Rachel Handbury

Detroit Zoological Society's Green Team

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
645 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

1.0

community event

hosted or attended
UP TO

20

conversations

with people
UP TO

70

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

32

plastic containers

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

4.0

public officials or leaders

contacted

Rachel's actions

Food

Advocate For More Food Packaging Options

I will advocate for alternatives to single use packaging at local grocery stores, markets, or work.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Make Your Own

I will try new recipe(s) or food preparation method(s) each day, such as canning, pickling, making yogurt, or baking granola bars or bread.

COMPLETED 13
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Join a Cleanup Effort

I will host or participate in a beach, highway, river, or other cleanup effort in my community.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Family

Swap the Snacks

I will swap out 2 prepackaged snacks a day for fresh fruits or veggies.

COMPLETED 16
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Write Letters or Emails

I will write 1 letter(s) or email(s) per day to a public official or company to advocate for planet-friendly policies.

COMPLETED 4
DAILY ACTIONS

Family

Discover Together

I will spend 5 minutes educating my family on the basics of living a reduced/no-plastic lifestyle.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Participant Feed

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?

REFLECTION QUESTION
Family Swap the Snacks

How does swapping out prepackaged snacks for fresh fruit or veggies benefit your family?

Rachel Handbury 7/24/2019 8:57 AM

We don't always switch all prepackaged snacks for fruit or veggies but I now buy bulk snacks. Saves us money!! it is so incredibly easy to grab the pre-packaged snacks....but they cost more and take up so much room in my pantry. I am happy to give this one up! Also, I notice that the single use packages do not always get finished by my kids - adding to the waste. By buying in bulk, they only take what they need.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Make Your Own

How do you feel about being more involved in the food preparation process? Joyful, overwhelmed, engaged, empowered? What are the benefits of choosing to process or produce your own food instead of buying it pre-processed?

Rachel Handbury 7/24/2019 8:53 AM

At first I found it overwhelming because I am quite stretched time wise as it is. But once I made the connection that not only will it make my household more sustainable, but also healthier, it is easier to justify the extra time. I have to multi-task everything, even my goals! :)

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Rachel Handbury 7/18/2019 6:38 AM

On Saturday, after a shoreline cleanup, my family headed to the farmer's market to purchase all of our produce in reusable bags! We were so excited until we noticed that every vendor had plastic bags. The blueberries I purchased were in a cardboard box - perfect....except after purchasing, the vendor dumped into a plastic bag. this continued with every market vendor...most I could stop and just put the peaches or pears into my reusable bag...but I did walk out with two plastic bags because loose strawberries and blueberries are hard to contain (and the vendor had already switched since they needed the cardboard box). Next time I will bring mesh produce bags or my own cardboard boxes. BUT it made me realize as I looked around that what should be a sustainable experience (farmer's market) - plastic was everywhere. I will reach out to Eastern Market and plead that they turn this market around.

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Rachel Handbury 7/03/2019 7:21 AM

Have you shared your participation on social media? Let's change social media to a platform for change!

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Rachel Handbury 7/03/2019 7:10 AM

Packing for our camping trip - it is interesting, I do not generally have any single use plastic - I have been camping for years and have always packed with the 'pack in, pack out' mindset. In terms of camping, this is not hard or inconvenient - truly makes me realize that it is a mindset and we need to 'pack in, pack out' in our everyday lives. Happy green July 4th everyone!

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Rachel Handbury 6/21/2019 11:37 AM

Having a family, I am going to make a super concentrated effort to not give into the temptation to purchase single serve snacks - these are so easy and convenient - but so much waste is accumulated. I will save money by buying in bulk as well :)

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