the need for family planning? How do the needs of different people in different places compare to each other?

    Vera Heimburg's avatar
    Vera Heimburg 4/09/2025 9:47 AM
    Something I learned about family planning was that it will help to contribute to reduced population growth by teaching people about contraceptives, birth control, and their own bodies and choices. I learned that we really need family planning to educate women on their own bodies, and choices. We need family planning to teach women about maternal death and miscarage to make sure they are informed enough to make their own decisions. Also so they know all the facts about how their choices not only will affect their lives but the planet. The needs of different people from different places differ because of the quality of education based on the place they were born. People who grew up in more wealthy places tend to have a better and more extensive education leading to them having fewer kids and having them at an older age. And people who grew up in a less wealthy area having more children at a younger age. This shows that there is a clear connection between the quality of education and when and how many kids people have, and after learning about the effect of population growth it shows that people should consider the effect of having kids on the planet and on themselves. So if more people are better educated on family planning then everyone has a more equal playing field on their effect on the environment and their quality of pregnancy and life expectancy of people on matter what class.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Industry
    What are some attributes of an offset that you should consider before purchasing them?

    Vera Heimburg's avatar
    Vera Heimburg 4/09/2025 9:45 AM
    Something you should consider is what situation you are in. Like you need to think about how much you are actually able to spend on an offset and life expectancy of how long you can realistically keep up with the offset.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Health and Education
    What are some of the barriers that exist to women's equal participation and/or representation in your community?

    Vera Heimburg's avatar
    Vera Heimburg 4/07/2025 10:03 AM
    Something I have noticed is how the amount of guys that raise their hands in class is a LOT more than the number of girls, and I really do think this connects to my point from above that because girls have been taught to doubt every little thing they o they are less likely to take chances even if they are right they won't raise their hand for fear of judgment. Another aspect of inequality I have seen is in honors societies (like national honors society) there is almost always a majority of male students, and in our band program I continuously see male students being shown favoritism. From them being the ones to get the solos to them just being giving an insane amount of leniency to misbehaving compared to the girls in the program. These little societal injustices that have been taught from childhood even rage at things like guys never being the ones to move out of the way in the hallways. The amount of times I have had a guy just walk into me when we are walking towards each other in the hall because they just assume I'm going to move out of their way is crazy and just goes to show the difference of how we raise men and women.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Buildings
    Cities and towns need to plan for climate change. How can your city or town make its climate action plans equitable and socially just?

    Vera Heimburg's avatar
    Vera Heimburg 4/06/2025 5:11 PM
    Towns can make there plans for climate action more social jst by involving the communities from the areas they are intending on improving more involved in the planning. To make sure towns are not unintentionally harming the communities in the areas they are trying to improve they should give those communities a seat at the table of the planning for those areas. Cities or Towns should first look at the areas that truly need the most improvement first and improve them but before actually taking any action they should check with the communities who actually will be impacted by the changes. To make sure that the changes are actually what the community needs.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Health and Education
    Which businesses that you researched are you excited to support? Are you already supporting businesses that you didn't know were owned by women, people of color, or immigrants?

    Vera Heimburg's avatar
    Vera Heimburg 4/06/2025 3:33 PM
    I am very excited to support one women owned business that I learned about called cats at play cafe. It's a cafe where people can go and get drinks or snakes like at a normal cafe but they also get to play with cute cats that are also up for adoption. One women owned business that I was already supporting that I did not previously know was owned by a woman was Wink Salon, the places where me and my mom get our hair done is owned by a woman.