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Melissa Holland's avatar

Melissa Holland

Family Care WHBC

"Teaching others about how to protect the planet :)"

Melissa's points

  • 0 TODAY
  • 180 THIS WEEK
  • 561 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    1.0
    locally sourced meal
    consumed
  • UP TO
    1.0
    water footprint
    calculated
  • UP TO
    9.0
    expressions of gratitude
    shared
  • UP TO
    2.0
    random acts of kindness
    completed
  • UP TO
    243
    minutes
    spent learning

Melissa's actions

Soil and Food

Choose Water-Smart Foods

The foods we eat carry hidden “water footprints” that affect rivers, soils, and communities worldwide. I will reduce servings of high-water-use foods and choose alternatives that help conserve water and support more resilient food systems.

COMPLETED 4
DAILY ACTIONS

Soil and Food

Grow Something to Eat

Growing food builds resilience by connecting us to the soil and reducing reliance on long supply chains. I will grow edible plants—such as herbs, vegetables, or grains—in my home, balcony, or community space, strengthening both my food security and local biodiversity.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Soil and Food

Eat Local and Seasonal Foods

Local and seasonal foods require fewer resources, support nearby farmers, and keep soils healthier through diverse planting. I will source 1 meals per week from local or seasonal producers—such as markets, CSAs, or co-ops—to strengthen community food resilience.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Personal

Prepare for Extreme Weather

Extreme weather events like hurricanes, wildfires, and floods can disrupt lives and upend our communities. I will take proactive steps to prepare for extreme weather by safeguarding my home and creating or updating an emergency plan and kit with essential supplies, evacuation routes, and contact information.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

What is resilience?

Learn About Biodiversity and Resilience

Diversity builds strength in ecosystems. I will spend 10 minutes learning how biodiversity helps nature adapt to change and maintain balance.

COMPLETED 10
DAILY ACTIONS

Water

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.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Biodiversity and Wildlife

Learn About Indigenous Conservation Practices

Indigenous communities have long stewarded lands, waters, and ecosystems using practices rooted in intergenerational knowledge and deep connections to nature. I will spend 10 minutes learning how Indigenous stewardship supports biodiversity and resilience, and reflect on lessons I can apply.

COMPLETED 10
DAILY ACTIONS

Take the Pre-Survey

Take the Pre-Event Survey

I’ll take a short pre-survey to share what motivated me to join — and earn 15 points! (If I already took the survey by email, I’ll just mark this action complete to get my points.)

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Express Gratitude and Random Acts of Kindness

Small acts of kindness and gratitude can brighten someone's day and create a positive ripple effect. I will express gratitude to 1 people or perform 1 random acts of kindness to spread joy and connection.

COMPLETED 9
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Take Part in a Community Beautification Project

Working together builds resilience and pride in the places we care about. I will participate in 1 community projects such as a cleanup or local beautification project that strengthens connections and shared purpose.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Participant Feed


  • Melissa Holland's avatar
    Melissa Holland 4/16/2026 12:24 PM
    • TEAM CAPTAIN
    • Wildlife Guardian 🦉
    It is actually pretty hard to choose water smart foods. Meat, dairy, eggs, fruits all require a lot of water to grow. Interestingly, a lot of the plants that can grow in the midwest.. potatoes, asparagus, squashes etc are low water useage.

  • Melissa Holland's avatar
    Melissa Holland 4/15/2026 11:54 AM
    • TEAM CAPTAIN
    • Wildlife Guardian 🦉
    Two of my challenges are about spending time learning about indigenous conservation and biodiversity. Its been actually getting hard to come up with new things to learn about. So I have been getting extra into the weeds about these topics for Cincinnati and Kenya before my trip!
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Soil and Food
    What did you decide to grow, and how did it feel to start (or care for) your plants? What connections did it give you to soil or food resilience?

    Melissa Holland's avatar
    Melissa Holland 4/13/2026 6:08 AM
    • TEAM CAPTAIN
    • Wildlife Guardian 🦉
    I live in a condo so it is a bit difficult for me to grow my own food. However, I have a fire escape and I planted some kale and mint in a pot. I am going to try and squirrel proof it and then use the leaves for my salads and the mint for my tea!

    • Andre Mellin's avatar
      Andre Mellin 4/15/2026 12:09 PM
      If you find squirrel proofing solutions pls let me know. My tomatos were all gone last years.

    • Jess Rosen's avatar
      Jess Rosen 4/13/2026 6:18 AM
      • Community Builder 🤝
      Best of luck with the squirrels! Before you know it you will see some progress :)
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Soil and Food
    What local or seasonal foods did you try? How does eating with the seasons or supporting nearby farmers change your perspective on resilience?

    Melissa Holland's avatar
    Melissa Holland 4/10/2026 5:23 AM
    • TEAM CAPTAIN
    • Wildlife Guardian 🦉
    There is a program I just learned about in Cincinnati. Three farmers got together to provide a food pick up program, where for 8 weeks you can sign up to receive fresh produce from their garden and they have a pay as you can program so that is is more affordable. It is still expensive and I guess that is the downside to locally and ethically grown food but I think it is worth it. I may try it out and see how well it works for me.

  • Melissa Holland's avatar
    Melissa Holland 4/08/2026 6:49 AM
    • TEAM CAPTAIN
    • Wildlife Guardian 🦉
    It's been fun to learn about biodiversity and what I can do in my condo in OTR to help. I didn't know that even putting out a little dish of mud on my fire escape helps give pollinators and birds resources to build their homes in the city! I will be setting that up this week. I am also going to look into squirrel/bird nesting homes especially since they are currently nesting in the roof and I want to give them an alternative before I kick them out. I am also looking into a small garden on my fire escape though I need some tips on how to keep those squirrels out.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Community
    How did expressing gratitude or performing acts of kindness impact you and the recipient? What role do small acts of kindness play in creating stronger communities?

    Melissa Holland's avatar
    Melissa Holland 4/06/2026 5:52 AM
    • TEAM CAPTAIN
    • Wildlife Guardian 🦉
    I've been focusing on gratitude recently as a way to combat anxious thoughts and it has been very effective. By reflecting on what I'm grateful at the end of each day, I feel like I'm rewiring my brain to focus on the positive instead of the negative and then anxious, spiraling thoughts stay away
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Water
    What did you learn about your water footprint, and what changes felt most practical or surprising? How does this connect to resilience on a larger scale?

    Melissa Holland's avatar
    Melissa Holland 4/02/2026 6:51 AM
    • TEAM CAPTAIN
    • Wildlife Guardian 🦉
    I use about 1,252 gallons of water per day. That is below the national average of 1,802 gallons but still work to be done. Most of my water is coming from my diet, since I eat meat that is a lot of water being used. I learned an interesting tip that I might use, you can save flushes on toilets (especially when guests aren't around) if you go number 1. Always flush a number 2 right away..

    Also in the future, looking at energy efficient dishwashers and laundry machines would be help save water too

    • Ryan Sauer's avatar
      Ryan Sauer 4/02/2026 10:23 AM
      Scary to see the water usage as a number, shocked the average is that high! I need to do this activity later this week too to see my usage...
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    What is resilience?
    What did you learn about the role of biodiversity in resilience? How does this deepen your understanding of why protecting diversity matters for people and nature?

    Melissa Holland's avatar
    Melissa Holland 4/01/2026 11:26 AM
    • TEAM CAPTAIN
    • Wildlife Guardian 🦉
    Learned about the difference between resistant and resilient. A fire resistant forest can handle some fires well, but a fire resilient forest can bounce back even if destroyed by a fire.

    Also talked about functional redundancy. If the plants only relied on one type of pollinator, like a bee and those specific bees died out, then the plants would die too. There is redundancy in the fact that multiple different pollinators can carry out the same job in case one of the species dies out.

    I like the way it framed protecting the environment. Ecosystem resilience provides protection for the environment which is safeguarding sustainability which is essentially the stability and security of human communities (among others). I wish people thought more about sustainability this way.

  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Soil and Food
    What foods did you discover have a large water footprint? How might shifting your diet help conserve both water and soil health?

    Melissa Holland's avatar
    Melissa Holland 4/01/2026 11:11 AM
    • TEAM CAPTAIN
    • Wildlife Guardian 🦉
    Goodness, a sandwich, soda and bag of chips requires up to 206 gallons of water to produce.

    Okay and i learned why grass fed meat actually matters besides maybe being better for you and tasting better. But the water resources that go into farm raised beef is significantly more than pasture raised cattle. I will opt for grass fed in the future.

    Also processed food uses much more water as well, I have already cut back on those food for health reasons but it is nice to know that I am saving water as well

    • Tyrone Hinkley's avatar
      Tyrone Hinkley 4/09/2026 5:58 AM
      • Wildlife Guardian 🦉
      Grass fed beef is the way to go there are alot of farmers in my area that sell it if your interested

    • Sydney Crush's avatar
      Sydney Crush 4/08/2026 6:55 AM
      • TEAM CAPTAIN
      The impact of meat on the environment continues to blow my mind! Makes me seriously consider the value of plant-based meals and shopping locally/organically!
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Biodiversity and Wildlife
    How do Indigenous conservation practices show resilience in action, and what lessons could apply where you live?

    Melissa Holland's avatar
    Melissa Holland 4/01/2026 11:01 AM
    • TEAM CAPTAIN
    • Wildlife Guardian 🦉
    I read an article that it suggested about 3 stories of how indigenous people care for their land. Representing 5% of the population, native people protect 1/4 of the earth! That is a crazy statistic and really shows how important these people are. My dad is a bee keeper so the story about Colombians and Ecuadorians learning about bee keeping with their ancestorial knowledge was very interesting.

    The second story was about deforestation in Kenya and in 2 months I will actually be visiting Kenya and going on safaris and meeting the Masai land people and learn about how they care for their land and people. I liked the quote about how if you are saving the environment, you are saving a life. We are all very much connected to our environments, more than we realize it in our day to day.

    • Stacey Sulfridge's avatar
      Stacey Sulfridge 4/02/2026 7:01 AM
      I had the opportunity to visit Nairobi, Kenya 2 summers ago! You will not be disappointed.. Beautiful land, beautiful culture, beautiful people!