Andy Behr

Green Bees

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
1,016 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

440

gallons of water

have been saved
UP TO

1,056

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

30

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

595

minutes

not spent in front of a screen
UP TO

24

pounds of CO2

have been saved

Andy's actions

Energy

Power Down the Computer

Do at Home

I will power down my computer and monitor when not using it for more than 2 hours, saving up to (1.1) lbs of CO2 each day that I do this.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Water

5-Minute Showers

Do at Home

I will save up to 20 gallons (75 L) of water each day by taking 5-minute showers.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Simplicity

Less Screen Time

Do at Home

I will replace 20 minute(s) of screen time each day with other activities.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Happiness

Do at Home

I will write down three things every day that I am grateful for, or send one email every day thanking or praising someone.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Exercise Daily

Do at Home

Exercise is a great stress blaster! I will exercise for 30 minute(s) each day.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Raise Money For a Nonprofit

Do at Home

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

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Learn About Trans, Femme, and Nonbinary Experiences

Do at Home

I will spend 30 minutes learning about the experiences of trans, femme, and/or nonbinary people.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

Mulch the Base of Trees and Plants

Do at Home

I will prevent water runoff and increase absorbency by mulching the base of plants and trees at my home or work.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Simplicity

Family Game Hour

Do at Home

I will spend quality time with family and friends by playing low-tech game(s) and/or through the spirit of imagination.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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 Learn About Trans, Femme, and Nonbinary Experiences

How is equality for trans, femme, and nonbinary people important to a just and sustainable society?

Andy Behr 10/29/2020 6:16 AM

I always feel a little odd answering a question like this specifically for one group; it's hard I think to talk about justice for one group when everyone is oppressed in the US, and that's furthered by the fact that every systemic issue we have (wealth inequality, climate collapse, criminal justice, etc.) impacts marginalized groups more directly across the board.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Simplicity Less Screen Time

What did you notice in implementing this challenge? Was it hard to choose other activities over screen time? How did you decide to spend your time?

Andy Behr 10/28/2020 9:54 AM

Admittedly I cheated a bit here, as sometimes I considered this activity being accomplished as I was exercising. That said, I did purposefully try to get 20 minutes a day, either through reading (not on a screen!), play games with the kids, or other outdoor activities. It's hard to do...looking at your screen is so automatic nowadays, that it really takes thought to not just reach into your pocket to scroll Twitter

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Water 5-Minute Showers

Name some of the human activities impacting the health of water systems, both locally (your watershed) and globally (freshwater and oceans). What can you do to improve the health of water systems?

Andy Behr 10/28/2020 9:52 AM

Its always easier for me to think locally, as I grew up in the Chesapeake watershed, so I've been careful about dumping anything (turpentine in art classes or oil from car maintenance) down drains. To me, I think the biggest thing you can do is assume anything will ultimately get back into the water system. If you keep this in mind, it makes it easier to see your impact

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Water Mulch the Base of Trees and Plants

Where are your nearest natural bodies of water? How might they be affected by runoff?

Andy Behr 10/14/2020 6:11 AM

The largest for us is the Chesapeake Bay, especially given every other body of water in this area feeds into it. That's something I've been aware of since childhood...we even had volunteers painting warnings on our storm drains as a kid to remind folks that anything that goes into the drain ends up in the Bay. SO even growing up, I recognized the need to be careful with what goes down the drain.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Simplicity Family Game Hour

How does being playful with others enrich your life?

Andy Behr 10/13/2020 1:35 PM

To me, it's one of the best, most enjoyable ways that you connect with people, especially kids. We typically try to play some games each day (mostly focused on math enrichment games that admittedly my wife drives more than me) but just having time when the whole family is engaged in the same activity at the same time really helps us bond, and to have a shared experience in doing something fun

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Energy Power Down the Computer

What are other easy things you could do to save energy and reduce your environmental footprint?

Andy Behr 10/09/2020 3:11 PM

I try to do some daily energy-saving things like keeping lights off when they aren't needed. I also do my best (though its easy now with Covid) to only have virtual meetings and to limit travel.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Health Exercise Daily

How can you incorporate other personal values (like quality time with friends or spending time in nature) into your exercise routine?

Andy Behr 10/08/2020 2:39 PM

I can't really speak to the "quality time with friends" as I tend to run solo, but it's absolutely the main way I get to spend time outdoors. And I'm luck that our running trail happens to go through a ton of really cool things...deep woods, creeks, parks, etc.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Health Happiness

How does/can practicing gratitude keep you centered and motivated to work for a better world?

Andy Behr 10/08/2020 10:50 AM

I think it's a great exercise because it really can focus you on what's important and what joys you have in life. That's a pretty hard thing to find lately! But its also good because it's so easy to think of the big, obvious things (family, health, etc.) that doing this over the span of 21 days really makes you think about the small joys in your life. It's OK to find solace and comfort in dumb, momentary things.

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Andy Behr 10/07/2020 11:16 AM

It's crazy how many of these challenges that I'm already doing, thanks to past challenges! It's getting harder to find new ones to try each time.

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