Ecochallenge.org

The People's Ecochallenge 2025

October 1 - October 31, 2025

Tonia w

SAGE Ecologicals

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
301 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

18

locally sourced meals

consumed
UP TO

10

minutes

not spent in front of a screen
UP TO

120

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

28

more servings

of fruits and vegetables

Tonia's actions

Simplicity

Find or Join a Local Sharing Economy

If my community does not have a tool library or other sharing economy options, I will create or support a sharing economy with family, friends, and neighbors.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Simplicity

Go for a Daily Walk

I will take a walk each day.

COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS

Simplicity

Limit Social Media Use and Reflect About My Experience

I will limit my social media use to once per day and share the impact I see and reflections I have on the feed.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Simplicity

Research Impact Investing

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

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health

Learn About Local Environmental Justice Concerns

Environmental issues often impact marginalized communities the most. I will spend 45 minutes researching environmental justice concerns in my region, who is affected by them, and local initiatives to address these concerns.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health

Enjoy Fruits and Veggies

Adding fruits and vegetables to our meals nourishes our body and the planet. I will prepare and enjoy 2 servings of a variety of colorful fruits and veggies.

COMPLETED 19
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Eliminate Toxic Plastics

I will avoid buying toxic plastics - including polycarbonate, polystyrene and polyvinyl - and instead replace them with durable non-plastic options.

COMPLETED 11
DAILY ACTIONS

Water

Practice Eco-Friendly Gardening

I will plant native species, landscape with water-efficient plants, and use eco-friendly fertilizers.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Watch a Documentary about Food Sovereignty

I will watch 1 documentaries about food sovereignty: the right of local peoples to control their own food systems including markets, ecological resources, food cultures and production methods.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Buy From a Farmers Market

I will shop at a farmers market or food co-op to support local farmers and businesses. By doing so, I may be able to learn more about who produces the food I eat and goods I buy.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Energy

Research Community Solar

Read about community solar - what it is, and whether it would be a good option for me.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

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.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Nature

Explore a New Trail or Nature Walk

I will explore at least one new hiking trail or nature walk in my area.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Eat Locally-Sourced Meals

I will source 1 meals each day from local producers.

COMPLETED 12
DAILY ACTIONS

Participant Feed

REFLECTION QUESTION
Simplicity

Fresh air and movement are good for our entire being and can help us think more clearly and creatively. How does taking a walk each day affect yourself and/or your work?
Tonia w 10/24/2025 6:32 AM
- Book Lover 📚
It's important to get away from the virtual world of screens and connect with the reality of the world right outside our front door. Sometimes I think we spend too much time looking at and thinking about far away places and people on screens. Or on the flip side, we turtle in and just think narrowly about what's going in our personal lives and spaces. More attention needs to be paid at the local community/neighborhood level, where we are closer to the issues and most of us can have the most impact. In addition to the many health-related benefits, walking can help you connect more deeply with your local communities and environments.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Health

What single-use items (e.g. straws, coffee cups, vegetable bags, plastic bags) do you regularly use? What could be substituted instead?
Tonia w 10/23/2025 6:01 AM
- Book Lover 📚
Our local newspaper still comes in a thin plastic sleeve every morning to keep off the rain and dew. Instead of plastic bags, subscribers could be given a permanent rain-proof box instead and have the paper deposited in there. I contacted the paper about this once but didn't get a response...maybe I'll try again.

Read More
- Mary Hanks 10/23/2025 6:23 PM
  
  Pet Parent 🐾
  Tonia, I think that's a brilliant suggestion. When I subscribed to the newspaper, at least half the time the plastic bag didn't help much anyhow because the paper would get thrown in a puddle and soaked.
  
  Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Health

How does eating more fruits and vegetables and less meat positively affect yourself, other people, and our planet? What fruits or vegetables did you try this week, and which was your favorite?
Tonia w 10/17/2025 7:34 AM
- Book Lover 📚
It's better for your health overall and less carbon-emitting. Synthetic pesticides and fertilizers are still a problem with fruits, vegetables and grains, but it's a problem for animal products too indirectly (animals have to be fed). We can get fresher and more nutritious food by sourcing our food from local, regenerative and chemical-free farms. But right now there's just not enough of those to meet potential demand. Meeting that demand would require an overhaul of our food system. It would also likely spell the end of cheap food. Although, arguably food was never really cheap - it just seemed that way because the true costs are hidden - pushed onto exploited labor or externalized in the form of environmental damage. Cheap food right now is also inseparable from cheap, transportable fossil energy.

Read More
- Tonia w 10/17/2025 7:43 AM
  
  Book Lover 📚
  I forgot to answer the second part of the question! This week I got some beautiful purple-colored carrots with the tops attached, which were really good (I just ate them raw in salads). The tops I wasn't sure what to do with - I think they're kind of bitter, but okay in small amounts. Some people recommend making pesto, so maybe I will try that. They taste a bit like parsley so I just chopped some up and sprinkled some into a sweet potato mash, that was pretty good.
  
  Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Food

What is one food choice that you make, or could make, that would do more good and less harm?
Tonia w 10/07/2025 5:52 AM
- Book Lover 📚
Support a local CSA (community supported agriculture) if you can and source as much food as possible from local farmers practicing regenerative agriculture! Our hyper-industrialized food system is at the heart of so many environmental, animal welfare and health-related problems. Eat less meat, especially beef and lamb, which contribute the most emissions per kilo (Our World in Data: https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food )

Read More
Tonia w 10/03/2025 7:56 AM
- Book Lover 📚
I always learn something new during these ecochallenges - many of the actions introduce me to concepts I've never heard before or haven't thought much about. The people's ecochallenge is important because of the focus on social and economic issues. There's still a misperception of environmental problems as being primarily scientific or technical in nature, when actually many environmental issues have cultural roots and arise from inequality, injustice, and economic and social exploitation.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Food

If you were to only eat what is in season locally from now on, what would be the most difficult food item for you to give up? Why?
Tonia w 10/03/2025 6:22 AM
- Book Lover 📚
There are a few products that come from warmer or tropical regions that I would really have a hard time doing without - coffee, citrus fruits (oranges, lemons) and sesame products/sesame oil, which is used a lot in Asian and Mediterranean foods. I don't think we'll lose access to these items any time soon, but they may become much more expensive as climate change continues to bite and cheap energy winds down.

Read More