Carol Phelps

Faiths Connect for Climate Action

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
45 THIS WEEK
149 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

4,536

pounds of CO2

have been saved
UP TO

90

minutes

not spent in front of a screen
UP TO

50

minutes

spent exercising

Carol's actions

Community

Support a proposed solar development in a neighboring community

Support a proposed solar development which is facing opposition in a conservative community by: 1) Read out about the project 2) Respond to citizens' fears & concerns (expressed on a Facebook site about the project) 3) Write a letter to the Village Board in support of the project 4) Encourage other people to attend the meeting or write letters of support

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Donate to Humanitarian Help in Gaza

Goal is to support starving and suffering children and families in Gaza. They are innocent victims of war and genocide.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Energy

Turn Off Lights and Electronics

I will keep lights, electronics, and appliances turned off when not using them.

COMPLETED 2
DAILY ACTIONS

Energy

Heat and Cool Naturally

I will naturally heat and cool my house, office, or dorm room by opening or closing my windows, curtains, and blinds, and by using fans.

COMPLETED 2
DAILY ACTIONS

Simplicity

Disconnect From Email Outside of Work Hours

I will only check my email during work hours, using my personal time for endeavors that help me live out my values.

COMPLETED 2
DAILY ACTIONS

Simplicity

Go for a Daily Walk

I will take a walk each day.

COMPLETED 2
DAILY ACTIONS

Transportation

Stay on the Ground and Travel Differently

Instead of traveling by plane, I will find an alternative way to accomplish the goals of an upcoming trip (e.g., telepresence, vacation locally).

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Visit a Sustainability Fair

Attend a community sustainability fair to learn about and from local organizations which are working on sustainability in my area.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Participant Feed

REFLECTION QUESTION
Energy

What are other ways you could use the power of the sun to reduce your own environmental footprint?
Carol Phelps 10/06/2025 1:36 PM
Well, obviously one can use the power of the sun through solar panels. But you can also "passively" use the sun by opening curtains on windows facing the sun when you need more light and heat, and drying clothes and hair in the sun, instead of using electric power to do so. In developing countries people sometimes use solar ovens or solar stoves, but those only work well for certain types of cooking and certain types of weather.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Energy

How is electricity generated where you live? How does it impact the environment, animals, and humans?
Carol Phelps 10/06/2025 1:31 PM
Unfortunately a lot of electricity in Wisconsin is still generated by coal and natural gas. The good news is that they have been steadily closing coal plants in the last 5 years, and steadily adding lots of new utility-scale solar. The bad news is that they're delaying one coal plant closing, and perhaps even building a new natural gas plant, due to concerns about new AI data centers being built in Wisconsin, and those needing a lot of power. The good news is that we personally get most of our power from the solar panels on our roof (sometimes the electric company even pays us, because we've made more energy than we used!). And when we need more power than our panels are currently producing, we're signed up for a "Green Power Tomorrow" renewable energy program that our utility offers.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Transportation

What was your process like for restructuring your trip? How can you avoid more air travel in the future?
Carol Phelps 10/04/2025 8:52 AM
It was a very difficult decision - it was the first time we've canceled a trip in our lives. We had been invited to a conference put on by an NGO in Kathmandu, Nepal, and we planned to go to promote clean energy and environmental action in the Himalayas. But then, due to civil unrest in Nepal, the conference was canceled. So the question for us was (we'd already booked our plane flights and a number of our hotels) - should we continue our trip and visit a friend in Bhutan and have a nice vacation, but travel 18,900 miles by airplane, round trip to do that? Or should we cancel our trip (losing about $1,000 in the process, due to cancelation fees, despite our trip insurance), because of our awareness of the environmental impact of such a trip? We agonized for several weeks, and finally decided to cancel the trip. Instead we'll take some small local get-away, using our zero-emissions electric car.

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Carol Phelps 10/04/2025 7:42 AM
One of our daughters invited us to join. Since whatever world we leave behind us is the world she will inherit, I want to support her efforts and dreams towards caring for this world we call home. (Photo: Our family visiting a solar farm near us last month.)

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