Ecochallenge.org

Drawdown Ecochallenge

Herschel Janow

Asheville High School Spring 2024!

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
986 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

57

zero-waste meals

consumed
UP TO

56

conversations

with people
UP TO

302

minutes

spent learning

Herschel's actions

Land Sinks

Choose Better Wood Products

Forest Protection

I will only purchase wood and paper products from ecologically certified sources like Forest Stewardship Council.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY 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

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 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

Coastal, Ocean, and Engineered Sinks

Learn about Biochar

Biochar Production

I will spend 30 minutes learning about biochar and how it can help sequester carbon.

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

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

Electricity

Spread the Word about Energy Alternatives

All Electricity Solutions

I will research and tell 2 people each day about the benefits of alternative energy sources like wind turbines, solar energy, geothermal energy, and methane digesters.

COMPLETED 28
DAILY ACTIONS

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Zero-Waste Cooking

Reduced Food Waste

I will cook 2 meals with zero-waste each day.

COMPLETED 29
DAILY ACTIONS

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

Land Sinks

Forest-Friendly Foods 2

Tropical Forest Restoration

I will replace or remove the palm oil, coffee, and cocoa products in my current diet that are known to contribute to deforestation.

COMPLETED 34
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
Land Sinks Choose Better Wood Products

Beyond carbon sequestration, what other benefits do forests offer you personally?

Herschel Janow 5/29/2024 3:21 PM

Some benefits of forests on a personal level include capturing carbon while developing critical habitats for animal species, improving mental and physical health, enhancing water quality and creating green jobs. Forests also produce oxygen, over all forests have many benefits.

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?

Herschel Janow 5/24/2024 4:01 PM

All of these movements for the most part have positive impacts on the environment although they can be unfair to long term residents. For example, adding luxury apartments is good but it forces long term residents out of their living quarters because they can't afford the pricing. This is unethical and unfair so we need to be mindful about how we advance into the future.

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?

Herschel Janow 5/17/2024 10:55 AM

Some of the women's rights barriers that exist in my community include things like sports at school. Women's sports go unappreciated often and people don’t take them as seriously as men's sports. Women cant play football which I find weird why they don't have women's football. I believe these barriers exist because of tradition in our country. For example, for the last 1,000 years, men have been the ones who have fought in wars and sports almost translates to war because you have 2 sides fighting against each other with the goal of being the other team and winning the game. I believe that moving forward, women's sports should be addressed at a higher level. In pro sports, men get paid way more than women and women get a fraction of what men are paid. That rubs off onto sports on the high school level as well. We need to come to the point where we appreciate sports in general, not based on gender or sex.

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?

Herschel Janow 5/15/2024 12:01 PM

I learned that the need for family planning impacts far more than family size. It impacts the population which leads to environmental impacts, natural resources demand, food demand, and the release of fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. It is very important to have family plannings for young women as well that may not be the right age or have the right economic standpoint to run a family and take care of kids. The needs for different people in different places compare to each other in terms of cultural needs and economic needs. Having kids to take care of as a single mother at a young age with a job to do is extremely hard to manage and it puts your kids futures at risk as well.

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?

Herschel Janow 5/13/2024 9:45 AM

Micro wind turbines can be placed on rooftops, monuments and installed within urban infrastructure in the buildings. This would be extremely beneficial to the city of Asheville because it will reduce our carbon footprint.

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!

Herschel Janow 5/09/2024 10:13 AM

Before this specific assignment, I had never heard of biomass technology. I learned about methodology which is a unit of study in which a lot of people participate. I also learned about all of the different kinds of biomass technologies and their similarities and differences.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Coastal, Ocean, and Engineered Sinks Learn about Biochar

Can biochar provide additional benefits besides sequestering carbon?

Herschel Janow 5/05/2024 10:24 AM

Bio char provides many additional benefits that include improving soil quality and crop yields, reducing reliance on chemical fertilizers, removing pollutants from the air and water, and many other benefits. There is no drought that bio char has a positive impact.

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?

Herschel Janow 5/05/2024 7:23 AM

Geothermal energy is a growing trend all around the world. Some reasons that you should invest in geothermal energy include, it is environmental friendly, it allows energy to be extracted from fossil fuels, and it only produces a fraction of carbon dioxide compared to other energy sources.

Read More
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?

Herschel Janow 5/03/2024 9:29 AM

Some choices that we could make that could be beneficial to peat lands that will help the atmosphere include, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by being cautious, preserving and preventing wildfires, taking care of local water sources by regulating and purifying the water.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Electricity Spread the Word about Energy Alternatives

What inspiration and wisdom can you gather from your family, faith, or community traditions that would help you in both communicating about and addressing our most pressing energy issues?

Herschel Janow 5/02/2024 11:00 AM

My mom is very passionate about protecting the environment and maintaining healthy habits. She tells me about the benefits of idolizing these habits and protecting our atmosphere. With that said I have the knowledge to purpose this idea to other people and spread the word about ways that we can use natural resources to produce energy. This includes, hydro power, solar powered, and wind powered to produce energy.

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