I think spending most of my time in Philadelphia, I'd say most of the businesses I frequent (aside from big box stores) are POC-owned; probably one of my favorite parts of Philadelphia is how diverse it is, and the small businesses are, in my opinion, absolutely world-class.
Samantha Niven
"To embody self-care through community care and environment conservation actions."
POINTS TOTAL
- 0 TODAY
- 0 THIS WEEK
- 1,193 TOTAL
participant impact
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UP TO308milestraveled by bus
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UP TO308milesnot traveled by car
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UP TO28pounds of CO2have been saved
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UP TO1.0donationmade
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UP TO0.0hoursvolunteered
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UP TO5.0women, BIPOC, and immigrant-owned businessessupported
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UP TO95storiesshared
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UP TO1.0advocacy actioncompleted
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UP TO1.0personhelped
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UP TO90minutesspent outdoors
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UP TO120minutesspent learning
Samantha's actions
Health and Education
Support Businesses Owned by Women, POC, or Immigrants
Sustainable Intensification for Smallholders
I will spend 120 minutes researching and shopping from 5 businesses owned by women, people of color, or immigrants.
Health and Education
Connect With A Nonprofit
Family Planning and Education
I will connect with a local nonprofit working on issues affecting women, girls, trans people, and/or nonbinary people in my community, and find out how I can get involved or become a member.
Share Your Story
Find out what’s happening in your neighborhood
While global and national actions get a lot of attention, it’s often at the local community level where individuals can have the greatest input and where change is most tangible. But every community is unique and there is no one-size-fits-all solution. I will spend 20 minutes finding out how my neighborhood, town or city is helping the environment and building local resilience.
Transportation
Use Public Transit
Public Transit
I will use public transit 50 miles per day and avoid sending up to (___) lbs of CO2 into Earth's atmosphere.
Industry
Share to Social Media: Industry
Industry
Through social media (LinkedIn or Instagram), I will share what I've learned about Industry Solutions and tag Ecochallenge.org.
Land Sinks
Share to Social Media: Land Sinks
Land Sinks
Through social media (LinkedIn or Instagram), I will share what I've learned about Land Sinks and tag Ecochallenge.org.
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use
Share to Social Media: Food, Agriculture, Land Use
Food, Agriculture, & Land Use
Through social media (LinkedIn or Instagram), I will share what I've learned about Food, Agriculture, & Land Use and tag Ecochallenge.org.
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use
Smaller Portions
Reduced Food Waste
I will use smaller plates and/or serve smaller portions when dishing out food.
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use
Support Indigenous Peoples' Land Management
Indigenous Peoples' Forest Tenure
I will donate to Native American Rights Fund, which protects tribal natural resources and environmental rights and promotes Native American Human Rights.
Land Sinks
Explore My Area
Sometimes protecting nature requires feeling connected to nature. I will invest 120 minutes in exploring and appreciating a natural area in my region, whether a forest, wetland, coastal area, or somewhere else.
Land Sinks
Support a Community Garden
Multiple Solutions
I will support a community garden by volunteering, donating, or advocating for a new or existing one.
Health and Education
Help Students Overcome Health Barriers
Family Planning and Education
I will donate 30 Femme Kits to help people who menstruate overcome health and sanitation barriers to being able to attend school.
Coastal, Ocean, and Engineered Sinks
Visit the Coast
Macroalgae Protection and Restoration
I will visit a coastal or ocean site to experience the ecosystem and look for the presence of macroalgae/seaweed.
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use
Composting
Composting, Reduced Food Waste
I will start a compost or worm bin where I live.
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use
Give a Microloan
Sustainable Intensification for Smallholders
I will give 2 microloans to women who need help starting a business.
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?
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Samantha Niven 6/30/2024 8:11 AMReading the news lately, seeing the havoc SCOTUS is wreaking, reading about the truly dire state the climate is, I can't believe that the world Octavia E. Butler imagined in Parable of the Sower is a lot closer to our future than anyone could have guessed. Incredible read about the intersection of environmental justice, capitalism, and faith. -
Samantha Niven 6/29/2024 3:20 AMFeeling particularly pessimistic today; between an absolutely heinous presidential debate, the SCOTUS overturning of the Chevron doctrine, and all the genocides happening around the world that are being censored and supported by US tax dollars, it's feeling like we're all totally screwed. If any of y'all have read Parable of the Sower, I'm feeling like that's where the US is headed. -
REFLECTION QUESTIONHealth and Education Support Businesses Owned by Women, POC, or ImmigrantsWhich 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?
Samantha Niven 6/28/2024 5:38 AMI was at Chicago Pride today (06.22), and there were so many womxn/genderqueer and queer owned businesses there, and as a queer non-binary person myself, I felt very seen and validated being surrounded by such beautiful artists. Of the ones I purchased form, Comfortably Queer was probably my favorite! They make the most scrumptious roll-on perfumes.
I think spending most of my time in Philadelphia, I'd say most of the businesses I frequent (aside from big box stores) are POC-owned; probably one of my favorite parts of Philadelphia is how diverse it is, and the small businesses are, in my opinion, absolutely world-class. -
REFLECTION QUESTIONShare Your Story Find out what’s happening in your neighborhoodDid I learn something new about my community?
Samantha Niven 6/28/2024 5:27 AMSent to me by my yoga instructor, I learned about ECHO Systems in Philadelphia. They're a non-profit that works with businesses and organizations to eliminate single-use waste. Now, in perusing their site, I noticed something interesting: of the businesses and organizations they partner with, they don't work with one of the biggest food waste non-profits in the city, Sharing Excess. It made me think about the mobilization of environmental/social movements more broadly; especially in a city as big as Philadelphia, how can we enable support through the connection of similarly-minded organizations? Grassroots movements often struggle with capacity (ECHO Systems is actually trying to grow their board at the moment), and "reinventing the wheel" as opposed to developing a robust support network between organizations can really hinder their mobilization. Something the DEP Office of Environmental Justice is working on hopes to connect EJ-minded businesses, organizations, and individuals with each other as well as with tools and resources, and I just wish the PA DEP had something similar. -
Samantha Niven 6/20/2024 5:34 AMToday I learned: humans can differentiate more colors of green than any other color, an evolutionary trait meant to help us forage! So if you're feeling ungrounded and lost in the concrete jungle most of us live in, immersing yourself in green brings us a sense of primal peace and connection :) -
REFLECTION QUESTIONLand Sinks Share to Social Media: Land SinksHave you been sharing what you learned throughout Drawdown Ecochallenge? How have people responded?
Samantha Niven 6/19/2024 7:40 AMI've really loved seeing everyone on our team engage with each other on what they've learned and connect that with something someone else learned; I'm an intern that was only hired back in February, and it's been really great to learn from so many different people within DEP :) -
Samantha Niven 6/19/2024 5:01 AMI need to get up on my soapbox for a minute:
On the rare occasions I need to drive to work, I park my car close to the office on a side street. Today, I picked up garbage on the three block walk from the car to the DEP building, and what really irked me was that the two blocks that were "visible" to state government staff (basically the blocks from the Merchant parking lot to the office) were spotless, but the one block that's around the corner from the lot had two grocery bags-worth of garbage, and I only picked up what could fit in those bags. From what little I know about Trenton municipal government, I already had an idea that it had issues, but the clarity in the distinction between what is and isn't receiving the attention of municipal government, and how that seems to prioritize state government needs as opposed to community needs, was painful to witness. -
REFLECTION QUESTIONLand Sinks Support a Community GardenWhat are the multiple benefits of community gardens, including carbon sequestration? Why do these benefits matter to you?
Samantha Niven 6/18/2024 5:13 AMI could get on this soapbox for HOURS; so much of the research and community work I've done has been for and with community gardens. Community gardens are a lifeline. They are a social lifeline in that they provide community members with a safe, nourishing gathering space; they're an educational lifeline in that they provide community members with transferrable skills; they're an intergenerational lifeline in that they provide opportunities for wisdom to be passed down from community elders to youth; they're a historical lifeline in that, especially for people of color, they provide an opportunity to heal generational trauma around food growing practices (which was shared to me by a colleague of mine who is a PhD student and a Black farmer at Sankofa Community Farm in Philadelphia); and their a health lifeline, both for physical health (access to green space and healthy food) and emotional health (access to green space and community gathering space). If anyone wants to talk to me about community gardens, please do!!!-
Lydia Roe 6/18/2024 1:02 PMYour assessment is so thorough! Community gardens are great everywhere: cities, college campuses, and even prison. The Well Gardened Mind (can't remember the author atm) has a really compelling study and narrative describing the benefits of gardening activities at a prison in New York. Incarcerated folks involved with the garden had significantly lower rates of re-offense (to be convicted and incarcerated again) compared with those who hadn't worked in the garden. In addition to building the tangible and practical skills of gardening, the act of cultivation helped the incarcerated gardeners to build a healthy self-confidence and sense of pride.
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REFLECTION QUESTIONIndustry Share to Social Media: IndustryHave you been sharing what you learned throughout Drawdown Ecochallenge? How have people responded?
Samantha Niven 6/18/2024 5:03 AMI think that one thing I've been especially torn about is how social media can tend to be a bit of an echo chamber sometimes. While there are definitely ways in which social media can be extremely powerful (for instance, I try to share posts about how war impacts food systems in Gaza, Sudan, and the Congo), I think that a lot of the time, both the algorithm and the people we tend to maintain in our social media circles are typically likeminded people. It makes me wonder how much of an impact I'm having in the grand scheme of things. -
REFLECTION QUESTIONIndustry Share to Social Media: IndustryHave you been sharing what you learned throughout Drawdown Ecochallenge? How have people responded?
Samantha Niven 6/18/2024 5:03 AMI think that one thing I've been especially torn about is how social media can tend to be a bit of an echo chamber sometimes. While there are definitely ways in which social media can be extremely powerful (for instance, I try to share posts about how war impacts food systems in Gaza, Sudan, and the Congo), I think that a lot of the time, both the algorithm and the people we tend to maintain in our social media circles are typically likeminded people. It makes me wonder how much of an impact I'm having in the grand scheme of things.