Earth Month Ecochallenge 2023: Sustainable Development Goals

April 1 - April 30, 2023

Sindhuja Vijayakumar

Deloitte USI RFA Chennai

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
914 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

27

conversations

with people
UP TO

1.0

documentary

watched
UP TO

442

gallons of water

have been saved
UP TO

5.0

items

repaired
UP TO

5.0

lightbulbs

replaced
UP TO

1.0

meatless or vegan meal

consumed
UP TO

1,110

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

2,660

minutes

spent outdoors
UP TO

2,660

minutes

not spent in front of a screen
UP TO

8.8

pounds

food waste prevented
UP TO

19

pounds of CO2

have been saved
UP TO

15

square feet

community beautification
UP TO

2.0

trees

planted
UP TO

1.0

water footprint

calculated
UP TO

52

zero-waste meals

consumed

Sindhuja's actions

Education & Livelihood

Plan A Staycation in Your Community

SDG 11

For an upcoming vacation, I will spend 240 minutes planning out a staycation in my region. For reference, one several hour flight releases the equivalent of nearly 14% of the annual emissions from a car.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Economy & Communities

Mend Clothing

SDG 9

I will mend clothing for myself, family or friends.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Economy & Communities

Choose LED Bulbs

SDG 7

I will replace 5 incandescent light bulb(s) with Energy Star-certified LED bulbs, saving up to $14 per fixture per year.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Climate & Ecosystems

Calculate Your Carbon Impact

SDG 13

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.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Climate & Ecosystems

Ecological & Xeriscape Gardening

SDG 14, 15

Studies show a grass lawn is water intensive and on average it require about 30 percent of a household’s water consumption. I will do one or more of the following actions in my yard or community to conserve water and improve habitat: plant indigenous plants, landscape with water-efficient plants, add mulching, replace a lawn, and/or use eco-friendly fertilizers.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Climate & Ecosystems

Watch a Documentary About Climate Change or Nature

SDG 13, 14, 15

I will watch 1 documentaries about climate change.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health & Equity

Make Cleaning Products

SDG 3

I will make a few homemade cleaning products.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Basic Needs & Security

Know Your Produce

SDG 2

I will become a savvy produce shopper when buying organic and non-organic items.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Basic Needs & Security

Try a New Vegan or Vegetarian Recipe

I will try a new vegan or vegetarian recipe and share how it turns out on the Ecochallenge feed, or with family and friends.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Climate & Ecosystems

Plant a Tree

SDG 15

On average, a tree absorbs 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of carbon dioxide yearly during the first 20 years. To do my part, I will plant 1 trees in my community, public parks, or backyard.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Basic Needs & Security

Calculate Your Water Footprint

SDG 6

I will calculate my water footprint and look for a few ways I can reduce consumption or waste.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Basic Needs & Security

Make Zero-Waste Meals

SDG 2

I will cook 2 meals with zero waste each day.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Health & Equity

Track My Purchases

SDG 10

Each day, I will track my purchases to identify my spending habits. This will allow me to see what purchases can be reduced.

COMPLETED 27
DAILY ACTIONS

Education & Livelihood

Work-Life Balance

SDG 8

During the workday, I will schedule time for daily breaks during work days to practice work-life balance.

COMPLETED 26
DAILY ACTIONS

Health & Equity

Spend Time Outside

SDG 3

I will replace 60 minute(s) per day typically spent inside (computer time, watching television, etc.) with quality time outside exercising, enjoying the sunrise/sunset, gardening, journaling, or practicing gratitude for nature.

COMPLETED 30
DAILY ACTIONS

Economy & Communities

Analyze Your Utility Bills

SDG 7

I spend 20 minutes analyzing my recent utility bills, which might include electricity, gas, or water to see what my current usage is and determine if I can reduce my energy and water use.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Climate & Ecosystems

Learn and Discuss The Climate & Ecosystems SDGs

SDG 13, 14, 15

Each day, I will spend 10 minutes learning about these SDGs and talk with 5 people about what I learned.

COMPLETED 6
DAILY ACTIONS

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
Climate & Ecosystems Calculate Your Carbon Impact

What is one way you will reduce your carbon footprint? What is a practice you already have that helps you reduce your carbon footprint?

Sindhuja Vijayakumar 4/30/2023 3:58 AM

Every small step can make a huge impact!
As my teammate Vinitha mentioned, pandemic played a huge role for each and every one of us to use our private vehicle, which had a greatest impact in our environment!
When realizing this, I started using public transport for most of my commute. At the beginning it was difficult to breakthrough the comfort, but slowly I was able to.
Thanks for bringing up this challenge here!

Read More
Sindhuja Vijayakumar 4/28/2023 10:53 AM

28 days of great impact in lifestyle, incredible!!
When I see my dashboard and my team's dashboard all the reports of the impact made, its Wooooowww!
Small steps of taking break, work life balance, mindful usage of resources (water, electricity, finance), mending clothes, one hour of spending time outside, being thankful to the tutors, planting trees, choose organic, learn about the community, trying vegan recipes, environment, helping the community in all the ways where we can with every effort, sharing thoughts and posting them, discussing and encouraging other, I am extremely happy to be part of this great initiative :)
Thanks to my entire team for supporting me here!

If small steps of 11 members for 28 days can make this huge impact, what if it's for every day by everyone of us?
This year Earth month turned my perspective and helped me to grow better!
Thanks for each and every one who made this great initiative and to my organization to support and encourage to participate in such initiatives!

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Basic Needs & Security Know Your Produce

What surprised you about the two produce lists? How will you use these lists for your grocery shopping? Have you used these lists before?

Sindhuja Vijayakumar 4/26/2023 8:19 AM

As we all know, organic price heavy but "worth every penny"!

I want to narrate an incident, I planned to show how papaya looks inside to my daughter. I thought of recording her expression of looking on the black seeds inside the papaya for the very first time.
But to my surprise, when I had cut the fruit, nothing was inside, and it was total plain. And I was most surprised and shocked!

When enquired, I was shocked to gather the info that, nowadays, most of the papayas in the fruit shops are hybrid (non-organic) and they do not have seeds within it.

So, I literally looked out for organic fruit, thankfully got one from one of my acquaintances who has papaya tree, and showed my daughter how the fruit really looks like, and how divine the taste is!

To boost the production, almost every fruits and vegetables now turns to be non-organic! And if you want healthier food, healthier life style, always opt for seasonal fruits and vegetables that is organic!
Always prefer checking the labels for certification, or buy it from local farmers, and have a convo with them like what fertilizers and pesticides are being used!

Read More
- Sindhuja Vijayakumar 4/28/2023 10:58 AM
  
  Yes, I agree with you both!
  It's not possible to go for terrace garden for trees, but definitively we can build our own terrace garden with all the possible veggies like Tamil said and we can also support our farmers and encourage them as Vinitha mentioned.
  
  Read More
- Vinitha E K 4/28/2023 3:54 AM
  
  Heights of commercialization :( . Agree with Tamil's concept. High time that we appreciate efforts of farmers and ensure they get rewarded for their efforts.
  
  Read More
- Tamilarasu Balasubramaniam 4/27/2023 7:45 AM
  
  Sad truth. But we should encourage to build our own garden to get these fruits and vegetables. Even though if we live in city we should initiate to do build something like terrace garden to get our own fruits
  
  Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Basic Needs & Security Calculate Your Water Footprint

What is one way you will reduce your water use? What is a practice you already have that helps you reduce your water use?
Sindhuja Vijayakumar 4/26/2023 2:57 AM
The one way I reduced my water usage now is,

Run washing machine only when it is full, since half-loads will tend to waste water.

While vessel washing, instead of letting all the water run down the drain, started using two tubs, one with hot water and soap, the other with normal clear water for rinsing.

The practice that I already have is,

Rainwater harvesting in home.

Used upgraded faucets and fixtures, closets models in home, that in turn, reduces the water usage comparatively to the old one!

Always inspects and fix the leaks in my home immediately.

Turn the water tap off while brushing or washing until its ready to rinse, and I make my daughter too to follow the same, and always insist her to not to make the water running when it is not necessary and be mindful!

I use the waters that I use to soak rice, dal, chickpeas, to water my plants.

Let me know your thoughts as well regarding the steps you all have taken that helped you to reduce your water consumption!
Read More
- Vinitha E K 4/28/2023 3:57 AM
  
  Great initiative !!!
  
  Read More
- Tamilarasu Balasubramaniam 4/27/2023 7:46 AM
  
  Good points to be noted
  
  Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Economy & Communities Mend Clothing

What was it like to mend your clothing? If you are skilled at mending, what tips do you have for others?

Sindhuja Vijayakumar 4/26/2023 2:34 AM

I was a shopping spree, but then when I started minding about my spendings and budget, I started looking for options, and hence started with mending the clothes.
Mostly, all of us in my family follow this and go for purchasing of clothes only if it is necessary!

Last week, I did a decluttering of my wardrobe, and had mended 5-6 clothes that has a minor repair!
So now I got 5-6 new clothes to style and flaunt in ;)

Read More
- Vinitha E K 4/28/2023 4:04 AM
  
  I too follow these steps... Modernisation and change in lifestyle has made us to forget older things. Great effort !!!
  
  Read More
- Vinitha E K 4/28/2023 4:03 AM
  
  I too follow these steps... Modernisation and change in lifestyle has made us to forget older things. Great effort !!!
  
  Read More
- Tamilarasu Balasubramaniam 4/27/2023 7:47 AM
  
  Our generation always got trapped into this. But planning will always help to avoid this thing
  
  Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Climate & Ecosystems Ecological & Xeriscape Gardening

What ecological or xeriscape landscaping practices do you have? How has your landscape changed from these practices?
Sindhuja Vijayakumar 4/26/2023 2:29 AM
I am a budding gardener and I have a terrace garden.
The fertilizers that I use for my plants are purely from homebased!
I haven't tried the decompose method yet, but started using the following fertilizers after watching a YouTube video,

water that we soak rice, dal, chickpeas.

Rice water (after boiling)

leftover idly/dhosa batter that remains at last in the vessel used. mix it with water and use it for watering plant.

dried eggshell.

dried banana peels.

used tea powder.

This turns out to be a tremendous improvement in my plant's growth and the budding!
Read More
- Tamilarasu Balasubramaniam 4/27/2023 7:47 AM
  
  Very thoughtful. Kudos to you
  
  Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Climate & Ecosystems Watch a Documentary About Climate Change or Nature

What did you watch, and what was the most important thing you learned in the documentary(ies) you watched? How does what you learned connect to your understanding of climate change and Earth Month?

Sindhuja Vijayakumar 4/26/2023 2:06 AM

As one of my teammates (@Nitesh) suggested, I watched the documentary "Chasing Ice"!
Thanks to him for sharing this as a post that made me to watch it as well!

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Basic Needs & Security Try a New Vegan or Vegetarian Recipe

What was the dish you made, and how did it turn out? What did it feel like to try a new recipe? If you can share a picture, please do!

Sindhuja Vijayakumar 4/26/2023 12:01 AM

Yesterday for dinner, for a change, we tried vegan recipe, and used tofu instead of paneer in paneer tikka recipe... so, it turned out to be tofu tikka recipe :D
To our surprise, it tastes good, as it was our first trial with tofu and was happy about trying it!

Read More
- Tamilarasu Balasubramaniam 4/27/2023 7:48 AM
  
  Sounds tasteful. I will try this
  
  Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Health & Equity Make Cleaning Products

What was surprising about the ingredients in your cleaning supplies, personal care, and pet products?

Sindhuja Vijayakumar 4/25/2023 11:58 PM

I tried this multipurpose cleaning liquid, and all needed for this is regular white vinegar, baking soda with lemon, water... mix it all and there you go!
I sprayed this cleaning liquid in a hard strained material, and Bingo! It does the great job!

You can also use this liquid without baking soda to clean your stove, as, using with baking soda, will leave a white powdery format once it is dried.
Hence try it only with vinegar, water and lemon juice, mix it all, spray it, wait for 20 mins, and swipe it with a clean cloth!

Read More
- Tamilarasu Balasubramaniam 4/27/2023 7:49 AM
  
  Good tips. I am gonna try this
  
  Read More
- Vinitha E K 4/27/2023 2:13 AM
  
  Thanks for sharing this one. Seems to be economic. I am going to try this out by this weekend.
  
  Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Economy & Communities Analyze Your Utility Bills

What was the most interesting thing you learned from analyzing your utility bill? What are some ways you can save energy and water?

Sindhuja Vijayakumar 4/04/2023 12:50 AM

I always taught to be mindful on the usage of electricity, gas and water. As these energies are much important to be saved for our future as well!

I always avoid the usage of AC, and I use it when it is at most necessary, and I replace it with Fan, or I sit at my balcony or terrace that has shed.
Switching it off whenever is the habit that has been incorporated to me from the earlier. Thanks to my Mom :)

I always take care of the usage of water too!
Now I am checking on the things that I can improvise and can save it in all the possible ways I can.

And I am insisting my family too!

Read More
- Tamilarasu Balasubramaniam 4/27/2023 7:49 AM
  
  Keep up the good work
  
  Read More