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February 27 - March 20, 2019
Nicole Schwenninger's avatar

Nicole Schwenninger

I'm Starting a Commune and You Are all Welcome

"a little better every day "

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 970 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    1.0
    documentary
    watched
  • UP TO
    204
    gallons of water
    have been saved
  • UP TO
    90
    minutes
    spent learning
  • UP TO
    390
    minutes
    being mindful
  • UP TO
    450
    minutes
    not spent in front of a screen
  • UP TO
    820
    pounds of CO2
    have been saved

Nicole's actions

Health

Take Control

I will develop a plan with my medical professionals to achieve my best health and live my life to the fullest.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Needs vs. Wants

I will adopt a 'Needs Vs. Wants' approach and only buy things I need.

COMPLETED 12
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Support Pollution Reduction

I will spend at least 45 minutes learning about water and air quality issues in my area, how they are impacting human and environmental health, and how I can help.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health

Audit Toxic Cleaning Products in my Home

I will spend at least 45 minutes researching toxic chemicals found in cleaning supplies and personal care products and remove them from my home.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

Conserve Toilet Water

I will save up to 12 gallons (45 L) of water a day by flushing only when necessary.

COMPLETED 17
DAILY ACTIONS

Simplicity

Less Screen Time

I will replace 30 minute(s) of screen time per day with other activities.

COMPLETED 15
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Connect with a Nonprofit

I will connect with a local nonprofit, environmental or otherwise, and find out how I can get involved or become a member.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Simplicity

Eat Mindfully

I will eat all of my meals without distractions, e.g., phone, computer, TV, or newspaper.

COMPLETED 13
DAILY ACTIONS

Simplicity

De-Clutter My Home

I will de-clutter, clean, and donate or recycle unneeded items in my home.

COMPLETED 12
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Sign Up for Air Quality Alerts

I will sign up to receive local Air Quality Alerts via EnviroFlash email notification

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Transportation

Choose a Carbon Offset

If buying a plane ticket, I will also buy a carbon offset.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Energy

Switch to Cold Water

I will switch to washing my clothes in cold water, saving up to 1,600 lbs of C02 over the course of the next year.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Try a New Way to Prep

I will try a new method of food preparation, such as canning, pickling, or baking bread.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health

Go get a check up

I will make an appointment for my annual physical.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Watch a Documentary

I will watch a documentary film about food with family and friends and talk about what we learned.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Create Your Own Action

Water Bottle Swap

i'd like to swap my go-to plastic water bottle (nalgene) out for a glass one. i know plastics tend to leach all sorts of toxic compounds into water and food. i'd rather rely on a "cleaner" material like glass.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

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?


  • Nicole Schwenninger's avatar
    Nicole Schwenninger 3/20/2019 9:14 AM
    i really enjoyed this challenge! it was helpful for me to have an event with very specific goals broken up in manageable ways... as opposed to me just saying in my mind... wow, there are all these things i'd like to work on but i don't know where to start and it feels a bit overwhelming : p thanks for making positive changes feel bit-sized and totally do-able! and fun! : D  

  • Nicole Schwenninger's avatar
    Nicole Schwenninger 3/19/2019 10:09 AM
    watched an interesting, eye-opening food documentary last week entitled "Fed Up".  i'd highly recommend viewing; it really layed out the spiderweb of connections between the food industry, the usda, the obesity epidemic, political agendas, sugar addictions, etc.    

  • Nicole Schwenninger's avatar
    Nicole Schwenninger 3/18/2019 9:50 AM
    i just read an article about how the air-cleaning effects of certain houseplants once "proven" to be top-notch purifiers is actually pretty negligible, even if you fill your house with them.  of course, this is right after i "do a bunch of research", get all excited bc hey, at least i can have clean indoor air when the outdoor days are considered "dirty",  and proceed to fill my house with them...  #thejokeisonme #ohwellstillnicetohavehouseplants #greeningmyinnerspace  

  • Nicole Schwenninger's avatar
    Nicole Schwenninger 3/17/2019 10:04 AM
    i will never be able to comprehend the extreme apathy of someone littering (like carelessly tossing a cigarette butt) no matter how many times i witness it; it just completely boggles my mind! what i really want to do is walk over, pick it up, and hand it back to them (or toss it back in their car!)... but i def don't have the guts... all i can do is stare in dumbfounded disbelief  : O  

    • Laura Almendinger's avatar
      Laura Almendinger 3/18/2019 7:13 AM
      I wrestle with this all the time. One of my coworkers was walking behind a guy once who dropped a wrapper and she picked it up and was like, excuse me, I think you dropped this. She's the most cheerful, sweet person and I can only imagine he thought she was being sincere! They ended up having a whole conversation, apparently. But yeah, I haven't done it myself. I keep meaning to, though...

  • Nicole Schwenninger's avatar
    Nicole Schwenninger 3/16/2019 9:25 AM
    driving around through city traffic this morning, i was reminded of how totally awesome it would be if pittsburgh had a much more extensive light rail/streetcar system... there used to be one! (my mom talks about how she would take the streetcar to school)...  i'd LOVE to be able to efficiently run my errands via mass transit... instead of all those single-person vehicles piled up and adding to the poor air quality : P 

  • Nicole Schwenninger's avatar
    Nicole Schwenninger 3/15/2019 1:59 PM
    another future challenge idea:  howsa bout a good, ol' fashioned litter clean-up project?  there are SO many streets/neighborhoods/waterways in and around pittsburgh that could benefit from this one.  lotsa random garbage floating around  : p  the more bags of trash you pick up... the more points!   

    • Hayden Sloan's avatar
      Hayden Sloan 3/16/2019 11:08 AM
      I'm doing litter pickup for my volunteer challenge! There's also a neighborhood cleanup competition that I remember from last year, but the name escapes me! Garbage wars? Trash Olympics?? Something like that.   

  • Nicole Schwenninger's avatar
    Nicole Schwenninger 3/14/2019 5:50 PM
    i think a challenge idea for future events could be a commitment to purchasing goods via secondhand routes only... like thrift stores, flea markets, garage sales, clothing swaps, online neighborhood "buy nothing" groups, etc... and i think purchasing clothing 2nd-hand could be its' own separate challenge! i get most of my wardrobe this way already, and i know it saves me a ton of money and is SO much easier on the environment. there are literally tons & tons of clothing/fabrics that end up in landfills every year  : (  

  • Nicole Schwenninger's avatar
    Nicole Schwenninger 3/13/2019 10:25 AM
    i really appreciate receiving speedy feedback and answers to my questions regarding this challenge as we've been going along!! it's nice to know someone is listening and that my input matters (i couldn't figure out how to directly respond to those responses though? lol) thank you bunches!! (esp hayden sloan and gina johnson <3) 

    • Hayden Sloan's avatar
      Hayden Sloan 3/14/2019 10:50 AM
      aw thanks! Yeah, there isn't a way to reply to replies. We're putting it on the list for next time! 

  • Nicole Schwenninger's avatar
    Nicole Schwenninger 3/12/2019 9:08 AM
    how can i add new one-time challenges if i've already completed (all but one) of the options i selected at the beginning of this event?? #runninouttaecomissions 

    • Hayden Sloan's avatar
      Hayden Sloan 3/13/2019 6:17 AM
      There's a limit since it's a three week challenge, so people don't try to take on too much and lose motivation. It also kind of prevents people from choosing a bunch of "challenges" they're already doing (then are they really challenges??), getting points for them, and then adding on more. It's an effort to make things fair. I think you can choose up to 10. Awesome work completing yours already! I think I'm halfway through mine! 

  • Nicole Schwenninger's avatar
    Nicole Schwenninger 3/11/2019 2:11 PM
    it def felt good to address some random minor physical concerns and tweak my plans for a healthier future #everydayhealthnerd