Karthik A

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.

I will volunteer 1 hours in my community.

Energy use and waste is often invisible. I will complete an online energy audit of my home, office, or dorm room and identify my next steps for saving energy.

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.

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.

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.

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.

When traveling, I will seek souvenirs that support local communities and do not cause harm to the environment or wildlife.

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.

Grass lawns are water-intensive and on average require about 30 percent of a household’s water consumption. Native plants are water-efficient and help maintain the balance and diversity of local ecosystems. I will plant native species with water-efficient plants to conserve water and improve the habitat, then post a photo on the feed to share.

Understanding cleaning product ingredients and their effect on water and biodiversity is helpful to our consumer choices. I will spend 5 minutes learning about how cleaning products affect our water and try making my own cleaning products to reduce pollutants.

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

Carbon emissions from air travel is harmful to planetary and human health. Instead of traveling by plane, I will find an alternative way to accomplish the goals of an upcoming trip (i.e. telepresence, vacation locally).

Regenerative agriculture focuses on farming and ranching in a way that supports life and restores the soil. I will spend 16 minutes learning about regenerative agriculture and find out if any nearby farms practice regenerative agriculture.

When we explore natural spaces around us, our connections with them change. I will spend 22 minutes exploring a new area around my neighborhood, office, or campus (e.g., park, water body, nearby trail, community garden, green space, etc.).

I will carry all of my unrecyclable, non-compostable trash with me this month, to raise my awareness of how much I send to the landfill. I will post on the feed my reflections, conversations, and actions I will take moving forward.

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.

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.

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.

Trees capture carbon and produce oxygen that is essential to life on earth. I will support this important piece of nature by organizing or joining a community group to plant 2 native trees in my community, public parks, office location, campus or backyard.

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.

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.

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.

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.