Ecochallenge.org

2020 People's Ecochallenge

October 7 - October 28, 2020

John Sykes

Delmarva Green Earth Stewards

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
451 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

2.0

documentaries

watched
UP TO

450

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

13

minutes

spent outdoors
UP TO

40

minutes

being mindful

John's actions

Action Track: Healing and Renewal

Practice Gratitude for Earth

Do at Home

I will spend 5 minute(s) per day outside, practicing gratitude (prayer, meditation, journaling, etc.) for Earth and my natural surroundings.

COMPLETED 2
DAILY ACTIONS

Action Track: Healing and Renewal

Research Restorative Justice

Do at Home

I will spend 60 minutes learning about restorative justice and conflict resolution opportunities in my own community or state.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Learn About Trans, Femme, and Nonbinary Experiences

Do at Home

I will spend 90 minutes learning about the experiences of trans, femme, and/or nonbinary people.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Energy

Upgrade My Windows

Do at Home

I will upgrade the windows or weatherstripping in my home or office to reduce air leaks and save on energy costs.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Justice for the Whole Community

Learn About Local Environmental Justice Concerns

Do at Home

I will spend 60 minutes researching environmental justice and environmental racism concerns in my region, who is affected by them, and local initiatives to address these concerns.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Justice for the Whole Community

Watch a Documentary about Racial Injustice

Do at Home

I will watch 1 documentary(ies) about systemic racism.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Simplicity

Mindfulness Practice

Do at Home

I will spend 20 minute(s) per day practicing Mindfulness.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Food

Watch a Documentary about Food Sovereignty

Do at Home

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

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Simplicity

Meditate

Do at Home

I will meditate or create a moment of silence for 20 minute(s) each day to reflect on things important to me.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Action Track: Justice for the Whole Community

Offset for Climate Justice

Do at Home

Greenhouse gases found in old refrigerants are up to 10,900 times more potent than carbon dioxide. I will help eliminate these gases through the purchase of offset credits to ensure we all have a planet we can thrive on.

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
Simplicity Meditate

What would you like to invest more time in reflecting on?

John Sykes 10/28/2020 11:24 AM

Reflecting on intentions that enable present and future actions, specifically as they pertain to Environmental Justice.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Action Track: Healing and Renewal Practice Gratitude for Earth

Kathleen Dean Moore says that a sense of gratitude leads to a sense of moral obligation. Do you agree? How can we cultivate a sense of gratitude as individuals, and as a society?

John Sykes 10/26/2020 5:49 AM

As the beginning of daily meditation, expressing and feeling gratitude for our gifts of nature and for those the helped us learn how to be mindful compounds our gratitude.

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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?

John Sykes 10/25/2020 9:55 AM

My church is a welcoming community, in which many folks have found to be a home for worship. For me, this is a new experience in that my former communities were mostly straight. Watching the documentary about the death and life of Dorothy Johnson helped my understand how much suffering exists for those that try to live in a community that is not welcoming.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Action Track: Healing and Renewal Research Restorative Justice

How can Restorative Justice help foster the well-being of both people and planet?

John Sykes 10/24/2020 11:00 AM

Enabling agency of both the offender and victim to accept the offense and find a way to put in the past.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Energy Upgrade My Windows

How does improving your home's energy efficiency help you better live out your values?

John Sykes 10/22/2020 10:58 AM

While I have done this at home several years ago, this we week finalized grant for Windows of Hope group in Wilmington, which will reduce heat loss for dozens of homes in low-income neighborhoods.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Action Track: Justice for the Whole Community Learn About Local Environmental Justice Concerns

Who is most affected by environmental degradation and/or environmental irresponsiblity in your community? How are they affected?

John Sykes 10/22/2020 10:53 AM

Researched Environmental Injustice as part of Social Determinants of Health. Also, presented basics of Environmental Justice to church stewardship committee.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Action Track: Justice for the Whole Community Watch a Documentary about Racial Injustice

What did you learn about racial injustice in the documentary(ies) you watched? How does what you learned connect to your understanding of sustainability?

John Sykes 10/22/2020 8:48 AM

The film was about the death and life of an trans woman of color. While the film didn't use the term intersectional, it was certainly in play here as she was oppressed by folks of her own race, her own gender and her own community.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Simplicity Mindfulness Practice

What best helped you with your Mindfulness Practice? How does Mindfulness keep you grounded and sustain your work with compassion?

John Sykes 10/16/2020 8:23 AM

Set a daily schedule for meditation, such as the same time each day. Focus attention inward, both physically and mentally on reactions to events or stimulus that starts to change my state of mind.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Action Track: Justice for the Whole Community Offset for Climate Justice

What did you learn from the resources? What did you discover from the offset calculator?

John Sykes 10/16/2020 8:11 AM

There are several sources to purchase offsets, I chose to support tree planting through IPL's carbon covenant plan, which helps fund non-profit reforestation in the far east.

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- Margaret Keefe 10/16/2020 10:51 AM
  
  Can you say more about the IPL plan, John?
  
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John Sykes 10/09/2020 8:40 AM

First Nation Cookbook; "Oneida Cookbook, Traditional and Healthy Foods for Our Community" Have found a very interesting cookbook published by elders of the Oneida nation. My goal will be to try at least one different recipe each week.

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- John Sykes 10/12/2020 7:03 AM
  
  I wish there was a way to buy the cookbook as it is very well done. I can't find any copyright info in the pdf. Maybe the FirstNations group had it printed locally.
  
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- Margaret Keefe 10/11/2020 1:37 PM
  
  Is there a way to buy this book?
  
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- Margaret Keefe 10/10/2020 2:59 PM
  
  Great suggestion, John. I am listening to a wonderful book titled Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, a Native American who is a botany professor at Syracuse University which is near the Oneida Nation (my own Finger Lakes home area.) She blends her indigenous knowledge/culture with her mainstream science background and writes so beautifully about the Native American relationship with the earth. I have seldom experienced a book that lifts my spirits as this one does. I particularly love the discussion of the Iroquois tribe Thanksgiving Address. Check it out...
  
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