Skip to main content
October 11 - October 25, 2017

OHSU West Campus Feed

BACK TO TEAM PAGE

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?


  • Nancy Haigwood's avatar
    Nancy Haigwood 10/25/2017 1:11 PM
    Maybe it was just karma but I had been working with an eco friendly yard group already when this started, and I just got them to install a swale and native plants in my yard (and they fixed the fence and gate, wooden).  I am really excited to have this part of my yard fixed and it was one of the big objectives of this challenge, and very real to me.  Didn't do as well on the meatless meals, food for thought indeed. But lots of progress otherwise.  Fun overall.

  • Michelle Dawson's avatar
    Michelle Dawson 10/23/2017 11:28 AM
    One of the challenges I picked was to research my house hold cleaning products, and then dispose of the supper dangerous ones, and the excess ones. I have not done this yet, but I already have some for knowledge from a class I took on the chemistry of environmental toxins. And from that I have some general advice about cleaning products.

    If you are using a cleaning agent, don't have food out. For instance, if you are spraying Lysol on your kitchen counters, don't be drinking coffee unless it has a lid. This is because a portion of the chemical you are spraying into the air will end up in your coffee. Doing more research I hope to adopt some better practices with house hold chemicals, as well as a better understanding of safer but still effective cleaners.

    And one more thing to note, when getting rid of my excess cleaning supplies you DO NOT want to just poor them down the drain. This can be very hard on your pipes as well as the waste water treatment plant. The best way to get rid of them in your own trash is to pour them into clay based Kitty Litter, or another absorbent substance (also do this in a ventilated area, and your best option would be automotive or mechanic shop absorbent as this will not have additives for odor reduction). Or find a place near you that will accept house hold chemical waste.


  • Chris Crawford's avatar
    Chris Crawford 10/16/2017 3:31 PM
    Save electricity:  turn off the lights in the restroom when you leave  especially in the 'single use' ones.

  • Nancy Haigwood's avatar
    Nancy Haigwood 10/15/2017 6:42 PM
    Also, three days in a row of shorter showers; not too hard to do.  The decluttering is less fun but coming along...

  • Nancy Haigwood's avatar
    Nancy Haigwood 10/15/2017 6:39 PM
    It was fun today to go out to lunch and to choose the Mushroom burger instead of meat! It was delicious (Bugattis Portobello)

  • Nancy Haigwood's avatar
    Nancy Haigwood 10/12/2017 5:16 PM
    I am planning to work on saving water and using public transportation more.

  • Michelle Dawson's avatar
    Michelle Dawson 10/12/2017 3:19 PM
    I can't put all recyclables into my recycling bin, but thanks to this challenge I finally took the time to find a location near me that takes most recyclables. The closest one to me is owned and operated by Far West Recycling. Next step, start collecting things that I used to through away but can now recycle!

  • Joan Phillips's avatar
    Joan Phillips 10/10/2017 10:52 AM
    Firm believer in every little bit helps. 

  • Kyndra Needham-Blue's avatar
    Kyndra Needham-Blue 9/21/2017 3:51 PM
    I really need to de-clutter my home! When we bought it, half the house had a ton of hidden water damage, whilst we fixed the outside...the inside still needs a lot of work done to it to make it livable.  It's been three years, this can't be my excuse any longer! I plan to  buy another large bookcase so we can get all of our board games off of the floor (and so we can see what we own), and donate a lot of clothing (it's an ongoing battle).  We need to find a replacement couch for our living room, and I should finish up my older quilting projects that are strewn all over the place, and actually hang up my quilts on the wall!

    We have decided to build raised garden beds int he backyard, because the previous house owners decided to use the yard as a landfill area.  The entire yard is chock-full of buried trash, broken brick and glass.  I cut up my hand last year, not knowing about the buried shards of glass. Raised beds would be great! I have it all planned out on a spreadsheet.  

    • Nancy Haigwood's avatar
      Nancy Haigwood 10/15/2017 6:41 PM
      Best of luck getting the worst of the materials out.  Do you need a team approach?  Maybe when it is not raining?

    • Kyndra Needham-Blue's avatar
      Kyndra Needham-Blue 10/16/2017 1:58 PM
      For now, we are attempting to flatten out a corner of the yard because we plan to put up a shed (12X16).  Once, we get that taken care of, we can move everything out and take care of the inside.  At the moment, it feels like a lack of motivation (plus, I don't know anything about construction)!

  • Kyndra Needham-Blue's avatar
    Kyndra Needham-Blue 9/21/2017 3:31 PM
    The EcoChallenge is a great way to start brand new habits! I'm excited and have already started on my challenges. I made a new recipe for Gluten-free/ Dairy-free lemon ginger scones that turned out amazing.  Today, I will be making Carrot Cake Bliss cake balls. If anyone would like, I'd be more than happy to post all of my new recipes that I make every day (and will also probably have leftovers in the breakroom XD)