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Michael O'Neil's avatar

Michael O'Neil

GU Energy Labs

"Cree saying: When the last tree is cut down, the last fish eaten and the last stream poisoned, you will realize that you cannot eat money."

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 1,326 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    1
    documentary
    watched
  • UP TO
    1,550
    dollars
    donated
  • UP TO
    45
    minutes
    spent exercising
  • UP TO
    71
    conversations
    with people
  • UP TO
    4,647
    minutes
    spent learning
  • UP TO
    45
    minutes
    spent outdoors

Michael's actions

Just Economies

Research the Planet Impact Fund

I will research 1% for the Planets planet impact fund.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Just Economies

Watch a documentary on the factory farm meat industry

I will watch a documentary on how the factory farm meat industry contributes to climate change.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Just Economies

Share your Knowledge

I will share with others what I have learned about just economies during the Ecochallenge.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Just Economies

Commit to the future

I will commit to shop at minority owned businesses after the Ecochallenge is finished.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Just Economies

Review your impact

I will review the impact that I have had so far on perpetuating just economies during the Ecochallenge.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Rights to Nature

Know your Rights (to Nature)

I will look into my rights to nature by researching the four linked organizations.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Rights to Nature

Take a Hike

I will explore my local hiking trails.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Rights to Nature

Review your impact

I will review the impact that I have had so far on perpetuating rights to nature during the Ecochallenge.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Rights to Nature

Share your Knowledge

I will share with others what I have learned about rights to nature during the Ecochallenge.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Rights to Nature

Explore our waterways

I will explore my local waterways by either researching or participating in water conservation efforts near me.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Resilient Communities

Support Native Communities

I will use the resource links provided 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.

COMPLETED 25
DAILY ACTIONS

Just Economies

Support Businesses Owned by People of Color

Racial inequity is both a sustainability and justice problem. I will support businesses owned by people of color (shopping, sharing, writing reviews if purchased).

COMPLETED 26
DAILY ACTIONS

Conservation and Restoration

Repurpose or Repair an Item to Keep it out of the Landfill

I will repair or mend items that would have otherwise been thrown away.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Conservation and Restoration

Support Pollution Reduction

I will spend at least 20 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 26
DAILY ACTIONS

Conservation and Restoration

Calculate My Water Footprint

I will calculate my Water Footprint to learn about my tap water use and "virtual water" use.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Resilient Communities

Get to Know Your Local/Regenerative Food Options

I will spend 30 minutes researching local and/or regenerative food options in my community.

COMPLETED 26
DAILY ACTIONS

Resilient Communities

Learn About Constructive Communication

I will spend 30 minute(s) learning about constructive communication.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Just Economies

Research regenerative organic agriculture

I will research what regenerative agriculture is and the impact that it can have on curbing the effects of climate change.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Just Economies

Support a Justice-Centered Organization or Individual

I will donate 51 to climate justice.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Rights to Nature

Explore our Directory and donate to a Cause you Care About

I will donate 1500 dollars to an environmental partner focused on environmental or social initiatives.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Rights to Nature

Take the Outdoorist Oath

Take the Outdoorist Oath to understand your impact.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Rights to Nature

Take the Intersectional Environmentalist Pledge

Take the Intersectional Environmentalist Pledge to understand your impact.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Resilient Communities

Share your Commitment! (Non-Members)

I will talk to 5 people in my community about how I show up for people and the planet and answer any questions about how they can make change as well.

COMPLETED 23
DAILY ACTIONS

Resilient Communities

Explore Resilient Partnerships

I will explore how resilient partnerships are working to curve the effects of climate change.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Just Economies

Open up a sustainable banking account

I will open up a bank account that gives back and avoids investments that are harming people and the planet.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Rights to Nature

Discover which Native Tribe's land you live on

I will enter my address to find out what Native land I currently live 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?


  • Michael O'Neil's avatar
    Michael O'Neil 8/10/2023 10:18 AM
    Interesting poll results that for once are a bit hopeful: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/08/09/what-the-data-says-about-americans-views-of-climate-change/

  • Michael O'Neil's avatar
    Michael O'Neil 8/08/2023 5:45 PM
    Climate dads FTW: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-08-04/the-climate-dads-have-arrived#xj4y7vzkg

  • Michael O'Neil's avatar
    Michael O'Neil 8/07/2023 10:26 AM
    No, it's not just you - cars have been getting bigger every year - here is an interesting article about that development, why it's going on, and what communities can do about it: https://theconversation.com/ever-larger-cars-and-trucks-are-causing-a-safety-crisis-on-us-streets-heres-how-communities-can-fight-back-206382

  • Michael O'Neil's avatar
    Michael O'Neil 8/06/2023 2:43 PM
    Good reminder that a lot of the change that needs to be made is happening with real people in groups like this making personal commitments to make a difference in their local communities - The EPA's ambitious plan to cut auto emissions to slow climate change runs into skepticism (msn.com)

  • Michael O'Neil's avatar
    Michael O'Neil 8/05/2023 9:18 PM
    Great, very brief, very practical article about how to learn about climate change and get involved: What to do to help fight current climate crisis | News, Sports, Jobs - Maui News

    Great for those who - like me and everyone else I know - can feel overwhelmed.

  • Michael O'Neil's avatar
    Michael O'Neil 8/04/2023 8:44 AM
    Similar tone to the poem Michelle shared below: NYT piece by Elizabeth Rush https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/04/opinion/climate-change-future-normal.html

    "Everywhere I turn these days, I read about the new normal. The killing heat, the devastating floods, the toxic smoke. Rapidly proliferating pests like the emerald ash borer destroying our ash trees and the woolly adelgid killing our hemlocks. All now normal. That word — so cloying and deceptive in its suggestion that no more change is coming — steals from us the possibility of being transformed.

    Last year, through the long summer drought, we watered our beech. Sometimes we invented songs and used our voices to lift them up into its bright blowing branches. This year we planted more snowdrops and bluebells because they often grow beneath beech in ancient woodlands. It is far too easy to accept the beech’s untimely end as inevitable, to become immobilized by a kind of anticipatory despair. What is more difficult and more necessary is to continue to live alongside it, with attention and care, together, now."

  • Michael O'Neil's avatar
    Michael O'Neil 8/03/2023 2:13 PM
    Politics aside, interesting/concerning statistics about what people are concerned about, including climate change: https://www.npr.org/2023/08/03/1191678009/climate-change-republicans-economy-natural-disasters-biden-trump-poll

  • Michael O'Neil's avatar
    Michael O'Neil 8/02/2023 10:39 AM
    Good news source for developments in clean energy, with ways to contribute locally: https://www.citizen.org/topic/climate-energy/

  • Michael O'Neil's avatar
    Michael O'Neil 8/02/2023 10:31 AM
    Recycle your old electronics! Here is some info about e-cycling in Oregon, with a link to find recycling centers nearby. https://www.oregon.gov/deq/ecycles/pages/default.aspx

  • Michael O'Neil's avatar
    Michael O'Neil 7/30/2023 12:20 PM
    Here is an interesting / somewhat similar endeavor to consider after the EcoChallenge concludes: Save the planet with Greenspark (getgreenspark.com). Subscription-based, cancel at any time, funds going to vetted projects that align with your conservation goals.