Elizabeth Herge

University of St. Thomas Class of 2021

"Just trying to create new and strengthen existing eco-centered habits. I can't change the world, but I can change my impact on it!"

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
753 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

1.0

community event

hosted or attended
UP TO

704

minutes

spent exercising
UP TO

665

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

864

minutes

spent outdoors
UP TO

437

minutes

not spent in front of a screen
UP TO

38

people

helped
UP TO

43

more servings

of fruits and vegetables
UP TO

1.0

waste audit

conducted

Elizabeth's actions

Health

Happiness

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

COMPLETED 11
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Help Others

I will offer to help 3 person(s) who are in need each day.

COMPLETED 11
DAILY ACTIONS

Nature

Enjoy the Sunrise/Sunset

I will enjoy the sunrise and/or sunset each day.

COMPLETED 11
DAILY ACTIONS

Simplicity

Less Screen Time

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

COMPLETED 11
DAILY ACTIONS

Simplicity

Track my Purchases

I will spend 15 minutes each day maintaining a record of all my purchases and learning about my spending habits.

COMPLETED 11
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

More Fruits and Veggies

I will eat a heart healthy diet by adding 2 cup(s) of fruits and vegetables each day to achieve at least 4 cups per day.

COMPLETED 11
DAILY ACTIONS

Action Track: Building Resilience

Tend a Garden

I will tend to a garden, or prepare for one, each day using sustainable gardening practices.

COMPLETED 11
DAILY ACTIONS

Nature

Go for a Daily Walk

I will take a 15-minute walk outside each day.

COMPLETED 11
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Exercise Daily

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

COMPLETED 11
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Reduce refined sugar

I will keep track and reduce my consumption of refined sugars, including sweetened beverages, candy, and processed foods.

COMPLETED 11
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Learn About & Practice Sustainable Fashion

I will learn about sustainable fashion and begin trying to practice it in my own life.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Nature

Join An Outdoor Project

I will join an outdoor restoration project in my community while observing best practices in my region for not spreading COVID-19.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Volunteer in my Community

I will volunteer 1 hour(s) in my community during the challenge.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Support Native Communities

I will use the resource links provided below and spend 30 minutes learning about the native populations that lived in my area prior to colonization, and what I can do to support those that still exist.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health

Know My health

I will get my Core Four Biometrics tests (blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar and BMI).

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Visit A Local Farm

I will visit a nearby farm to pick my own fruits and veggies.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Meet My Local Farmers

I will visit my nearest farm to find out who produces my food, and will learn about the quality of life of those around the world who produce my food in order to make better choices when I shop.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Simplicity

Core Values

We may find more meaning and joy in life when our actions are aligned with our personal values. I will determine what my top 3-5 core values are so that I can better align my actions with them.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Host A Watch Party

I will host a watch party to screen a documentary about an issue that matters to me.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Energy

Learn About Renewable Energy

I will spend 30 minutes learning more about renewable energy alternatives (i.e. solar, wind, biomass) in my region.

UNCOMPLETED
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

Audit Toxic Cleaning Products

I will spend 30 minutes researching toxic chemicals found in cleaning supplies and personal care products and remove them from my home or dorm room.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health

Take Control

Both systemic and personal sustainability are important! 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

Personal Waste Audit

I will collect all of my unrecyclable, non-compostable trash to raise my awareness of how much I send to the landfill.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Building Resilience

Support Local Pollinators

At least 30% of crops and 90% of flowering plants rely on pollinators to produce fruit. I will spend 30 minutes researching which plants support local native pollinators and plant some in my yard or local community garden.

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?

Elizabeth Herge 4/23/2021 9:40 AM

I really appreciate that the reflection questions are more so prompts to make me think more about the topic, rather than open ended questions about how an action made me feel. They have allowed me to further develop my understandings and form stronger opinions than if I were simply checking off actions.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Community Help Others

In your opinion, how do social inequalities diminish a strong sense of community?

Elizabeth Herge 4/23/2021 9:34 AM

A strong sense of community stems from a willingness from each member to connect with, respect, and help each other. Social inequalities not only impact the ability to connect with one another, but the differences can foster ill feelings towards others both ways- those of privilege may have a lack of respect for those underprivileged, causing not only social and emotional discrepancies but also decreasing the willingness to help others, while those underprivileged may also grow to resent those unwilling to help, in turn making connections and respect toward those maintaining more privilege less- not to mention systemic issues such as housing, education, and employment that quite literally divide people. Also, those with similar mindsets and situations tend to connect with each other, lessening the desire to put forth the effort to connect with other groups.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Health Audit Toxic Cleaning Products

To what extent do environmental factors contribute to your own health or issues with health?

Elizabeth Herge 4/23/2021 9:20 AM

Direct factors such as air quality or food consumption impact my health through whether or not they provide me with the beneficial components important to my biological health- i.e. nutrition, oxygen- while other indirect factors such as access and ability to physically connect with nature impact more of my physical fitness and mental health. They're also interrelated: better nutrition can improve physical fitness, and both or those can improve mental health.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Health Take Control

How do environmental health, community health, and your personal health intersect?

Elizabeth Herge 4/23/2021 9:11 AM

I think some of the largest intersections between environmental, community, and personal health are pollutions in air quality, availability of sustainably produced foods over processed foods, and urban planning. Obviously air quality directly impacts all three as it's an essential tenet of existence, the availability of sustainably produced foods over processed foods influences personal and community health not only physically but mentally and socially too (people are more connected and feel better individually, so together they tend to act better), and the urban planning effects connections between people along with people and nature while also impacting physical and environmental health through opportunities such as reduced dependency on vehicles, more green space, better access to food sources and to circle it back: air quality!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Visit A Local Farm

How do our current food growing and manufacturing processes affect our future and the future of Earth?

Elizabeth Herge 4/23/2021 9:00 AM

Food growing and manufacturing practices impact both producer and consumer health directly, effects the land and materials being utilized, and effects surrounding areas. Things like pesticides and insecticides not only pose health risks to the people applying them or those eating foods that have been treated, and direct harm is caused by runoff contaminating water sources and the killing of insects that are either pollinators or food sources for other animals. Heavy machinery, extensive land use, and production facilities also negatively impact the indigenous plant and animal life in the immediate and surrounding areas, produces harmful emissions, and depletes/damages local natural resources. These practices contribute to the harmful reduction in biodiversity and the ever increasing threats that climate change brings.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Meet My Local Farmers

When you know who produces your food, you are connecting personally to your complex regional food system. What are the advantages of knowing who produces your food and where it comes from? How can knowing their food producers enable someone to advocate for a better quality of life for those who produce their food, both near and far?

Elizabeth Herge 4/23/2021 8:48 AM

The advantages include feeling connected to the food more as a life source than as commodities, and fully appreciating the food. Knowing their food producers is a connection that someone would likely want to share with others so that they may experience the same sense of grounding or belonging and expand the community being connected. In knowing who is producing their food, it also allows them to be invested in how the food is being produced- both supporting the producer yet also keeping them accountable for their production practices, which builds community and improves the impact being made in the environment and in their health.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Nature Go for a Daily Walk

How do you experience your neighborhood or city differently when walking instead of driving?

Elizabeth Herge 4/23/2021 8:40 AM

I think I do experience it in a different way, but not by much. Walking helps me to feel more a part of my community as I'm more interactive with it than being in a car on the road, but I am pretty observant and appreciative of the people, places, and things that I pass while driving. If the weather is better than snow or rain, I often drive with the windows down so that I can experience my surroundings better. Of course walking is better for the environment and for my health, but I don't think I experience my community too differently.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Simplicity Track my Purchases

What have you noticed about your purchases? Where are you inclined to make shifts, if any?

Elizabeth Herge 4/23/2021 8:33 AM

I wasn't too surprised about the types of purchases or amounts I spent mostly because I'm fairly vigilant at checking my account balances and thinking about what I'm buying, but in listing the purchases by category it showed me my cumulative spending on things like prepared food, which I need to eat/buy less of. I don't think my level of spending will change as I'm already attentive to that, but I think tracking my purchases will push me to eat/buy less prepared foods.

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- Emma Schimnowski 4/25/2021 9:22 PM
  
  Chipotle
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste Personal Waste Audit

Why is it so difficult to understand the impacts our purchases and waste have on other people, animals, and places? How might your experience with this challenge impact your future consumption and choices?

Elizabeth Herge 4/23/2021 8:28 AM

I think the biggest reason why it's difficult to understand the impacts of our purchases and waste is because it's 'elsewhere' and we don't experience first hand the people, animals, and places. Like a baby and object permanence, we see a product after everything that went into producing it, and when we create waste it gets sent away where we no longer think about it. I think both learning about production practices and waste disposal helps to fully understand the impacts, especially when using visuals.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Health More Fruits and Veggies

How does eating more fruits and vegetables and less meat positively affect yourself, other people, and our planet?

Elizabeth Herge 4/22/2021 2:49 PM

For the planet, it obviously helps decrease CO2 emissions and help better prioritize land use. Personally, I always feel a little bit 'heavy' after eating a large serving or multiple small servings of meat in a day, but I don't tend to feel that way after eating (or even overeating) vegetables or fruits. Also I have found that preparing meat is more difficult than fruits/veggies, and I'm a chronically late person, so it's unsurprising that my diet doesn't contain much meat when I'm making my own meals.

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