Valerie Aubley
"Passionate about sustainable engineering solutions that better both the environment and the communities that depend on it."
POINTS TOTAL
- 0 TODAY
- 75 THIS WEEK
- 430 TOTAL
participant impact
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UP TO7.0advocacy actionscompleted
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UP TO1.0Carbon FootprintCalculated
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UP TO3.0hoursvolunteered
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UP TO31minutesspent learning
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UP TO640minutesspent outdoors
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UP TO75pieces of litterpicked up
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UP TO1.0water footprintcalculated
Valerie's actions
Land + Forests
Explore My Area
When we explore natural spaces around us, our connections with them change. I will spend 160 minutes exploring a new area around my neighborhood, office, or campus (e.g., park, water body, nearby trail, community garden, green space, etc.).
Land + Forests
Personal Waste Audit
The waste we create daily can go unnoticed. I will track the waste I create in a day and post a photo log on the feed to see how much I create and where I can make different choices to reduce my waste going forward.
Freshwater + Oceans
Go Plastic-Free
Millions of tons of plastic is produced each year worldwide. Each day, I will conduct a plastics audit of what I buy and use throughout the challenge (kitchen, bathroom, personal care products, etc.), to see how single-use plastic shows up in my life. I will find plastic-free alternatives to these products and advocate for alternatives to single-use packaging at local grocery stores, product manufacturers, at work, or on campus.
Action Track: Community
Borrow Before I Buy
Why buy something I will only use once or a few times if someone nearby has it for me to borrow, and why not share something I have that someone may only need a few times a year? To reduce my consumption and waste, I will create or support the sharing economy with friends, family, colleagues or neighbors.
Action Track: Community
Write Letters or Emails
I will gather a group of friends, family, neighbors or colleagues and write 1 letters or emails to public officials or companies to advocate for planet-friendly policies.
Land + Forests
Keep My Community Clean
At times it may not feel like it's up to us to keep our community clean and healthy, but we all have a role to play. Each day I am outside, I will pick up any litter I see.
Biodiversity + Wildlife
Invest in Nature
A healthy world needs both our daily actions and support from larger systems. I will spend 60 minutes learning about how I can use my investments and savings to advance environmental sustainability.
Biodiversity + Wildlife
Plastic in Clothing and Water
Synthetic clothing can contain plastic and shed harmful microplastics into our water. I will use a microplastics catcher in my laundry, or install a microplastics filter for my washing machine.
Biodiversity + Wildlife
Save the Bees
Bees are vital to ecosystems. To help save the bees, I will learn which local flowers provide nectar and plant them in my backyard or in a pot on my balcony.
Climate + Air
Calculate My Carbon Impact
Carbon emissions can show up in many surprising ways in our life. I will calculate the carbon emissions associated with my household and consider how lifestyle changes could reduce the carbon footprint and impacts on the environment.
Land + Forests
Zero Waste Day
The impacts of our waste are far reaching. I will create zero waste for an entire day and share my reflections and learnings on the feed.
Land + Forests
30 for 30 in Nature
Studies have shown that when we spend consistent time in nature, our health improves, our creativity increases, and our connection to the planet gets stronger. Each day of the Ecochallenge, I will spend 30 minutes outside (in a large or small patch of nature), then share my observations, reflections, and learnings on the feed.
Freshwater + Oceans
Cooking Oil Disposal
Pouring cooking oil down the drain can cause damage to waterways and ecosystems. I will learn how to properly dispose of cooking oil to help support healthy ecosystems.
Freshwater + Oceans
Raise Awareness for the Conservation of Freshwater and Oceans
I will spend 60 minutes learning more about the importance of freshwater + ocean conservation, and how I can reduce my water use. I will share what I learn with people in person, on social media, and on the feed.
Freshwater + Oceans
Understand My Water Footprint
Each of us has a water footprint, directly linked to our daily activities as well as the water required in the production of things we use each day. Understanding our water use is important for a healthy planet. I will calculate my water footprint and look for a few ways I can reduce consumption or waste, then share what I learned on the feed.
Action Track: Community
Volunteer in my Community
I will volunteer 6 hours in my community.
Action Track: Community
JOIN OR CREATE A GREEN TEAM AT EMERSON
I will continue to contribute to Emerson's environmental sustainability goals beyond April by learning more about the Global Green Teams Network, joining a team near me, or maybe even creating a new team.
Action Track: Community
SIGN UP TO RECEIVE NEWS ON SUSTAINABILITY AT EMERSON
I will sign up to the Sustainability Aficionados distribution list to receive global news on sustainability at Emerson, including world news and Greening OF, BY, and WITH news.
Action Track: Community
TAKE PICTURES AND SHARE ON LINKEDIN
I will take at least one photograph that is connected with this year's theme of Nature Conservation & Biodiversity (for example an urban park, bee hives, birds and other animals...) and I will post it on LinkedIn with the hashtags #EarthMonthEcochallenge #EarthMonthAtEmerson.
Action Track: Community
ATTEND THE ECOCHALLENGE CONSERVATION WEBINAR
On Wed 24th April, I will attend the Earth Month Ecochallenge Webinar on Conservation to learn about what individuals, companies and other organizations can do to promote biodiversity and nature protection.
Freshwater + Oceans
Reduce Pollutants in Cleaning
Understanding cleaning product ingredients and their effect on water and biodiversity is helpful to our consumer choices. I will spend 10 minutes learning about how cleaning products affect our water and try making my own cleaning products to reduce pollutants.
Freshwater + Oceans
Join a Cleanup Effort
I will organize or participate in a trash pickup at a local river, beach, or natural body of water.
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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Valerie Aubley 4/16/2024 8:23 AMI've been reading Hannah Ritchie's book "Not the End of the World", where she shares incredibly interesting stats on climate change. Something I found really cool is the carbon impact of different foods. Studies took into consideration different variations of production methods, like feeding cows more sustainably grown food, producing and consuming food locally, etc., and compared the lowest, mean and highest CO2e estimates. It shows that even the low-end estimate of beef and lamb are still several times higher than the highest-carbon plant-based foods! This isn't to say you should never eat these foods-- there's still room for them in moderation under any climate change scenario. However, it's good to know what your footprint is, and how big of an impact you can make by cutting down on animal products:)
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Kyle Brown 4/18/2024 1:36 PMAmazing, and you can double down on sustainability by allowing reuse of this book at our back to school book drive! -
Ella Arce 4/17/2024 6:22 AMI remember years ago when I learned about the impact of eating cows for the first time. I was shocked, though the data made a lot of sense! If we add even just a couple of plant-based meals to our diets every week can have a big impact!
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REFLECTION QUESTIONClimate + Air Calculate My Carbon ImpactWhere in your life do you emit the most carbon? What change are you willing to make in your daily life to reduce this output?
Valerie Aubley 4/09/2024 6:29 AMI became vegetarian back in 2018 due to improve my environmental impact and lease an EV as my personal car. I was surprised to see how high my carbon footprint still is! By Climate Hero's estimates, my carbon footprint is ~9.8 tons CO2e/year. By far the biggest offender for me is how much I fly. Definitely going to be more mindful of my travel and consider ways to take long distances trains or to invest in verified carbon offset when I do need to fly.-
Ella Arce 4/11/2024 7:01 AMThat's awesome that you're taking the time to recognize your impact and making a plan to improve it! Keep up the awesome work! -
William Vaughan 4/09/2024 8:55 AMWouldn't this be great for Texas if it happens?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/texas-poised-to-get-america-s-first-bullet-train/ar-BB1lkNAh?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=487bde0e28654c2499002db9d05f517f&ei=16
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Valerie Aubley 4/04/2024 8:45 AMAs I've continued my journey as an environmentalist, there have been a few books that have completely opened my eyes to how incredible nature is and changed the way I look at the world. One of my all-time favorites is "Finding Mother Tree" by Suzanne Simard. She discovered trees communicate with each other through chemicals, hormones and electrical signals. Trees warn each other of pests, loggers and drought. Many trees even share food! Mother trees pass carbon to their "children" to help them grow, and different species of trees help each other, passing food depending on the season and who has extra to spare. It makes you realize how other species, even those so biologically different from us, are still so similar, with communities and communication of their own.
(Image source: Illustration of Mycorrhizal Network, Sciencemag.org)
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Valerie Aubley 4/09/2024 6:03 AMSimard's work actually inspired James Cameron to create the concept of Great Mother in The Avatar! -
Ella Arce 4/05/2024 8:01 PMThat's amazing! Thank you for sharing that book recommendation as well! I'll look it up. -
Bonnie Johnson 4/05/2024 1:25 PMWow I did not know that, I flashed on the first Avatar movie when the trees shared a connection to the Great Mother, but did not know there is science behind this! Thank you!
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