Day 22

Space

SPONSORED BY NATUREPEDIC

OVERVIEW

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”
– Jane Goodall, Primatologist, Ethologist, Anthropologist, and UN Messenger of Peace

Space. We shape it just as much as it shapes us. Think about your room. Photos capture moments in time, books offer insight into hobbies and passions, and even the color scheme in your room adds a layer of texture and flavor. But what does your space say about your relationship to the planet? Consider your furnishings, your bedding, your personal care products – what story are these pieces in your space telling?

Then, zoom out and consider your campus, another space you operate in. Think about how it is structured and set-up, the classes that are offered, the extracurriculars you participate in, and even the campus layout. Your campus is like a micro city. It has its own food system, energy sources, and waste disposal that have to be managed to serve the students that live and study there. After these weeks of PGC, you probably have a good idea of what your campus is or isn’t doing to be sustainable. So, what small attributes of your campus make a big impact in your own life and on the planet?

Now, zoom out a bit further and think about the town that surrounds you shapes your weekend entertainment, hang out spots, and the people you meet and interact with. Your town works to provide you with electricity, water, heat, and transportation. And now, there are many cities and towns investing in technologies and integrating sustainable processes to help make the space more earth-friendly for their citizenry. Take a look at these ten cities are leading the way. And check out the USGBC website – an organization working to transform the way buildings and communities are designed, built and operated, enabling an environmentally and socially responsible, healthy, and prosperous environment that improves the quality of life.

In order to make all of our spaces sustainable, we need to call on our creativity and innovation to rethink the status quo. Because taking responsibility for each of these spaces (personal, campus, and community) will prompt all of us to reconsider how we interact with the environments we operate in.

CHALLENGE

Green

20 POINTS

Think

Here’s one aspect of your space to seriously consider. So much of our time is spent in our beds, whether sleeping, studying, reading, or hanging out. In fact, we spend about 25 years of our lives sleeping. There are harmful toxins hiding in conventional mattresses that emit gases over time, releasing dangerous chemicals into your body and the air. Not to mention, if you’re sleeping on sheets/blankets/pillows made with conventionally grown cotton or synthetics like polyester, you’re increasing use of and exposure to toxins. Though conventional cotton only accounts for 2.4% of the world’s cropland, it is responsible for 24% of global pesticide use. Organic cotton is grown without pesticides or herbicides and is not genetically modified.

Challenge

Start to think about your bedtime routine and how you reimagine your bed.

Select one item from your bed and take a picture of it.

Research and share what it is made of and where it was made.
Share two important facts/ concerns associated with the materials used.
What surprised you about this information?
Find a sustainable alternative (let us know the website where you found it and best pricing you can find) for one of your items and share two health and environmental benefits of that alternative.
Create a side-by-side graphic comparing your conventional and sustainable alternative items.
Share your graphic on a social media platform of your choice and caption it with the information you learned from this challenge. Tag @TurningGreenOrg and use the hashtag #PGC2017

Deliverables

Upload a PDF Document with you responses and social media post. Please include your name (or team name), username, email address, and school.

Submission Guidelines

Please submit all entries as PDFs – no word or pages docs.
Please save filenames using the following format: firstname_lastname_challengeday_challengelevel.pdf (ex: kasie_shils_day1_green.pdf)
Do not include # or spaces in filenames
Please be sure to include all content for your submission in one doc
Do not upload a file bigger than 5 MB
You will get a confirmation on screen that your submission uploaded correctly (green) or that it failed (red) and to try again.
If your total points do not change, your submission did not load correctly and you will have to try again. You can see your point total by opening the Edit Profile tab on the bottom nav bar. Your point total will be at the top of the page.
Send any questions you have to info@turninggreen.org
Don’t forget to post about the challenge and your learnings/doings on social media and tag us on Facebook @TurningGreen, on Twitter @TurningGreenOrg, and on Instagram @TurningGreenOrg and use #PGC2017.

The deadline for entering this challenge has past.

Greener

40 POINTS

Think

Campus. Buying sustainable sheets and desk materials is an important step in shaping a sustainable living space, but if your campus is burning coal in order to make your room warm enough for you, there is a much bigger footprint to reduce. It’s time to get informed about your campus and uncover your voice to become a strong advocate for sustainability.

Challenge

Take a look at these school campuses and the ways they have changed their infrastructure and policies to become more sustainable.
Get informed about your own school campus, do some research and/or speak with someone who is aware of how your school manages its resource use; this might be your school’s sustainability director, head of facility services, etc.

Ask them; How do they heat the buildings? What is their main source of electricity? Do they know what their carbon footprint is?

After gaining some knowledge about what is happening at your school, it’s time for you to start innovating. Pretend you were given an assignment to rethink 3 areas on your campus to make them as sustainable as possible. What are they and what would you change?

Create a 1 page brief presenting your ideas. As always, be as creative as you can be and incorporate visual elements to make it stand out.

Deliverables

Upload a PDF document with your responses and photos. Please include your name (or team name), username, email address and school.

Submission Guidelines

Please submit all entries as PDFs – no word or pages docs.
Please save filenames using the following format: firstname_lastname_challengeday_challengelevel.pdf (ex: kasie_shils_day1_greener.pdf)
Do not include # or spaces in filenames
Please be sure to include all content for your submission in one doc
Do not upload a file bigger than 5 MB
You will get a confirmation on screen that your submission uploaded correctly (green) or that it failed (red) and to try again.
If your total points do not change, your submission did not load correctly and you will have to try again. You can see your point total by opening the Edit Profile tab on the bottom nav bar. Your point total will be at the top of the page.
Send any questions you have to info@turninggreen.org
Don’t forget to post about the challenge and your learnings/doings on social media and tag us on Facebook @TurningGreen, on Twitter @TurningGreenOrg, and on Instagram @TurningGreenOrg and use #PGC2017.

The deadline for entering this challenge has past.

Greenest

60 POINTS

Think

Innovators are being called to redesign cities all over the world. The USGBC has a big part in this innovation. “Our vision at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is that buildings and communities will regenerate and sustain the health and vitality of all life within a generation. Our mission is to transform the way buildings and communities are designed, built and operated, enabling an environmentally and socially responsible, healthy, and prosperous environment that improves the quality of life.”

From green spaces to new technology, cities and the people that live in them recognize that it’s not enough to transform your home, you have to transform the big picture. Robert Hammond, creator of Manhattan’s High Line, is a great example of someone who took what was infront of him and transformed it into something that benefitted the planet. Or check out how people all over the world are turning rooftops into spaces to grow bountiful crops. We need to be innovating and using existing space creatively.

Challenge

It’s time get creative!

Think of the key elements in your town or city. How does your area get its energy? Do grocery stores source their food from far away, or is it grown locally? What fills your town center; is it filled with malls or is there green space or farmland anywhere?

Take what you have learned so far and think about 3 sectors in your town where you could bring some of that innovative spirit to make your town more sustainable. A few places to start may be public transportation, unused land, roofs, grocery stores, malls, etc. Use the High Line as inspiration for what can be achieved with some creativity and collaboration. Here’s your chance to fashion your “dream” city. What would it look like and how would it operate?

Draft a letter to your city/ town planner explaining why you focused on each of these sectors and elaborate on your proposed ideas for a more sustainable future. Be professional and succinct. See if you can get a response (extra points awarded to those of you that can screenshot a reply!)

Deliverables

Upload a PDF Document with your responses. Include a screenshot of your response if you get one. Please include your name (or team name), username, email address and school.

Submission Guidelines

Please submit all entries as PDFs – no word or pages docs.
Please save filenames using the following format: firstname_lastname_challengeday_challengelevel.pdf (ex: kasie_shils_day1_greenest.pdf)
Do not include # or spaces in filenames
Please be sure to include all content for your submission in one doc
Do not upload a file bigger than 5 MB
You will get a confirmation on screen that your submission uploaded correctly (green) or that it failed (red) and to try again.
If your total points do not change, your submission did not load correctly and you will have to try again. You can see your point total by opening the Edit Profile tab on the bottom nav bar. Your point total will be at the top of the page.
Send any questions you have to info@turninggreen.org
Don’t forget to post about the challenge and your learnings/doings on social media and tag us on Facebook @TurningGreen, on Twitter @TurningGreenOrg, and on Instagram @TurningGreenOrg and use #PGC2017.

The deadline for entering this challenge has past.

TODAY’S PRIZES

up to 10 winners from the greener challenge will receive:

Container Store $25 Gift Card
Crow Canyon Home Dinner Plate
Crow Canyon Home Salad Plate
Crow Canyon Home Cereal Bowl

RSVP International Endurance Flatware (Knife, Fork, Spoon)
Reuseit Organic Cotton Napkin Set (4)
U-Konserve Insulated Coffee Cup
Ethical Bean Organic Coffee

up to 10 winners from the greenest challenge will receive:

Naturepedic Organic Kapok and Organic Cotton Pillow
Clif Bar Luci Solar Light
Ever Bamboo Room Deodorizer

Kishu Charcoal Filter
The Green Office BioBook Notepad
The Green Office Bio Pencils