Emily Katzin
POINTS TOTAL
- 0 TODAY
- 0 THIS WEEK
- 1,106 TOTAL
participant impact
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UP TO21advocacy actionscompleted
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UP TO1.0energy auditconducted
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UP TO75minutesspent learning
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UP TO580minutesspent outdoors
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UP TO520minutesnot spent in front of a screen
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UP TO25pieces of litterpicked up
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UP TO10poundswaste composted
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UP TO1.0water footprintcalculated
Emily's actions
Regenerating Nature
Report a Leak
Report a leak at work to prevent unnecessary water use
Enacting Equity
Shop at BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, Disabled, & Women-Led Businesses!
I will shop at a small business owned or staffed by underrepresented members of my community.
Regenerating Nature
Spend Time Outside
I will replace 15 minute(s) per day typically spent inside and often with electronics with quality time outside walking, exercising, enjoying the sunrise/sunset, gardening, journaling, observing nature, or practicing gratitude for nature.
Balancing Consumption
Calculate My Carbon Footprint
I will calculate the carbon emissions associated with my household and consider how different lifestyle choices could reduce our carbon footprint and our impact on the environment.
Balancing Consumption
What is Sustainable Fashion?
I will spend 10 minutes learning about sustainable fashion and adopt at least one sustainable fashion practice.
Nourishing Food
Forest-Friendly Foods
I will spend 15 minutes learning about palm oil, coffee, cocoa, and other products known to contribute to deforestation, and replace or remove them.
Regenerating Nature
Complete an Energy Audit
I will complete an online energy audit of my home, work, or other shared space to identify the next steps for saving energy.
Enacting Equity
Environmental Activism
I will spend 15 minutes finding and then sharing the work of BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, & disabled educators or activists who inspire me.
Cultivating Communities
Donate Blood
I will donate blood in my community to make sure there are adequate supplies for routine medical services and emergencies.
Cultivating Communities
Collect Litter on a Plog / Plalk
Each day, I will go on a plog or plalk for minute(s) and collect items of litter.
Balancing Consumption
Research Impact Investing
I will spend 20 minutes learning about impact investing and/or my current investment portfolio to determine if they align with my values.
Balancing Consumption
Needs Vs. Wants
Each day, I will practice a "Needs Vs. Wants" approach and only buy things I need.
Balancing Consumption
Repair a Broken Item
I will repair at least one item that is broken, but is repairable. This might be items like garden tools, sewing machine, small appliances, electronics, clothing, and more.
Cultivating Communities
Share My Habits & Actions
Each day, I will make my sustainable habits or actions visible through a lawn sign, bumper sticker, pin, t-shirt, social media or other ways.
Nourishing Food
Compost Food Scraps
I will avoid sending up to .69 lbs (.31 kg) of food waste to the landfill per day by composting my food.
Regenerating Nature
Calculate My Water Footprint
I will calculate my water footprint and look for a few ways I can reduce consumption or waste.
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?
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REFLECTION QUESTIONCultivating Communities Collect Litter on a Plog / PlalkWhat was your experience like plogging, or engaging in another way to collect litter while being outside? Was there any item you collected that was unusual that you found?
Emily Katzin 10/25/2022 7:12 AMIt is unfortunate to find so many of the bright orange plastic bristles from the street cleaning vehicles, especially since they are supposed to be cleaning the street! I mostly find a lot of cans/bottles that people throw out of their cars, plastic bags with newspaper mush that people didn't pick up, and cigarette butts. On a litter walk over the summer, I found several vape pens and cartridges, which surprised me! -
Emily Katzin 10/20/2022 11:22 AMHere is my purchase from a local, woman-owned business! I wanted to get a piece of art with hooks in my closet for hanging my necklaces. I found this artist and I think it is so cool that she makes collages out of upcycled wall paper and fabric scraps. I asked her to make me a piece with blue jays since I really like them (I know, I know—they aren't everyone's favorite!) and they are a symbol for confidence. She made this custom piece and I got to pick it up at her studio. It was really neat to meet her. She also restores retro refrigerators and other items.-
Thomas Saad 10/24/2022 7:11 AM -
Chan Kim 10/21/2022 5:41 AMLove the hooks! Such a cool idea.
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REFLECTION QUESTIONRegenerating Nature Calculate My Water FootprintWhat is one way you will reduce your water use? What is a practice you already have that helps you reduce your water use?
Emily Katzin 10/18/2022 6:36 AMThe majority of my water use came from the fact that my husband and I eat meat and that we have a pet cat. I wish the calculator was a little more sophisticated in some aspects: while we eat meat, we typically only eat chicken and fish vs. red meat, which I know uses more water. We also drive, but the calculation looks like it is based on gasoline and my car is electric. There's no real way of getting around buying pet food made from meat for a cat if you have one. We also try to get her the non-red meat varieties as much as possible. Things I will look into: whether our sinks and shower heads are low flow, and getting a renewable energy supplier. I also recently learned how much water RO systems can consume. When we installed ours, the plumber told us the typical system uses 4 gallons of water for every 1 gallon of reverse osmosis water it produces. I was relieved that ours was more efficient and wastes one gallon of water for every RO gallon it produces vs. 4, but that is still a lot. -
REFLECTION QUESTIONNourishing Food Compost Food ScrapsAs you transition from throwing food away to composting, what do you notice about how much you are tossing? How will you use your compost once it is ready?
Emily Katzin 10/18/2022 6:21 AMThe majority of what we throw away is compost, so I am looking forward to significantly reducing our waste! We just need to set up our backyard better for the compost and make sure we are layering it properly since we don't want to attract any pests. It will be great to use the compost in some of the beds we have in the front of the house, or to simply let it nourish the woods in our backyard. -
REFLECTION QUESTIONBalancing Consumption Needs Vs. WantsHow is creativity a necessary ingredient for practicing simplicity?
Emily Katzin 10/18/2022 6:19 AMI think many people can shop for the thrill of finding a good deal, getting something in the mail, it is a social activity, or they are bored. I think having hobbies that don't involve purchases (or involve minimal/basic purchases), such as reading books from the library (I jus started doing this again recently!), going for walks, learning an instrument or language, drawing/journaling, etc. can be great ways to spend time without purchasing a lot of items. My biggest tips are unsubscribing from all retail emails, waiting to buy something I want (really thinking about how I will use it/if I need it), and filling my time with other fulfilling hobbies. -
Emily Katzin 10/17/2022 9:42 AMI am part of a team that has been doing facility rounding on main campus to identify ways to reduce energy. During our walkthroughs, I also look for ways to conserve water and reduce waste. I used MyServiceNow to report two leaky faucets that I discovered on the walkthroughs. I appreciate that our Facilities team has always been very responsive when I have reported leaky toilets/faucets. Two of the leaky toilets I reported in the past were fixed within a couple of hours! While small on the grand scheme of things, consumption adds up and every effort to reduce waste helps!-
Emily Katzin 10/18/2022 6:39 AMI received alerts that both leaks were fixed by 3pm yesterday!
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REFLECTION QUESTIONRegenerating Nature Spend Time OutsideWhat are the implications for a culture that spends most of its time inside and on screens?
Emily Katzin 10/13/2022 6:45 AMI think a shortened attention span and being less present are implications. People are definitely less observant of what is going on around them when they have their phones out. I have also noticed that people may pull their phones out during parts of a conversation where they feel they can't contribute or aren't as interested, which may prevent them from learning from people who are speaking or developing a closer relationship with them. -
REFLECTION QUESTIONBalancing Consumption Research Impact InvestingAfter learning more about investing, how can you increase positive impacts and decrease negative impacts?
Emily Katzin 10/11/2022 6:37 AMI have some investments in renewable energy companies and companies that focus on water filtration, and avoid investments in certain industries that don't align with my values. I think voting with our dollars matters and all the activity in ESG investing shows that growing interest in this area has impacted the degree to which organizations are being transparent and how much they are investing in addressing their social and environmental impacts. It is frustrating that this practice has become so politicized. While impact or ESG investing hasn't yet significantly moved the needle on a lot of issues, I think it will continue to evolve and become more impactful. Plus, there is an increased risk for organizations that are not operating with integrity and equity, that are contributing to climate change and environmental degradation, and that are dependent on resources that are being impacted by climate change. This risks certainly have the capacity to impact financial performance. -
Emily Katzin 10/10/2022 8:53 AMEnjoyed a nice walk at Frohring Meadow on Saturday. It was supposed to be the Big Day for fall for bird migration, but unfortunately, we didn't see very many birds on this trip—which is a rarity for this park! We definitely enjoyed the sunshine and beautiful fall leaves, though. -
REFLECTION QUESTIONRegenerating Nature Complete an Energy AuditWhat most interested you, or surprised you about your energy audit?
Emily Katzin 10/07/2022 2:37 PMWe did a lighting, heating, and cooling audit in the last year, and upgraded to LEDs and heat pumps. We hadn't yet looked at insulation, and had a contractor over install baffles in our attic to improve ventilation today. I learned that because our house was built in the 80s, our attic insulation is not up to even the minimum current code for insulation. We will be adding insulation to our attic, which I think will make a big difference in our energy use!