Ecochallenge.org

Campus 2020 Ecochallenge

Neil Leary

Dickinson Green Devils 2020

"Educating for Sustainability"

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
1,035 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

1.0

energy audit

conducted
UP TO

3.0

hours

volunteered
UP TO

6.0

locally sourced meals

consumed
UP TO

56

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

510

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

240

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

2.0

organic meals

consumed
UP TO

17

pounds

waste composted
UP TO

3.0

public officials or leaders

contacted

Neil's actions

Simplicity

Work-Life Balance

I will not work more than 8 hour days each day to practice work-life balance.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Energy

Online Energy Audit

I will complete an online energy audit of my home, office, or dorm room and identify my next steps for saving energy.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Advocate for Greener Vehicles

I will spend at least 30 minutes assessing the vehicles used by my company or college and advocate for a purchasing policy focused on fuel-efficient vehicles.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health

Exercise Daily

Exercise is a great stress blaster! I will exercise for 30 minute(s) each day.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Happiness

I will write down three things every day that I am grateful for, or send one email every day thanking or praising someone.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Simplicity

Track my Purchases

I will spend 15 minutes each day maintaining a record of all my purchases and learning about my spending habits.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Energy

Choose Clean/Renewable Energy

I will sign up for my utility company's clean/renewable energy option.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Volunteer in my Community

I will volunteer 3 hour(s) in my community during the challenge.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health

Learn About Local Environmental Justice Concerns

I will spend 60 minutes researching environmental justice concerns in my region, their causes, and local initiatives to address these concerns.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health

Reduce refined sugar

I will keep track and reduce my consumption of refined sugars, including sweetened beverages, candy, and processed foods.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Buy From a Farmers Market

I will purchase produce and meat from a local farmers market or food co-op.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Choose Organic Ingredients

I will enjoy 2 meal(s) cooked with organic ingredients each day.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Reduce Animal Products

I will enjoy 2 meatless meal(s) and/or 2 vegan meal(s) each day this week.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Compost Food Waste

I will avoid sending up to .69 lbs (.31 kg) of food waste to the landfill each day by composting my food or learning how to.

COMPLETED 0
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?

Neil Leary 4/21/2020 11:43 AM

Which of your EcoChallenge behaviors do you think will stick? The ones that I intend to continue are exercising daily, reducing refined sugar, and composting. I'm signed up for another volunteer shift at Project SHARE. After that I want to find time to continue volunteering regularly when life is more normal. I'll try to keep a good work/life balance, but I've always struggled with that one. I finally switched my electricity supplier to a renewable source! (Go to PA Power Switch if you want to do the same). The home energy review that I did reminded me that I still need to add insulation to my home.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Energy Choose Clean/Renewable Energy

How might you be able to get others involved in advocating for the shift to clean energy?

Neil Leary 4/20/2020 2:59 PM

I just signed up for clean energy under the PA Power Switch program. Getting others to do the same could be promoted as part of a Carlisle climate action plan. Carlisle Borough is deliberating on setting targets for reducing GHG emissions and developing a climate action plan to reach the targets. A program to encourage residents to switch to renewable energy for their electricity supply could be a great thing to include.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Energy Online Energy Audit

What most interested or surprised you about your own energy footprint?

Neil Leary 4/20/2020 2:07 PM

There was not a big surprise. We had an energy audit done a few years ago, which gave us a pretty good idea of what we could do to save energy. We did most of those, but still have more we could do. The biggest energy savers that we've already done was seal air leaks and make the house tighter, particularly in our masonry basement. Also weatherize the door to our attic to lessen a chimney effect that was drawing lots of heated air up through the house and out through the attic. We got a high efficiency furnace, improved insulation in a few places, and replaced most of our lights with LED. The most important thing still to do is add insulation, particularly to the attic.

Read More
Neil Leary 4/20/2020 1:24 PM

I spent a couple hours this afternoon volunteering at Project SHARE. I worked with four other volunteers, all wearing masks, keeping 6 ft apart, filling grocery bags with canned goods, p-nut butter, pistachios, and other foods for distribution to people and families in need, and talking with the other volunteers. At the end of our time, one of the volunteers, an electrical engineer with Volvo, was on her way to join some of her engineering colleagues to assemble plastic face shields for medical workers from materials printed on a 3-D printer. It's wonderful to see the many ways people are working to help each other!

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Neil Leary 4/19/2020 8:25 AM

Finally, a sunny day! Took an extra long walk this morning with Kenny, known widely as the handsomest dog in Carlisle. These red bud trees are in bloom and in view from my porch as I sip my morning coffee. Will spend much of the day preparing for an Earth Day teach-in panel on COVID-19 and implications for sustainable development. That's scheduled for Tuesday at 7pm.

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Neil Leary 4/16/2020 5:32 AM

My brief moment of fame. Quoted in People magazine today about mini-fridges and compost. See their Earth Day special issue. The full article also includes a quote from me about Dickinson reducing its GHG emissions, right after a quote from Al Gore. But I think you have to get the print edition to see that.

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Neil Leary 4/15/2020 7:02 AM

Enjoying the tulips in our yard, which are now in full bloom.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Buy From a Farmers Market

What is one food choice that you make, or could make, that would do more good and less harm?

Neil Leary 4/10/2020 6:24 AM

I went to Farmers on the Square yesterday afternoon. It was the first time this year. The lively activity, crowds and sense of celebration that I associate with the market were lacking. Vendors' tents were spaced far apart and customers queued at safe distances from each other. Everyone was wearing masks, some store-bought, most fashioned from materials found at home. Still, there was a strong community vibe, a sense that we are working to support each other. Area farmers growing wholesome foods to help feed us. Residents choosing to buy from small farmers whose livelihoods are being buffeted by the economic effects of the pandemic. Everyone inquiring about each others' health - mental as well as physical. Food for the soul.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Community Volunteer in my Community

What is one thing you can do to help your community become more sustainable?

Neil Leary 4/09/2020 1:22 PM

The pandemic is making inequality in our community and wider society more visible. Even when unemployment was at 3% (that was just a few weeks ago but seems ages), many individuals and families struggled with reliable access to food, safe and good quality housing, health care and other needs. Now, with millions unable to work due to the pandemic, many more people are struggling to sustain their lives and their families. They need helping hands, empathy, communities that care, and financial resources. Project SHARE is one of the vital assets of our community that benefits people in need. This morning I signed up to volunteer for two shifts with Project SHARE, one shift to help to pack produce in their warehouse and another to help with food distribution at their Farmstand. I hope to make this a practice that I will continue after the EcoChallenge.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Transportation Advocate for Greener Vehicles

Reducing (or eliminating) exhaust emissions and improving public health are two benefits of green vehicles. What other motivators inspire you to consider switching to a more fuel-efficient vehicle?

Neil Leary 4/08/2020 4:01 PM

Trump has announced rollback of automobile fuel efficiency standards that were adopted under the Obama administration. The rollback will mean that we will have dirtier, more polluting cars on the roads. We will have more carbon pollution, more particulate matter, volatile organic compound, NOx, SO2 pollutants and more premature deaths in the U.S. due to air pollution.

The NRDC is inviting people to send a letter to Trump and EPA Administrator Wheeler asking them to maintain the clean car standards. You can send the letter HERE.

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- Willow Huppert 4/09/2020 7:44 AM
  
  The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy estimates "the administration’s action will add at least 131 million metric tons of carbon dioxide to our air annually by 2035 and increase U.S. fuel consumption by 11.7 billion gallons per year. That is the equivalent of adding nearly 29 million cars to our roads"
  
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