October 6 - October 27, 2021

Hannah Knutson

"To implement realistic and sustainable changes to my daily life that create a healthier environment for myself and those around me"

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
1,539 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

4.0

advocacy actions

completed
UP TO

1.0

community event

hosted or attended
UP TO

3.0

conversations

with people
UP TO

40

disposable cups

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

2.0

donations

made
UP TO

3.0

gallons of water

have been saved
UP TO

5.0

locally sourced meals

consumed
UP TO

1,280

minutes

of additional sleep
UP TO

1,015

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

190

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

43

plastic containers

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

48

plastic straws

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

3.3

pounds of paper

have been saved

Hannah's actions

Community

Host a Watch Party

Do at Home

I will host a watch party to screen a documentary about an issue that matters to me.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Energy

Use an Energy Meter

Do at Home

I will use an energy meter to monitor my energy use and identify opportunities to save power.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Improve a Bus Stop

I will improve a bus stop in my neighborhood by posting the stop schedule, adding seating or shelter, adding art or flowers, picking up litter, or some other small improvement.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Advocate For More Food Packaging Options

Do at Home

I will advocate for alternatives to single-use packaging at local grocery stores, markets, at work, or on campus to reduce pollution in the environment and in local communities.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Energy

Choose Clean/Renewable Energy

Do at Home

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

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

Fix Leaky Faucets

Do at Home

I will fix faucets or report leaky faucets to facilities that have been wasting up to 3 gallons (11 L) of water per faucet every day.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Research and Consider Switching to a Hybrid or Electric Vehicle

Do at Home

I will spend at least 15 minutes researching and weighing my options to see if a hybrid or electric vehicle makes sense for my lifestyle.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Buy From a Farmers Market

Do at Home

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

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Raise Money For a Nonprofit

Do at Home

I will raise money to support Ecochallenge.org or another nonprofit.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Meet My Local Farmers

I will visit my nearest farm to find out who produces my food, and will learn about the quality of life of those around the world who produce my food in order to make better choices when I shop.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Go Paperless

Do at Home

I will reduce the amount of paper mail that I receive by 3.4lbs (1.5kg) a month or 41lbs (18.6kg) a year by opting into paperless billing, ending unwanted subscriptions and opting out of junk mail.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Launch a Recycling Program

I will start a recycling program at my workplace or school. If a recycling program exists, I will advocate for ways to improve and expand it.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Nature

Forage for My Food

Do at Home

I will use the resources below to find where I can forage for my own food locally.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Healing and Renewal

Research Restorative Justice

Do at Home

I will spend 10 minutes learning about restorative justice and conflict resolution opportunities in my own community or state.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Justice for the Whole Community

Learn About Local Environmental Justice Concerns

Do at Home

I will spend 10 minutes researching environmental justice and environmental racism concerns in my region, who is affected by them, and local initiatives to address these concerns.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health

Audit Toxic Cleaning Products in my Home

Do at Home

I will spend 10 minutes researching toxic chemicals found in cleaning supplies and personal care products and remove them from my home.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Use a Reusable Mug

Do at Home

I will avoid sending 1 disposable cup(s) to the landfill each day by using a reusable mug.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Healthy Sleep

Do at Home

Effectively working for sustainability requires self care! I will commit to getting 30 more minute(s) of sleep each night to achieve at least 7 hours per night.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Simplicity

Research Impact Investing

Do at Home

Using the links provided below, I will research impact investing and determine if it is right for me.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Simplicity

Research My Investment Portfolio

Do at Home

I will find out what stocks and bonds are in my investment account portfolio to determine if they align with my values (e.g. environmental, social responsibility, community).

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Try a New Way to Prep

Do at Home

I will try a new method of food preparation, such as canning, pickling, or baking bread.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Healing and Renewal

Engage In Active Listening

Do at Home

I will practice actively listening to a friend, family member, co-worker, acquaintance, or someone who I may disagree with in at least 5 conversations.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Healing and Renewal

Forgiveness

Do at Home

I will begin, or continue, on the journey of forgiving myself and/or other(s). I may do this through journaling, meditation, prayer, and/or talking with a licensed healthcare professional.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Justice for the Whole Community

Reduce Single-Use Disposables

Do at Home

Historically, marginalized and low-income communities live closer to landfills, contributing to a multitude of health problems. I will find out how I can limit single-use items and do my best to limit the waste I generate. I will keep 2 container(s) out of the landfill each day.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Joyful Movement

Do at Home

I will spend 45 minutes doing an activity where I'm both moving my body and enjoying myself.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Water

Say No to Plastic Straws

Do at Home

An estimated 71% of seabirds and 30% of turtles have been found with plastics in their stomachs. When they ingest plastic, marine life has a 50% mortality rate. By asking for no straw when placing a drink order, I will keep 2 plastic straw(s) of out of the ocean each day.

COMPLETED 22
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
Community Host a Watch Party

What did you learn about in the documentary you watched? How did it make you feel?

Hannah Knutson 10/27/2021 4:42 PM

I played the short-film documentary, Island Green, for myself and my two coworkers, which none of us had seen, or even heard of for that matter. The doc essentially talks about the importance of organic farming and it's impact on the environment. I had no idea that the issue with "chemical" farming was that it killed bugs and plants that are essential to keeping the soil rich and basically creates imbalances that are non-reversible. Similar to a lot of the things that I have learned recently in regards to commercial practices, I was shocked to hear about the impact that pesticides and other chemicals can have on the physical composition of the earth. Definitely going to make me thing twice when choosing what to buy at the store or farmers market moving forward.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste Advocate For More Food Packaging Options

What concerns you the most about how we are affecting the planet? Consider both local and global actions.

Hannah Knutson 10/27/2021 11:52 AM

A few months back I watch a documentary on Netflix called Seaspiracy, which talked about the insane amount of plastic that is in our oceans. I had no idea the severity of the issue and it is honestly really concerning. Considering that the ocean makes up 2/3 of the planet, it is obviously very important that we preserve it. My partner is from a small town on the southern Oregon cost called Bandon, so we spend quite a bit of time at the beach and on the ocean. Even in the same town where people work very hard to keep the beaches clean, we still end up seeing quite a bit of trash, especially plastic bottles and bags, in the sand and water. Plastic is very toxic to marine wildlife (and land wildlife for that matter), so it hits close to home thinking about the negative effects it has on the beach and environment. I think advocating for reusable bags, water bottles, to-go food containers/cutlery and things of that nature is a great way to help reduce the impact on both a local and global level. Many establishments have already made the switch to biodegradable items, but I think it is important to get everyone on board. It would be great to see some legislation at the state or national level to make this switch and it think it would have a huge impact on the amount of plastic pollution to the environment.

Read More
Hannah Knutson 10/27/2021 11:11 AM

We got the JLL PDX team up and running let's go ladies!!!!!

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Transportation Improve a Bus Stop

How can you advocate for transportation systems which minimize environmental impact while also meeting human needs?

Hannah Knutson 10/27/2021 10:18 AM

My engineers and I went and picked up trash and cleaned up bird seed at both of the bus stops around our building this morning! It was honestly nice to get outside and away from my computer for a few minutes while also doing something good.

I think one of the biggest deterrents for people, specifically in Portland, that keep them from taking public transportation is that it isn't always the cleanest/ most desirable option. I think cleaning up the bus stops (even if you are just walking by and not taking the bus), is a good place to start in making that form of transportation more inviting. Another thing that I think is a great, easy way for businesses to promote walking is to offer complimentary umbrellas to borrow. I think especially in offices, it is great when there are shared umbrellas in the lobby or near exits that people can use when they need to run an errand when it is raining. This is a simple, but impactful way to encourage people to walk, rather than drive, for short trips even when it is raining.

Read More
Hannah Knutson 10/27/2021 10:01 AM

It's the last day! My office had actually discussed participating in an ecochallenge as a team last Earth Day and now that I have nearly completed the challenge, I think we are going to get a team started sometime in the near future!!

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Energy Use an Energy Meter

How can you make your home more energy efficient?

Hannah Knutson 10/27/2021 9:59 AM

Several months ago, we installed a really cool system called Aquicore on all of our utility meters at the building that I office out of and manage. Typically, this is something that our engineers track, but my client has had the management team pretty involved with tracking, monitoring and taking action to improve our energy usage at the building in preparation for a an upcoming LEED certification. I have actually really enjoyed becoming more involved with this, especially with all that I have learned throughout the ecochallenge! As building management, we have actually taken a few steps in response to the results of the energy monitoring system to make our building more efficient. One thing we have done is cut our after-hours HVAC times since there are far less people occupying the building on the weekends. This has substantially reduced our energy usage on the weekends and saved us a lot on our monthly bills! We have also made some adjustments to our start up times of the boilers to heat the building using less energy but over a longer period of time in the morning which has reduced our net kWh each day. We have also been paying closer attention to our water submeters to ensure we aren't wasting water anywhere in the building.

Moving forward, we are advocating for tenants to upgrade to sensor lighting systems (for those who do not already have them) to help further reduce our electrical consumption at the building. Honestly, most of our tenants want to do these things, but it is cool to have tangible data to show them how they are actually helping make the building more sustainable!

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?

Hannah Knutson 10/26/2021 2:27 PM

I signed up for the "Green Future Choice" renewable power enrollment with our PGE account. It was very inexpensive (extra charge of $.008/kWh), which I think would be a good motivator for others to sign up. I think when you make things feasible and accessible to the general public (i.e. inexpensive, convenient and/ or low-maintenance), people are much more likely to opt in. I think a lot of people have this idea that doing things like this are costly, so letting them know that there are many budget-friendly options is a great way to advocate for the shift.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Water Fix Leaky Faucets

Fixing leaky faucets is one of the tasks that we can easily put off until later. Good job on completing this action! How will you use the momentum from completing this action to increase your water efficiency in other ways?

Hannah Knutson 10/26/2021 2:16 PM

Since I manage commercial buildings for a living, part of my job is actually to report things like leaky faucets, showerheads, etc. to my engineering team. Sometimes it can seem like a not a big priority to put in a work order for these times of things, but moving forward I will make a conscious effort to report them immediately. Quick resolution will save both water and money and help my buildings operate as efficiently as possible.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Transportation Research and Consider Switching to a Hybrid or Electric Vehicle

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?

Hannah Knutson 10/26/2021 2:09 PM

Electric vehicles are also cheaper to operate, especially with rapidly rising gas prices. Apparently, they can also save you money on maintenance costs since they do not need oil changes, spark plugs or other things that require routine maintenance. I also love how quiet they are when driving!

Read More
Hannah Knutson 10/26/2021 9:04 AM

One more day and one more challenge to complete. Home stretch!

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