Ecochallenge.org

Drawdown Ecochallenge 2025

Avery Mueller

Asheville High School/SILSA

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
966 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

14

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

953

minutes

spent learning

Avery's actions

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 36
DAILY ACTIONS

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Learn About Aquaculture

Improved Aquaculture

Each day, I will spend at least 15 minutes learning about sustainable aquaculture.

COMPLETED 35
DAILY ACTIONS

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates

Reduced Food Waste

I will spend at least 20 minutes learning how to differentiate between sell by, use by, and best by dates.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Sinks

Forest-Friendly Foods 1

Tropical Forest Restoration

I will spend at least 25 minutes researching the impact of my diet to see how it contributes to deforestation.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land Sinks

Learn More about Silvopasture

Silvopasture

I will spend at least 21 minutes watching videos and/or reading about the environmental benefits of silvopasture.

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

Buildings

Learn about 'Green Gentrification'

Multiple Solutions

I will spend at least 30 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

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 20 minutes learning more about the energy generation potential of geothermal energy and consider investing in this technology.

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 17
DAILY ACTIONS

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Reduce Animal Products

Plant-Rich Diets

I will enjoy 1 meatless or vegan meals each day of the challenge.

COMPLETED 14
DAILY ACTIONS

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
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?
Avery Mueller 4/21/2025 9:38 AM
Geothermal energy is a great alternative energy source that doesn't rely on fossil fuels to produce energy. I can invest in geothermal energy by advocating for it and spreading the word about how it can help the world face the problem of nonrenewable energy and global warming. If I invest my time in advocating for thermal energy, I can help the world take a step in the right direction.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Industry

What did you learn about the climate impact of refrigerants? How do supermarkets contribute to this impact?
Avery Mueller 4/10/2025 7:14 PM
Refrigerants are greenhouse gases that trap heat much more effectively than carbon dioxide. This accelerates climate change and the problems that come with it. Supermarkets contribute to this impact because they use refrigerants to transport foods. They also refrigerate foods in-store and then sell the food where they are refrigerated in homes.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

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?
Avery Mueller 4/10/2025 10:40 AM
People in wealthier countries eat more meat than people in other places because the rich countries can afford to mass-produce meat and sell it for affordable prices. Eating too much meat can result in health problems like heart disease and cancer. Meat can also be unclean and can contain E. coli. The more meat we eat, the more animals are required to supply this demand. The more animals that are farmed, the more GHG emissions. This can accelerate global warming, which affects everyone on Earth through increased temperatures, an increase in natural disasters, and more. Today, I ate a meat-free meal by eating toast covered in peanut butter.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Industry

What are some attributes of an offset that you should consider before purchasing them?
Avery Mueller 4/09/2025 9:34 AM
Some attributes of a carbon offset you should consider before purchasing it are the impacts of the offset, its affordability, and the permanence of the offset. It is also a good idea to make sure the offset is actually offsetting your emissions. If the offset has positive impacts, is affordable to you, and is relatively permanent, it is probably a good idea to purchase it. It should also properly offset your own emissions.

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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?
Avery Mueller 4/08/2025 9:30 AM
I learned that family planning is a very important part of population control and that knowledge about it is a basic human right. We need family planning to slow population growth and reduce the fertility of women in poorer countries with less educated people. By providing education on family planning to these people, we can better the environment through reduced population growth. This means less resource depletion, fewer CO2 emissions, and less pollution. People in developing/third-world/poorer countries have a greater need for financial support and education about family planning. These places have women with higher fertility rates than developed/first-world/richer countries. Needs differ depending on where you live on Earth. If countries with fewer needs support countries with more needs, the world and environment can improve.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Health and Education

What are some of the barriers that exist to women's equal participation and/or representation in your community?
Avery Mueller 4/07/2025 9:37 AM
Some of the barriers that exist to women’s equal participation/representation in my community are lack of certain rights for women, women being paid less, discrimination towards women, and the controlling of women. Women can also be taken advantage of by men. These barriers must be removed if we want gender equality and equal participation/representation by men and women.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

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?
Avery Mueller 4/06/2025 6:45 PM
Some benefits of eating/serving smaller portions besides environmental benefits include healthiness and a reduced likelihood of obesity. When using smaller portion sizes, the risk of overeating is reduced. Today, I practiced smaller portion sizes by serving myself a small bowl of chicken, rice, corn, and tomatoes.

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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?
Avery Mueller 4/04/2025 9:54 AM
My city can make its climate action plans more equitable and socially just by taking more time to think about the impacts of these climate actions. Instead of just taking these actions and focusing fully on the environment, it is important to think about how these actions impact the people in the city, too.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Land Sinks

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?
Avery Mueller 4/03/2025 9:39 AM
I can make choices to help to protect peatlands (even if I live far away from one) by advocating for their implementation and preservation. If we work together to protect peatlands, carbon can be sequestered instead of released.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Land Sinks

How is your diet currently impacting deforestation? What can you do to decrease your negative impact and increase your positive impact?
Avery Mueller 4/02/2025 9:54 AM
My diet is resulting in increased rates of deforestation. To decrease my negative impact, I will eat less chocolate and will be against the use of palm oil by purchasing products that don’t have palm oil. To increase my positive impact on the environment, I will strive to have a more plant-based diet and be less reliant on meat for protein and daily calories.

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