I need to sit down with my financial advisor and discuss how I can shift my investment portfolio to be considerate of impact investing. While I have been all in favour of divesting from fossil fuel stocks (with pension funds, for example), and do not directly invest in unsavory industries... I don't know anything about the ethical and environmental considerations made for deciding mutual funds I'm a part of...

This tips are genuinely interesting and encouraging. While I abhor mosquitoes (and hence try to avoid any sitting water in our yard), the fact that this can be beneficial for pollinators is leaving me in a real conundrum! Fortunately, supporting pollinators will likely win out (as we've already committed to leaving mulched leaves from the fall, at the base of plants and trees, untouched until the end of May).

This was fascinating to explore... I always assumed that gas-powered cooking was superior! An electric-induction stove seems better than I realized!

Obviously the links provided here are for American power sources... but it turns out that it's rather difficult to find unbiased accounts of the cleanliness of energy in Quebec (from HydroQuebec).

I know that hydroelectricity from our dams isn't without an environmental cost... but it's very hard to find a reliable source that provides a balanced presentation of the cost. I know that hydroelectricity is better than coal or fossil fuels (at least, I think I know?)... but how much better? Would solar, wind, nuclear, ...?? be viable alternatives in Quebec and Canada?

Much like how we are urged to "recycle!", I believe being proud of hydroelectricity in Quebec is a short-sighted goal... we need to change our habits to have REAL sustainable actions (be it to refuse, replace, etc., or have energy originating from a truly carbon-neutral source).

Reducing the carbon footprint of my travel is probably the single hardest action I have yet to wrap my head around. My partner and I LOVE traveling. Exploring somewhere new is fulfilling and is one of the fundamentals of who we are. But we know that flights in particular have a cost (though so does staying in hotels... the whole hospitality industry is a difficult one to navigate, it seems :S)

The lack of a strong train network in North America also doesn't make it easy. VIA rail is great, but as soon as you'd like to explore the US, it feels like a car or plane is your only option. Traveling overseas, and then relying on trains is a way we try to mitigate our cost of traveling, but I'm still left feeling guilty about pursuing something that is important to who I am :(

I hope to continue exploring greater ways to reduce the impact of my travel habit (and since the covid-19 pandemic began, we really have (by necessity) focused on local travelling, which is a plus.

While this the assessment tool is informative, it's unfortunate that there are a few large assumptions, such as that vehicle use is purely gas-based, and having to guess which state has the most similar energy profile to Quebec. I went with Vermont... which is not a representative choice, I believe. All the same, it was informative to be able to compare the relative water-waste produced from different habits.

I chose this goal because I KNOW that I can easily be distracted while having a conversation with someone. I know that it's rude and disrespectful to not dedicate my complete attention to someone, but I often find my mind wanders because of distractions or other issues I can't get out of my head. While I don't consider this goal particularly meaningful in terms of improving my environmental citizenship, it was one that I'm grateful for having focused on, so that I make a conscious effort to actively listen.

As with last year, I take the "zero-waste" mentality very seriously for this goal - I consider ANY waste (even organic) to be too much. I realize that there's a big difference between an abundance of packaging and some egg shells, or pepper tops & seeds, but I think it's important to be conscientious of any material we don't consume as a byproduct of our eating habits. That way, I can more consciously work to replace garbage & recyclable waste with organic alternatives, and reduce my organic waste (which includes buying quantities that better reflect my needs, versus the most economic option). I hate that it's often cheaper to buy 5lbs of potatoes (and I may end up composting some) than 2lbs.

This continues to be something I aspire to adopt into my regular day-to-day life; a drastic reduction in meat consumption, and ideally animal products. I see this Eco Challenge as an opportunity to keep tabs on my consumption habits, and it really does make it clear that limiting myself to one meal that includes meat each day is not too difficult. I think I'd like to go a step further and reduce meat consumption to less than daily (e.g. 5 times a week)... maybe that's the next goal!