Alexa Russo

Community Transit

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
401 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

15

single-use bags

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

2.0

community events

hosted or attended
UP TO

1,220

minutes

spent outdoors

Alexa's actions

Action Track: Community

READ & ATTEND LET MY PEOPLE GO SURFING BOOK CLUB MEETING

Not only is it important to learn about the impact of our clothing, but it is a great way to have conversations about our impact and philosophies behind our choices. Sustainability Corner Book Club Meeting April 24 12:00-1:00pm in the Jetty Island Conference Room

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Community

Read & Attend Let My People Go Surfing Book Club Meeting

Not only is it important to learn about the impact of our clothing, but it is a great way to have conversations about our impact and philosophies behind our choices.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Biodiversity + Wildlife

Use Reusable Bags

Plastic bags can be mistaken for food by many wild animals and can end up in habitats that harm wildlife. I will not accept any disposable bags when making purchases, including produce bags.

COMPLETED 9
DAILY ACTIONS

Climate + Air

Consume only Needs vs Wants

The more stuff we consume, the more greenhouse gasses we put into the atmosphere. I will adopt a "Needs Vs. Wants" approach this month and only buy things I need.

COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS

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.

COMPLETED 19
DAILY ACTIONS

Action Track: Community

Join a Cleanup Effort

I will organize or participate in a trash pickup at a local river, beach, or natural body of water.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Community

Sustainability Lunch and Learn

Learning in a social setting can inspire connection and change. I will work with a friend or colleague to plan and host a lunch and learn at work, school, in my neighborhood or other location to learn more about an environmental topic important to me. After the lunch and learn, I will share more about it on the feed.

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
Action Track: Community READ & ATTEND LET MY PEOPLE GO SURFING BOOK CLUB MEETING

What stood out to you from reading the book Let My People Go Surfing? Were there excerpts that stuck with you?

Alexa Russo 4/30/2024 8:53 AM

After reading the book, conversations kept connecting to it, which was awesome to see. People were coming up with ideas for our Sustainability Action Plan that were proven case studies from the book. Hope to use it in the future!

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Alexa Russo 4/22/2024 4:27 PM

Events this week:
• April 23 | 11:30-2:00pm – UW Bothell / Cascadia Earth Day Event
• April 24 | 12:00-1:00pm | Jetty Island Conference Room – Book Club Meeting
Spring Cleaning Ends
• April 27 | 11:00-2:00pm | 2320 California Street Everett – Snohomish County PUD Block Party

Monday Motivation: “The 3 C’s in life: Choice, Chance, Change. You must make the choice, to take the chance, if you want anything in life to change.”

Happy Earth Day!

-Alexa

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Alexa Russo 4/22/2024 4:27 PM

Happy Earth Day! Thank you for doing your part to be sustainable and adopting new practices in your lives to reduce your environmental impact.
We celebrate Earth Day every year, but when did it start? And why? Take a minute to read on about the history of Earth Day and reflect on how we can be the best environmental stewards we can be.

Earth Day was an idea that Wisconsin Junior Senator Gaylord Nelson, an early climate activist, had in the 1960s to bring awareness to negative human impacts on the environment. Targeting college campuses across the country, Nelson and Denis Hayes, a young activist, chose April 22 for the first Earth Day because it was the week between Spring Break and finals week – the period where the most students would be on campus. Over time, Hayes and Nelson built a groundswell of young people looking to protect the environment, organizing the first Earth Day in 1970. According to earthday.org, the first Earth Day is still the largest secular protest in the world.

The vastness of Earth Day demonstrations across the United States led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of environmental laws, including the National Environmental Education Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Clean Air Act, and Clean Water Act.

Learn more about Earth Month at earthday.org.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Biodiversity + Wildlife Use Reusable Bags

How difficult was this challenge for you? What made it easy or difficult?

Alexa Russo 4/22/2024 8:46 AM

The most difficult thing is not forgetting to bring the bags from the car to the store, remembering to put them back in the car after unloading; it's all about routine. If I happen to forget the bags in the car, I ask the bagger to just put the items in the cart and throw the items in bags when I get to the car.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Action Track: Community Sustainability Lunch and Learn

Who did you engage in your lunch and learn? What resources did you use? How did it go and what did you learn?

Alexa Russo 4/18/2024 2:26 PM

We were able to host a Topics at 12 on Sustainable Lifestyle Swaps and hopefully inspire people to integrate sustainability into their lives!

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Action Track: Community Join a Cleanup Effort

How does working with others to clean up your community make you feel? What results did you see? Please consider posting a photo of your cleanup!

Alexa Russo 4/18/2024 2:26 PM

It was so awesome to see the team clean up 16 bags of trash! That is so huge especially for the small area we covered (that didn't really seem to be littered).

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Climate + Air Consume only Needs vs Wants

Consuming only what we need vs. what we want can be really hard to do. What has been challenging about committing to this action for a month? What have you learned about yourself? Will you change any habits going forward?

Alexa Russo 4/15/2024 9:05 AM

I typically do a "no spend month" once or twice per year, but I find that setting myself up for success is key. Planning out a not busy month ahead of time, ensuring that there aren't a bunch of things coming up like seasonal change where you have plant starts that need to get in the ground, or time sensitive things that need funding, all add up to success for me. I think April is a hard month for that, because of spring being here and all the work that we typically do in our yard to get it up to snuff for spring and summer. We broke our powerwasher, so we need one of those. We are re-doing our yard set-up and adding a bunch of plants to our side yard, and while we are taking cuttings of plants we already have, we still have to purchase some. I think winter is a much easier time for no spend month since we are less active.

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Alexa Russo 4/12/2024 10:53 AM
Happy Friday CT EcoChallenge Team!

Great job so far tracking your impact and sharing reflections on the changes you’ve been making to be more sustainable!

Each small action may seem like a small deal, but together, our collective impact makes a huge difference. Let’s take a moment to look at our collective progress thus far.
- We have traveled 16 miles by bus, saving the single-occupancy car trip
- Spent 70 minutes learning about sustainability topics
- Spent 570 minutes outdoors
- Saved 5.4 points of CO2
That is incredible, think about if we continued this all year, and how that impact would start to add up. And we still have time left in the month to do even more!

Remember to be logging your progress and posting in our team feed to share how it’s going!

Here are some suggested actions to incorporate into your weekend to keep achieving goals:
- Grab a family member or friend and take a walk in nature, explore your area, or plant something!
- Spend some time calculating your water, waste, or carbon footprint to see how to reduce your impact
- Read or watch a documentary to learn more about topics around sustainability like the role of biodiversity on our planet, or the impact of microplastics
Do you have any sustainable plans this weekend, or recommendations for others? Reply to this post with your ideas!

Have a great weekend!
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Alexa Russo 4/05/2024 8:53 AM

Hey team! How'd your week go? What was hard for you? What was easier than expected? What will you do differently next week?

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Alexa Russo 4/03/2024 9:45 AM

Forgot to log your actions for the day? Have no fear! You can still log actions for prior days.
1) Go to your "my challenge" page at the top where it says "today is day __ of 30"
2) Click the day that you forgot to log your progress
3) "Check-in" for actions you completed that day

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