Sustainability Challenges

Challenges on YouSustain are geared towards small actions or changes to try out various ways of becoming more sustainable. Join a challenge or create one yourself. Invite your friends to become more sustainable. Start a challenge among your co-workers.

Each time you complete a challenge you get a YouSustain Award (). A challenge may be completed any number of times.

A challenge can be as simple as "Don't drive your car for one day" or "Eat only local food for one day." Harder challenges could be "Reduce your household energy use by 20% for one month." Challenges should generally have a short time-period (a few days to a month) so they are more attainable as a way of promoting more people to become sustainable.

Featured Challenges

Keep all unused lights off at home for one week

We leave many more lights on at home than we actually need.

Members: 372. Duration: 7 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
50 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$5/member

Bring your own cup for coffee for one week

It's so easy and less wasteful to bring your own cup when getting coffee

Members: 240. Duration: 7 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
5 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$1/member

Use reusable bags for one week

Keeping reusable bags on hand is easy plus saves waste and energy from plastic bags

Members: 238. Duration: 7 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
1 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$0/member

Cloth Napkins

Cloth instead of paper napkins.

Members: 84. Duration: 7 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
0 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$33/member

the green wash

reduce your carbon footprint with your laundry!!

Members: 63. Duration: 7 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
5 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$1/member

Recycle at Work

Start a new recycling program at work

Members: 118. Duration: 30 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
28 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$0/member

Compost every scrap

Compost all organic waste produced in your home for a week

Members: 74. Duration: 7 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
1 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$0.5/member

Turn off unused work computers at night

Many of us leave our work PCs on all the time, which wastes a lot of energy.

Members: 183. Duration: 7 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
14 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$0/member

Walk or Ride a Bike To The Store

Don't Drive to Any Store within 2 mile

Members: 74. Duration: 7 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
6 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$1.3/member

Eat locally grown food

Buying local food drastically reduces the CO2 coming from transportation and helps the local farmers.

Members: 76. Duration: 30 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
5 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$0/member

Save paper

We use so much paper... and waste so much !

Members: 121. Duration: 30 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
10 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$0/member

Help the environment with your TV

Turn off the red or green lights on your TV or DVD player.

Members: 73. Duration: 30 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
3 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$0.5/member

Borrow something instead of buying it

The next time you need a durable good, borrow it instead of buying it.

Members: 37. Duration: 30 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
50 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$100/member

Reduce household electricity use by 5 percent

Small steps to reducing home electricity use

Members: 81. Duration: 30 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
28 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$3/member

Reduce meat consumption by half for a week

Meat productoin has been found to have a significant environmental footprint, try reducing

Members: 86. Duration: 7 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
15 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$0/member

SUSTAINABLE INVESTMENTS

invest in renewable energy companies

Members: 20. Duration: 30 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
1000 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$500/member

Shorter Shower Challenge

Spend 30 minutes or less in the shower this week

Members: 83. Duration: 7 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
6 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$1/member

creatively reuse

don't buy anything you can use "trash" for

Members: 24. Duration: 30 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
0 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$500/member

Walk to work

Walk to work for three days out of the work week.

Members: 22. Duration: 7 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
25 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$35/member

Follow your electricity consumption

Invest on automatic energy monitoring or follow your meter daily

Members: 10. Duration: 30 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
50 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$25/member

Carbon Footprint Challenge

Commit to reducing your footprint to qualify for a Carbon Footpin

Members: 39. Duration: 30 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
79 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$0/member

Use no plastic or paper shopping bags for a month

Bring re-usable shopping bags when you go shopping

Members: 66. Duration: 30 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
1 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$0.35/member

Stop the Junk Mail

Start some simple steps to stop unsolicitated mail

Members: 32. Duration: 30 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
8.5 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$0/member

Teach an Online Course

facilitate an online class over the web, rather than f2f.

Members: 6. Duration: 80 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
90 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$415/member

Computer Reuse

Reuse computers/don't buy new

Members: 8. Duration: 30 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
112 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$670/member

Exercise

Cardiovascular exercise

Members: 71. Duration: 90 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
0 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$0/member

Reduce Water Usage at Unit Level

Be aware of water useage at unit level.

Members: 13. Duration: 30 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
0 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$500/member

Improve Fitness

Join local YMCA / Join Racquetball League

Members: 15. Duration: 365 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
0 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$0/member

Reduce Home Waste

Dish Washer

Members: 28. Duration: 1 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
140 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$85/member

Weight loss

Lose 15 Pounds

Members: 36. Duration: 90 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
10 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$30/member

Walk up stairs

Use stairs instead of escalator

Members: 45. Duration: 30 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
0 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$0/member

Not take a bag at a store

Reduce Paper waste

Members: 26. Duration: 180 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
10 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$50/member

paper reduction

reduction in marketing paper and materials

Members: 6. Duration: 30 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
30.5 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$5/member

help save the reefs

sustainable reef keepers

Members: 1. Duration: 365 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
0 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$0/member

Styrofoam No More

Use my own coffee mug at work

Members: 30. Duration: 30 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
8 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$1/member

Save an animal

Save an animal from a local shelter

Members: 7. Duration: 90 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
0 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$0/member

Recycling At Home

Start recycling everything we can at home.

Members: 47. Duration: 1 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
0 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$0/member

SLOW DOWN

Reduce Driving Speed

Members: 18. Duration: 30 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
23.408 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$19.95/member

Eat Healthier

Consume more vegetables and less meat.

Members: 26. Duration: 30 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
0 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$0/member

Go Green

Reduce Waste

Members: 6. Duration: 30 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
0 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$0/member

Stop Smoking

Quit Smoking

Members: 11. Duration: 30 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
0 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$10/member

Dishes by hand

No dishwasher for a month

Members: 26. Duration: 28 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
21.4 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$0/member

Pick Up gabarge

Within one block of my house to pick up any litter and put in a trash can in Puert oRico

Members: 5. Duration: 365 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
0 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$0/member

Bring Plate into work

Bring plate in to work so I won't use foam plates

Members: 9. Duration: 60 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
0 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$5/member

Household Traveling

Shopping

Members: 9. Duration: 90 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
0 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$100/member

walk the walk

walk in a fund raising walk for our community

Members: 5. Duration: 1 days. Award Value:

Approx. CO2 reduction
1 kg/member

Approx. cash savings
$30/member