E078 Liz Bellinghams Eco Commuting Challenge
Let’s Be Well Together Podcast - Episode 78
Date: July 25, 2023
Participants: Elise Seifert, Julie Wilson, John Webster, Cameron Earnshaw and Stephen Seifert
Guest: Liz Bellingham (Interview) and Joe Ashley (Move That Body)
Start times and Segments:
[0:00:35] What’s On Your Mind: Elise and Julie talk about the importance using words and language in ways that are more inclusive and considerate, with a focus on mental health and stigma. One aspect of a person does not define them. That one thing does not identify the person. We discuss an article about reframing language to be more person-first, rather than identify first.
[0:10:40] Expanding Minds Interview: [Environmental Wellness] We interview Liz Bellingham in the area of Environmental Wellness. Liz co-chairs an office Green Committee, which aims to make the office as environmentally friendly as possible. She recently led the committee in organizing a commuting challenge. Participants biked, walked, carpooled or took public transit, rather than driving to work by themselves. They measure how much greenhouse gas emissions (C02) they diverted, i.e., prevented C02 from entering the atmosphere. Participants really enjoyed the challenge.
[0:25:47] Adventures of the Starving Artist: Cameron is finally able to announce a cool new project he contributed to. His is the “death voice” in an intro theme for a new animé spin off from the cartoon Rick and Morty. It launched at San Diego Comic Con. The song’s called “Love is Entropy”. Cameron is in the credits.
[0:29:08] Move That Body: Joe Ahsley tells about hiking and how he enjoys it
[0:32:38] Running Popup: It’s a reminder of one of our key themes – John’s three-step approach to wellness.
[0:35:21] Flipside of the Coin: The process was grueling and challenging when Elise and Stephen bought their first house in a sellers’ market. They learned to make compromises together, including dropping what started as “must have” items.
Quotes and Take-Aways:
Liz – People could participate in the commuting challenge individually, as they wanted. We used commuting to and from work using sustainable modes of transportation, including carpooling, biking, walking and public transit. We ran the challenge for four weeks and incentivized it with weekly prizes and grand prizes.
Liz – Participants really enjoyed the commuting challenge. They were excited and liked the prizes.
John – The commuting challenge kickstarted me. I believe that going forward I can bike most of the time and take the bus in bad weather. I’m going to give a real shot at making that my routine, so that I rarely drive to work.
Liz – We achieved a lot of our goals as we moved into a new office. Our building is LEED-certified. It’s much more sustainable and much healthier. We moved to a paperless billing system, which saves an incredible amount of paper. We’re focusing on becoming a more paperless operation.
Liz – If I’m not feeling 100%, it doesn’t feel like the greatest time to visit friends, but I need to remember that I always feel better and refreshed and happier and energized after visiting. I need to carve out time and prioritize that important time.
Bulletin Board Quote brought to you by Elise: We’re twins because we have the same shoes.
Guest Information: Liz Bellingham is a Legal Administrative Assistant at Gowling WLG. She’s a co-chair of the Green Committee of the Waterloo Region office (John sits on this committee too). Its mission is to do all we can to ensure our office is as environmentally friendly as possible through gradual improvements in our behavior, education, attitude, actions and internal policies and processes. Lis is married to Ryan and has two amazing daughters.
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Thanks for joining us,
(-(-_(-_-)_-)-) Your wellness check-in team
John, Sammy, Cameron, Sheila, Elise, Isabelle and Julie