Earth Month Ecochallenge 2024: Conservation

April 1 - April 30, 2024

Ronda Reinhart

"We are all made of the same stuff: earth, air, water, fire, electricity Our bodies are matter/earth, we breathe air, our blood and fluids are water, our metabolism is our inner fire and without electricity nothing inside us works. This delicate system inside each living being is part of our shared experience of Life and honoring all life honors and nurtures our own. It is my mission to bring this awareness and conscious state of being part of the system, (not separate, above or beyond the systems of earth-bound life) to people, and my hope that this will magnify inclusion by pointing out how absolutely inaccurate the idea of "individual" has become. We need each other, we need our environment, we need other life to guarantee our own."

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
883 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

126

pieces of litter

picked up
UP TO

28

pounds

waste composted
UP TO

1.0

waste audit

conducted
UP TO

1.0

community event

hosted or attended
UP TO

1.0

advocacy action

completed
UP TO

2,105

minutes

spent outdoors
UP TO

732

minutes

spent learning

Ronda's actions

Biodiversity + Wildlife

Invest in Nature

A healthy world needs both our daily actions and support from larger systems. I will spend 30 minutes learning about how I can use my investments and savings to advance environmental sustainability.

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

Land + Forests

Choose Eco-Friendly Wood and Paper

Trees provide food and habitat for local wildlife species, shade our streets and homes, and help keep our air and water clean by capturing pollutants. Buying products that help protect forests makes a difference. I will only purchase wood, furniture, and paper products from ecologically certified sources such as Forest Stewardship Council.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Climate + Air

Take the Veg Pledge!

Eating a plant-based diet is one of the most impactful (and delicious) ways to reduce your environmental footprint. Follow the link below to join WSP's week-long Veg Pledge and eat vegetarian or vegan from 22-28 April. Take it one step further and host a plant-based pot-luck in your office during April!

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Climate + Air

WSP - ELECTRIFY AND REDUCE YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT

Whether your rent or own your home, signing up with YellowTin taking advantage of their 1:1 concierge service will help you understand the costs, savings, and incentives for everything needed to transition to an all-electric lifestyle! Use the link below to register and earn these one-time action points.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Community

WSP - JOIN OR START A GREEN TEAM IN YOUR OFFICE

WSP's Green Team volunteer program empowers employees passionate about sustainability to lead green initiatives for their local offices and communities. Follow the link below to learn more about WSP's Green Team program and sign-up to join or start one in your office today!

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Climate + Air

WSP - Read WSP's Latest ESG Report And Explore the ESG Canopy Page

Learn more about WSP's sustainability journey and what we are doing to reach our climate goals.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Freshwater + Oceans

Share My "Why"

I will record a video to share why I am taking action this Earth Month, a sustainable swap I've made, and/or a local conservation effort in my area.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Community

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.

COMPLETED 28
DAILY ACTIONS

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.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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 28
DAILY ACTIONS

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.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land + Forests

Explore My Area

When we explore natural spaces around us, our connections with them change. I will spend 30 minutes exploring a new area around my neighborhood, office, or campus (e.g., park, water body, nearby trail, community garden, green space, etc.).

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Land + Forests

Carry My Trash

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.

COMPLETED 27
DAILY ACTIONS

Land + Forests

Compost Food Waste

Food in the landfill is one of the main sources of greenhouse gasses. I will avoid sending up to .69 lbs (.31 kg) of food waste to the landfill per day by composting my food.

COMPLETED 28
DAILY ACTIONS

Climate + Air

Low Carbon Diet

Carbon is emitted into the atmosphere in a variety of ways, including through the foods we eat and food we waste. I will learn about low carbon foods and replace higher carbon foods with them in my diet.

COMPLETED 27
DAILY ACTIONS

Biodiversity + Wildlife

Beauty and Personal Products

Beauty and personal products can create a lot of waste. I will spend 20 minutes learning about the beauty and body products I use to see if they are refillable or recyclable. If not, I will reach out to the manufacturer to advocate for those options.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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.

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?

Ronda Reinhart 4/30/2024 8:16 AM

I've been saving Amazon packaging all month, it's going to the local UPS store to reuse!

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Ronda Reinhart 4/30/2024 8:11 AM

4/30: As this EcoChallenge, Earth-awareness month comes to a close, and in spite of all my environmentally-friendly musings, I was visited by a mouse last night. Not a sweet, Spirit Mouse full of blessings and wisdom to impart. No, this was a gnawing persistent little fella who resisted my attempts to scare it away through talking, banging on the walls and floor, testing the fire and CO2 alarms and playing "rodent deterrent frequencies" off YouTube.

I don't mind sharing the planet with mice, but I don't want to share my living space!
(right now I'm living in my 20' RV, so there isn't much space to share anyway)
The dark circles under my eyes aren't too noticeable this morning... but I was on my phone at 2am (after an hour of "battle") ordering essential oils with which to perfume my home. I'm hoping the Bergamot, Cinnamon, Eucalyptus and Clove scents smell better (to me) than cat urine, because as much as I am deterred by the scent of cat urine, I'm not above using it to keep mice out and get an entire night of sleep!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Biodiversity + Wildlife Plastic in Clothing and Water

How did you try to catch the release of microplastics in your laundry? What did you learn in the process?

Ronda Reinhart 4/29/2024 5:04 PM

I'm concerned about microplastics in my water and fish have no choice but to live in the water as we leave it. I did not see microplastics in my laundry, but I don't see microplastics in my water, either... that doesn't mean they aren't there!

I have a few linen blouses and feel better about wearing them than I do about any polyester clothing I have now.

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- Pieter de Bod 4/30/2024 12:39 AM
  
  I was also looking to find microplastics but could not see them,I I agree with you that doesn't mean they aren't there!
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Biodiversity + Wildlife Beauty and Personal Products

What new insights did you gain about the skincare products you use? Did you reach out to advocate for refillable or recyclable packaging?

Ronda Reinhart 4/29/2024 5:02 PM

I discovered even Burt's Bees products sound healthy but aren't necessarily sustainable. Following a recipe from online, I'm using a simple ingredient shampoo I made myself and simply use the micronized coconut oil for hair conditioner and skin moisturizer. Of course, not alot of either are needed, so I feel these are good investments in myself and my environment as well as the small businesses which provide these for me.

I notice I'm now concerned about how my car gets washed: what are they using? is it a plant-based detergent good for the environment like I would use?

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- Dhandapani Janarthanan 4/29/2024 5:11 PM
  
  👍
  
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Ronda Reinhart 4/29/2024 4:57 PM

4/29: Rainy morning, lovely afternoon with clear, warm skies. Today was a treat: lunch from a local Vietnamese restaurant wrapped in rice-starch paper and lettuce. Compostable container, edible wrapping, a healthy lunch good for me and the environment, too! Within walking distance, too; I think the better weather will bring me more walking days.

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Ronda Reinhart 4/29/2024 4:53 PM

4/28: Another rainy day today, but I took a walk along Alkai beach (here, in the Seattle area, rain does not stop people from going to the beach, neither does cold) and found some broken glass among the rocks and sand. Walking barefoot in the sand is delightful! The sand massages and stimulates all those lovely reflexology connections in your feet and the added resistance is good for your calves and thighs... but no benefit comes from leaving broken glass out to be stepped on.

I was happy to learn that glass is being recycled back into sand by a young entrepreneur and founder of Glass Half Full. This is circular economy at its best! glass sand to bottles, bottles to glass sand... no need to use beach or desert sand! We can leave those environments alone, let them recover.

What else can we do this with? Rubber tires? Concrete? Rebar? etc.

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Ronda Reinhart 4/29/2024 4:46 PM

4/27: Lovely rainy day today! I wanted to share some left over bread with the local birds (they flock to Walmart bread, this was better quality) but it was too wet. I remember growing up being told rice is dangerous to birds (and rodents if you want to kill them painfully) since it expands with water. But I stopped eating the Walmart bread after leaving some in the parking lot for the birds, finding them the next day so dry that they crumbled to dust and blew away when I nudged it with my shoe. I don't feed birds (or rodents) that nothing-bread any longer.

What we feed our body supports what we can do with our life. Why would we treat wild animals, birds, fish any differently?

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Ronda Reinhart 4/26/2024 10:06 AM

4/26: This may be an odd time to bring this up, nearing the end of the month and the completion of this challenge...
but I'm uncomfortable with the "175 points for $35 donation."
I realize this is a good way for EcoChallenge to fund their actions (and it is far better than "1 point for every $1 donated") I've found myself wondering how many people are buying vs. working to earn their points.

No resentment, no hate here; this challenge has been a great way to keep me mindful daily of how I live, the choices I make and where I've been unconscious about how I impact the environment and, in turn, the future of our planet and species. And adding the donation as an option may have been the most fair way to broach the subject.

For me, this challenge has really made a difference to my days and I sincerely hope others have gotten as much out of their participation! I'm also very glad I did not have to "pay to play!" Yet, it has been on my mind and with everything else I've shared during this challenge, may as well share these thoughts, too.

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Ronda Reinhart 4/26/2024 9:06 AM

4/26: I'm tired of carrying my trash! Even though the food has been composted (and the napkins with them), there has been plenty of non-compostable/recyclable wrappers. I know food needs to be treated with specialized concerns and wrapping and packaging food is important, especially since COVID reminded us all how easily pathogens can be transferred. A balance needs to be found between "safety" and "sustainable," "convenient" and ecologically sound.

I do wish the US would learn from other cultures and use what we have available: like using banana leaves as food wrapping in the tropics. What if we didn't have alot of money with which to buy from around the world (like cheap plastic containers or styrofoam boxes)? What if each US state, with its own, unique ecology and recipes instead used what local generations knew and worked with their environment? Maybe it's time to focus less on a Global Economy (supporting other countries by importing their food and products) and allow local brilliance to find solutions.

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Ronda Reinhart 4/25/2024 8:20 AM

4/25: This morning, there was a Hullabaloo in front of our office!
Rain-slick pavement, steep hills and unknown other factors caused a turning vehicle to collide with one stopped at the red light in the turn lane nearest oncoming traffic.
2 firetrucks are on-site, immediately putting powder on the ground, apparently the vehicle was spilling oil onto the roadway? The driver is still trapped in the car.

So as we drive around in these amazing creations of shaped metal, harnessed electricity and controlled gasoline explosions, let's be a little mindful of all the hazardous fluids keeping it running smoothly. After all: even the washer fluid isn't drinkable!

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