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Welcome to Earth Month Ecochallenge 2026!

Watch the short video below to learn the basics.
You'll be an Earth Month Ecochallenge 2026 expert in no time!

Ecochallenge.org
Earth Month Ecochallenge 2026
April 1 - April 30, 2026
Harkiran Saluja's avatar

Harkiran Saluja

Coursera

Harkiran's points

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 1,112 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    500
    gallons of water
    saved
  • UP TO
    1.0
    water footprint
    calculated
  • UP TO
    4.0
    ideas and resources
    shared
  • UP TO
    154
    minutes
    spent learning

Harkiran's actions

Community

Discover How Communities Build Resilience

Every community around the world faces challenges—from natural disasters to economic changes—and find ways to adapt and thrive. I will spend 5 minutes exploring stories of community resilience and reflect on what lessons I can bring to my own community.

COMPLETED 5
DAILY ACTIONS

Water

Take Shorter Showers

Conserving water helps protect this precious resource. I will shorten my showers to 5 minutes to save water and reduce energy use - each time saving up to 20 gallons (75 L) of water!

COMPLETED 25
DAILY ACTIONS

Soil and Food

Learn About Indigenous Food Practices and Food Sovereignty

Indigenous communities around the world steward resilient food systems. I will spend 5 minutes learning about Indigenous food practices and food sovereignty, and reflect on lessons I can honor and apply.

COMPLETED 4
DAILY ACTIONS

Water

Learn About Water Justice

Access to clean water is a basic human right, yet many communities worldwide lack it. I will spend 5 minutes learning about water justice issues and who is most affected, and share one insight in the feed.

COMPLETED 7
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

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

What is resilience?

Learn About Ordinary Magic

Resilience is an everyday magic in all of us. I will spend 5 minutes learning about resilience and psychologist Ann Masten’s concept of “ordinary magic,” which shows how people adapt and thrive through small, daily strengths.

COMPLETED 7
DAILY ACTIONS

Personal

Go Get a Check Up

Regular health check-ups help prevent problems before they start. I will schedule or attend a medical, dental, or mental health check-up to take care of my well-being.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

What is resilience?

Share a Definition of Resilience

Sharing builds common understanding. I will share 3 definitions of resilience that resonate with me—through conversations, social media, or the event feed—to help others explore what resilience means.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Participant Feed

  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Water
    What water justice issues did you learn about, and who is most affected in your community? How can you contribute to creating equitable access to clean water in your area?
    Harkiran Saluja's avatar
    Harkiran Saluja 4/30/2026 8:36 AM
    I learned that California's water justice system is rooted in land theft and racism, as BIPOC communities tend to get more of the contaminated and unaffordable water while investment funds and insurers benefit from over-pumping water. To address this injustice and address climate change, we need to take actions like ensuring equitable water access, increasing underground water storage, and reducing water usage for private benefits.
    Read More
  • Harkiran Saluja's avatar
    Harkiran Saluja 4/29/2026 12:29 PM
    This has been a good Ecochallenge thus far. I appreciated the new action categories on justice, community, and resilience and it has been interesting to learn about these spaces.
    Read More
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Community
    What story of community resilience inspired you the most? How might those lessons apply to your own community or networks?
    Harkiran Saluja's avatar
    Harkiran Saluja 4/29/2026 12:27 PM
    In Grenada, people depend on the waters for fishing since it provides income and security to residents. However, the increase in storms and high tides threaten their local economy, which has caused them to make shifts to make fishing safer. A group of fishers were able to create a facility to help store gear, have solar powered energy, and store rainwater to help create a stronger environment for fishing. I thought this story was pretty interesting, and it shows that in the face of hardship, communities coming together to solve problems makes things easier and people more resilient.
    Read More
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    What is resilience?
    What definition of resilience did you choose to share, and why? How did others respond to it, and did it spark any new insights for you?
    Harkiran Saluja's avatar
    Harkiran Saluja 4/27/2026 9:09 AM
    I chose to share definitions of resilience based on the 7 Cs of Resilience, which is a concept by Kenneth Ginsburg. The 7 Cs are competence, confidence, connection, character, contribution, coping and control. Particularly, I chose to focus on the first 4 since I feel like there's more to resilience than it being a mental and emotional thing. This helped me realize that there's a lot of factors that contribute to one's resilience that we don't really think about.
    Read More
    • Rahul Satpute's avatar
      Rahul Satpute 4/27/2026 9:11 AM
      • Parent 🐻
      I shared a definition of resilience as the ability to adapt and grow stronger through challenges rather than simply “bouncing back.” Others responded positively, saying it felt realistic and relatable, and it sparked the insight for me that resilience can look different for each person depending on their experiences.
      Read More
  • Harkiran Saluja's avatar
    Harkiran Saluja 4/27/2026 9:03 AM
    One of my actions is to share definitions of resilience that resonate with me. I think resilience is a really important skill to have to adapt to the challenges in life. When people talk about resilience, they talk about mental and emotional coping skills. But it's so much more than that because it includes knowing what skills we have to lean on when things get hard and being confident in ourselves to use the tools we have. I also think for us to be able to overcome challenges in our lives, we need to have a good support system who has our backs and contribute to the world in a meaningful way.
    Read More
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Soil and Food
    What did you learn about Indigenous approaches to food and land? How do these perspectives broaden your understanding of resilience?
    Harkiran Saluja's avatar
    Harkiran Saluja 4/26/2026 5:59 PM
    Indigenous approaches to food and land emphasize relationships with nature and prioritize biodiversity, sustainability, and cultural sovereignty over efficiency. They focus on protecting biodiversity, reducing environmental degradation, and providing sustainable food to their communities. This shows that resilience is collective and led by communities that know how to adapt to all sorts of changes.
    Read More
    • Rachel Rosen's avatar
      Rachel Rosen 4/27/2026 10:58 AM
      • TEAM CAPTAIN
      This is an important learning. We can do so much good leveraging this for our food production.
      Read More
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    What is resilience?
    What stood out to you about the idea of “ordinary magic”? How can one use a small, everyday strength to better handle a challenge this week?
    Harkiran Saluja's avatar
    Harkiran Saluja 4/24/2026 2:17 PM
    What's interesting about "ordinary magic" is that resilience isn't something that happens in big moments, but rather something that builds through everyday actions and experiences. It highlights that people build strength through factors like how they show up and how they build relationships. One can practice self-compassion, grounding, and breaking down challenges into smaller tasks to better handle challenges.
    Read More
    • Shivangi Priya's avatar
      Shivangi Priya 4/24/2026 7:46 PM
      • Foodie 🍱
      Harkiran, this makes a lot of sense
      breaking things down into smaller steps is something I’ve started noticing helps more than trying to handle everything at once
      Read More
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Personal
    What motivated you to schedule or attend your check-up, and how did it make you feel afterward that you completed this action?
    Harkiran Saluja's avatar
    Harkiran Saluja 4/23/2026 8:58 AM
    I had a therapy session and a dental appointment this week. I've been doing through some dental treatment and thus needed to schedule the appointment. However, I do have a cleaning appointment scheduled for next month and I've been trying to be more consistent with those. As for the therapy session, I try to do those at least monthly so that I'm putting in the work to make myself and my relationships better. I feel good after having those two appointments and hopefully I can schedule a medical-related one as well.
    Read More
  • Harkiran Saluja's avatar
    Harkiran Saluja 4/18/2026 5:49 PM
    Today, I took the resilience quiz on naturalmentalhealth.com as part of my action to learn more about ordinary magic and resilience. I got information about the type of resilience I exhibit while also learning more about my obstacles and struggles.
    Read More
    • Rachel Rosen's avatar
      Rachel Rosen 4/20/2026 12:39 PM
      • TEAM CAPTAIN
      I bet that was really interesting to learn more about!
      Read More
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Water
    How did shortening your showers affect your awareness of water conservation? What other water-saving practices can you adopt in your daily routine?
    Harkiran Saluja's avatar
    Harkiran Saluja 4/09/2026 3:11 PM
    Shortening my showers made me realize how much unnecessary water I was using. However, it is a habit that needs to be maintained when possible. I did this action last year and unfortunately went back to my old ways not long after. Keeping the consistency will be important for me going forward since water is used in so many places and we need to conserve it where we can.
    Read More
    • Rachel Rosen's avatar
      Rachel Rosen 4/10/2026 5:52 AM
      • TEAM CAPTAIN
      Harkiran, the same thing happened to me! I love a long hot shower so it can be too easy to go back to that the rest of the year. I will say, listening to an upbeat 5 minute song while in the shower has really helped with this challenge this year!
      Read More