Ecochallenge.org

Drawdown Ecochallenge 2024

Tristan O'Donnell

Asheville High School Spring 2024!

"Try my best to do sustainable practices and advocate to protect the environment. "

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
881 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

61

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

271

minutes

being mindful
UP TO

58

more servings

of fruits and vegetables
UP TO

304

minutes

spent learning

Tristan's actions

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

More Fruits And Veggies

I will eat a heart healthy diet by adding 2 cups of fruits and vegetables each day to achieve at least 4 cups per day.

COMPLETED 24
DAILY ACTIONS

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Smaller Portions

Reduced Food Waste

I will use smaller plates and/or serve smaller portions when dishing out food.

COMPLETED 21
DAILY ACTIONS

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Eat Mindfully

Reduced Food Waste

I will eat all of my meals without distractions, e.g., phone, computer, TV, or newspaper.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Land Sinks

Research Peatlands

Peatland Protection and Rewetting

I will spend 30 minutes researching the environmental benefits of peatlands and what is being done around the world to conserve and restore them.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Electricity

Learn More about Micro Wind

Micro Wind Turbines

I will spend at least 30 minutes learning more about the energy generation potential of micro wind.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Reduce Animal Products

Plant-Rich Diets

I will enjoy 2 meatless or vegan meals each day of the challenge.

COMPLETED 26
DAILY ACTIONS

Industry

Research Local Waste and Recycling Depots

To learn more about what is and is not recyclable in our area as well as how to properly dispose of hard to recycle materials to reduce my harmful impacts on the local environment AND learn how indigenous peoples and POC are more likely to be impacted by waste sites and pollution on a global scale.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Electricity

Learn More About Geothermal Energy

Geothermal Power

I will spend at least 20 minutes learning more about the energy generation potential of geothermal energy and consider investing in this technology.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health and Education

Learn about the Need for Family Planning

Family Planning and Education

I will spend at least 20 minutes learning more about the need for family planning globally.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Industry

Research the Climate Impact of Refrigerants

Refrigerant Management

I will spend 30 minutes learning about the climate impact of refrigerants and what climate-friendly refrigerants are by using the links below.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health and Education

Research Barriers to Participation and Representation

Family Planning and Education

I will spend at least 30 minutes learning more about the barriers to women's equal participation and representation around the world.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Buildings

Learn about 'Green Gentrification'

Multiple Solutions

I will spend at least 20 minutes learning about green gentrification and how it relates to city planning for climate action.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Coastal, Ocean, and Engineered Sinks

Learn about Biochar

Biochar Production

I will spend 20 minutes learning about biochar and how it can help sequester carbon.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates

Reduced Food Waste

I will spend at least 30 minutes learning how to differentiate between sell by, use by, and best by dates.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Electricity

Learn More about Biomass

Biomass Power

I will spend at least 20 minutes learning more about the energy generation potential of biomass.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Participant Feed

REFLECTION QUESTION
Buildings

Cities and towns need to plan for climate change. How can your city or town make its climate action plans equitable and socially just?
Tristan O'Donnell 5/24/2024 9:46 AM
By focusing on removing waste facilities and placing plants in low income communities.
Only building new houses with solar panels, and expensive sustainable equipment kicks out a lot of people who can’t afford it. We aren't doing much to stop climate change if the only people who can live in clean, sustainable areas are people who have a lot of money. We need to make green and sustainability less money dependent.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Health and Education

What are some of the barriers that exist to women's equal participation and/or representation in your community?
Tristan O'Donnell 5/17/2024 11:26 AM
Some barriers that stop women from receiving equal participation and representation starts with stereotypes about women, and the ideas that women and men grow up with. Having this cycle of ideas about who women should become and what they should do really impacts equal pay and participation. The fact that women in some places don’t have their own financial resources and rights stops them from being represented or standing up for themselves.
Unequal participation and representation contributes to a lot of global problems like climate change, overpopulation, less profits, etc. We need to address them by becoming educated, educating others, supporting family planning, and encouraging equal pay. By donating, or helping to close these pay and education gaps, we really could have a good chance of making a better world.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Health and Education

What did you learn about the need for family planning? How do the needs of different people in different places compare to each other?
Tristan O'Donnell 5/15/2024 12:20 PM
Family Planning is really important because there have been high rates of unintended pregnancies among women and teens. Not only are unintended pregnancies bad for the future of teens, but, overpopulation causes a whole host of problems. Overpopulation can lead to Urban sprawls, Deforestation, and higher fossil fuel emissions; solely on the fact that we need more land and space for more people. Family Planning can help prevent this because it educates women on how to make important decisions and the use of contraception. This in turn can lower teenage birth rates, helping their future to be placed back into their hands, and lowering environmental impacts.
In Colorado, there were free contraceptives but 60% of teenage girls and women between 15-24 were having unintended births. In lower-income countries, not only did women not receive contraceptives, but they were not able to get the education to make informed decisions about the amount of children they wanted. In Colorado, women received longer lasting contraceptives, and more education. In lower income countries, women were supported by receiving education on reproduction rights and more choice over the matter. In both places, Family Planning was an extremely helpful tactic to allow women to make these decisions, helping to eradicate climate change.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Electricity

Geothermal energy is reliable, abundant, and efficient. Project Drawdown states that public investment will play a crucial role in its expansion. In what ways (i.e. with money, time, advocacy) can you invest in geothermal energy?
Tristan O'Donnell 5/14/2024 4:59 PM
Well, knowing there is room for improvement when developing this sort of thing, I would recommend not putting too many of our resources towards this (it could fail in the process of making). I would suggest money put forward for a couple geothermal plants being built to be able to see if they will last. After investing a little bit, we can invest more if it’s doing well. I don't think that we have many geothermal zones in North Carolina, but, personally, I can donate towards production, and advocate for us to learn more.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Electricity

Micro turbines can be placed on large structures to take advantage of stronger, steadier breezes. The Eiffel Tower now sports vertical axis turbines that produce electricity for use on site. Where could micro turbines potentially be installed in your city?
Tristan O'Donnell 5/13/2024 12:06 PM
They can be installed in cities, on top of big buildings that nobody goes to. I think they could even be put on the top of Asheville high.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Electricity

Had you ever heard of biomass technology before you took this challenge? What did you learn that surprised you? Share your new knowledge with your friends!
Tristan O'Donnell 5/09/2024 11:18 AM
I recognized the name, but never truly knew the definition. I learned that energy could even be made out of cow manure, but that there were some organisms/ plants that are better not used.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Land Sinks

Much of Indonesia's peatlands have been drained so they could be replaced with palm oil or pulp and paper plantations. How can you make choices that help to protect peatlands, even if you live far away from one?
Tristan O'Donnell 5/03/2024 10:26 AM
Eating less nutella, not supporting products that have palm oil in them, conserving paper and using it to the best of my abilities. These things are obviously being created for a reason. If they’re in high demand, these companies are going to attempt to seek out all of the resources needed to supply them.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Industry

What did you learn about the climate impact of refrigerants? How do supermarkets contribute to this impact?
Tristan O'Donnell 4/30/2024 11:10 AM
I learned that refrigerants are really bad for the planet and deplete our ozone layer. Whether it be CFCs or HCFCs, I knew that they were dangerous, but I didn’t realize how much more they worsened climate change. Supermarkets probably have contributed to this impact by refrigerating produce in the aisles, causing leakage which contributes to global warming.

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Tristan O'Donnell 4/29/2024 3:01 PM
Pretty good. I think I need to choose more difficult tasks for myself instead of picking the ones I already do. I'm focusing on getting the tasks done every day more than I am on the bigger picture. It's been fun so far though, and bringing a little bit of competition into helping the planet.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Why do people in richer countries eat more meat than people in other places? How does eating more meat affect our bodies, our planet, and other people?
Tristan O'Donnell 4/29/2024 2:58 PM
Hmm, I think richer countries probably have more access to meat because meat is expensive to produce, and they can afford it. (Feeding the animal, raising it). In richer countries, people can more often buy meat (It's expensive), which raises the demand. While meat does offer a lot of protein, it also has a lot of cholesterol. We can then infer that in richer countries, they eat more meat, which leads to higher heart attack rates than other places. Not to mention our cattle industry is unsustainable and emits methane into our atmosphere.

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