

Frida Velez
"I will help save the earth by reducing my carbon emissions, saving our waters/oceans, and defending human rights."
Points Total
- 35 Today
- 180 This Week
- 6,487 Total
Participant Impact
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up to75minutesspent learning
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up to173meatless or vegan mealsconsumed
Frida's Actions
Health and Education
Women are at the front of Farmer's Protests in India
Read the article below and reflect on the event with your advisory and independently.
Health and Education
Research Barriers to Participation and Representation
Health and Education
I will spend at least 10 minutes learning more about the barriers to women's equal participation and representation around the world.
Health and Education
Why have the accomplishments of African Civilizations been obscured?
Harvard professor and filmmaker Henry Louis Gates Jr. is interviewed by Audie Cornish about his series Africa’s Great Civilizations.
Health and Education
Jaysa Miller and Youth Voices for the Planet
Climate Change and pollution disproportionately affect Black Americans and communities of color. Young people like Jaysa Miller have had enough. Miller is working to unveil and hold developers, policymakers, and factory owners accountable for the risk they put communities in. Learn about her work by watching the video below!
Industry
Time's Kid of the Year: Water Quality Tester Engineer
Gitanjali Rao is the first “Time’s Kid of the Year”. She is being recognized for inventing a device that detects lead in drinking water.
Action Track: Healing & Renewal
BLM/BHM
The Black Lives Matter Movement drafted 13 Guiding Principles. These principles were created in order to heal and sustain our communities. Read through the Guiding Principles. Choose at least one to reflect upon.
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use
We are all connected: Wangari Maathai
Wangari Maathai was the first African woman to receive a Nobel Peace Prize. Of course, she was not the first African woman to deserve a Nobel Peace Prize but racism, colonialism, and sexism have long played into this award. Read about Maathai, a biologist and activist, and reflect on what Americans can learn about her work and apply to our own hemisphere.
Electricity
Carbon Footprint Calculator
Use the link below to calculate your own Carbon Footprint.
Industry
Recycle Everything I Can
Recycling
Contamination prevents what is recyclable from being recycled. I will research and recycle all materials that are accepted by local haulers or drop stations in my community, making sure to not contaminate recyclables with non-recyclables.
Action Track: Healing & Renewal
Climate Change Action
Watch the film and respond to the reflection question :)
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use
Eliminating food waste during Thanksgiving (or other big meals!)
Watch the video and respond to the reflection questions below :).
Land Sinks
Learning to Fly
Our surroundings, the environment--natural and manmade---have a huge impact on our life story. Watch the video together and then share a memory of your home, your neighborhood, or another special place that has helped you become who you are today.
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use
Reduce Animal Products
Plant-Rich Diets
I will enjoy 1 meatless or vegan meal(s) each day of the challenge.
Action Track: Justice for the Whole Community
Voting Rights
After you listen to the StoryCorp episode about voting rights, reflect on what it means to vote. Check in with the adults in your life-are they planning on voting? Why or why not?
Action Track: Justice for the Whole Community
Native Land and Practices Acknowledgement
Native Land Acknowledgement means to learn about, talk about, and show respect for the Native inhabitants of an area of land. We do this for many reasons: to correct history, protect and preserve the culture and identity of native peoples, acknowledge the role of European colonization in the loss of native lives and lands. For this activity, read about the Lenape. The tribe indigenous to Brooklyn, Queens , and Manhattan. Who are they, what was NYC like before colonization? How can we honor the Lenape today? (links below)
Health and Education
Sir David Attenborough: The Voice of Planet Earth Speaks on Climate Change
After you watch the video with your advisory, answer the reflection question below. For additional points, respond to a teammate's post!
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use
Climate Change and Wildfires: How is climate change affecting you? Our hometown? And what can we do now?
First, the article about the CA wildfires and climate change. Climate Change In Your Hometown The featured article discusses the connection between climate change and California wildfires. Another Times article, from 2018, lets you track how the number of days when temperatures hit 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) or higher changes in your hometown over your lifetime. As you look at the graph created based on your hometown and the year you were born, what do you notice? (If you want, try entering the birth year of your parents or grandparents as well.) Then, scroll to see the climate predictions for your hometown when you are 80 years old. Continue to scroll to learn more about these predictions, and then see how your hometown compares to other parts of the country and the world using the interactive globe.
Action Track: Justice for the Whole Community
Sustainable BUGS
The goal of this action to create a more sustainable school experience for our students and staff :)
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.
Action Track: Justice for the Whole Community
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.
Action Track: Justice for the Whole Community
Learn about the Legacy of Redlining
Multiple Solutions
I will spend at least 20 minutes learning about the legacy of redlining and how city planning and environmental justice issues are interconnected.
Electricity
Learn More about Biomass
Biomass Power
I will spend at least 20 minutes learning more about the energy generation potential of biomass.
Electricity
Choose Renewable Energy or Purchase Renewable Energy Credits
Onshore Wind Turbines, Utility-Scale Solar Photovoltaics
I will sign up for my utility company's clean/renewable energy option. If my utility does not offer one, I will purchase Renewable Energy Credits to match my usage.
Coastal, Ocean, and Engineered Sinks
For the love of nature
Post a photo of something from nature that you love and want to protect.
Action Track: Social Justice
Songwriting
I used my creativity and self expression to write a song about the current times. OR I researched and shared a song about the current times.
Feed
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Reflection QuestionHealth and Education Research Barriers to Participation and RepresentationWhat are some of the barriers that exist to women's equal participation and/or representation in your community?
Frida Velez 3/03/2021 5:54 AMSome of the barriers that exist to women's equal participation and representation in my community are that there are way fewer female world leaders around the world, so women don't get nearly as much representation in government as men. Also, women spend about three times as many hours caring for their families as men do, so they don't have as many opportunities to instead be making actual money during that time and advancing their own lives. But women account for 70% of all essential workers during the pandemic, so though they don't have as much representation in government, they're the ones risking their lives more in order to support their communities. -
Reflection QuestionIndustry Time's Kid of the Year: Water Quality Tester EngineerIf you suddenly had the ability to invent a device that helps humanity, what would it do? (draw a pic and upload it you can!)
Frida Velez 3/03/2021 5:40 AMI would invent a device that created insulin out of thin air, because insulin prices are getting really high and a lot of people have to sacrifice their school tuitions to pay for their or someone else's insulin. This device could save lives. -
Reflection QuestionAction Track: Healing & Renewal BLM/BHMHow can this guiding principle show up in our school community on a regular basis?
Frida Velez 2/24/2021 5:46 AMWe can use Diversity in our school community on a regular basis by talking about Black history all the time, not just Black History Month. We can do this by comparing and contrasting their historical practices and beliefs to the historical practices and beliefs of the social groups that we learn about during any given time, especially in Social Studies class. -
Reflection QuestionFood, Agriculture, and Land Use We are all connected: Wangari MaathaiWhat did you learn about Maathai's work? How is her work connected to contemporary African diaspora and climate change? What is one connection between events in Africa and decisions made across the world in American?
Frida Velez 2/03/2021 5:59 AMWhat I learned about Maathai's work is that she not only helped plant trees, but she's also advocated for human rights. Her work is connected to contemporary African diaspora and climate change because she's been teaching people to plant trees all around Africa, and has connected with the UN, letting the whole world know of her cause. Planting trees helps with climate change because trees absorb methane, which is one of the main greenhouse gases that create global warming. One connection between events in Africa and decisions made across the world is that women have been underprivileged in both places. Wangari Maathai was the first woman to become the chair of Veterinary Anatomy at a university in her region, while women around the world haven't been getting equal pay and are underestimated. -
Frida Velez 1/13/2021 6:03 AMI think Levi chose to end his memoir with the story of carbon because carbon is what makes up all life, and it's what keeps traveling from object to object, not dying even when the being that it's a part of is dying. Putting it at the end of a book kind of wraps it all up in a big idea, because carbon has to do with all of the other elements described in the book. -
Reflection QuestionElectricity Carbon Footprint CalculatorWhat can you do to either lower your carbon footprint OR "offset your carbon footprint. When you "offset" you basically pay it forward---you do something kind for the environment or another person to balance out your carbon use if you can't reduce it.
Frida Velez 1/06/2021 5:53 AMI can lower my carbon footprint by trying to replace some of my household items with more eco-friendly ones. For example, I can ask about buying low-flow toilets and showerheads, try to get an Energy Star printer, refrigerator, and/or computer, and line-dry my laundry instead of putting it in the dryer. -
Reflection QuestionIndustry Recycle Everything I CanHow could you incorporate other "R's" -- reduce, reuse, refuse, repair, repurpose, etc. -- into your lifestyle? How does considering implementing these "R's" make you feel?
Frida Velez 12/16/2020 6:01 AMI can incorporate other "R's" into my lifestyle by using as little single-use plastic as I can, putting the right things into recycling bins, using my own reusable items instead of taking disposable ones from grocery stores and restaurants, and trying to make art or something new out of the items I might not be able to recycle. Considering implementing these "R's" makes me feel satisfied, because if I do these, then I know that I've done my part to help the planet. -
Reflection QuestionAction Track: Healing & Renewal Climate Change ActionWhat's one thing you can do in your daily life to slow down and appreciate our world--the people and the planet? How can you concentrate on doing more "good" instead of competing for "the best"? How has competing to be the best contributed to human impact on the environment?
Frida Velez 12/02/2020 5:49 AMOne thing I can do in my daily life to slow down and appreciate our world is eating food locally, because I should try to appreciate the plants and animals from my area more. Also, a way that I can concentrate on doing more good instead of competing for the best is not wasting as much food, because it's okay to eat leftovers, and you don't need to throw out every leftover just so you can make a different meal every day. Finally, competing to be the best has contributed to human impact on the environment because big companies battle each other every day to buy pieces of land that they can get oil, water, wood, and other resources from. But it shouldn't be about constantly finding new resources, it should be about making good use of the ones we already have. -
Reflection QuestionFood, Agriculture, and Land Use Eliminating food waste during Thanksgiving (or other big meals!)What is one method of food waste reduction (or food saving!) Priya and Dominique talk about in the video What is one thing you can do this Thanksgiving weekend to cut down on food waste (and other types of waste!)
Frida Velez 11/25/2020 6:04 AMOne method of food waste reduction that Priya and Dominique talked about in the video was donating the seeds from the peppers they used to a local garden instead of throwing them out. One thing I can do to cut down on food waste is to use the wrappers of sticks of butter to coat pans and other things to keep the food from sticking to them. This stops me from having to use another stick of butter or bottle of oil, and it gives me a way to use the wrapper before it gets thrown out.-
Jess Norris 11/25/2020 6:08 AMthat is such a good idea Frida thanks!
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Reflection QuestionCoastal, Ocean, and Engineered Sinks For the love of natureDescribe your photo and why you chose it!