Coalition of North American Zoos and Aquariums

Plastic Free Ecochallenge 2019

July 1 - July 31, 2019

Susan Hanson

WSP Portland/Vancouver

"Increase and enhance through education my awareness of plastics in my life and how to reduce their use. "

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
764 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

1.0

documentary

watched
UP TO

120

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

12

pieces of litter

picked up
UP TO

19

plastic containers

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

1.0

public official or leader

contacted

Susan's actions

Basic Needs & Security

Calculate Your Water Footprint

SDG 6

I will calculate my water footprint and look for a few ways I can reduce consumption or waste.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Climate & Ecosystems

Calculate Your Carbon Impact

SDG 13

I will calculate the carbon emissions associated with my household and consider how lifestyle changes could reduce the carbon footprint and impacts on the environment.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Advocate For More Food Packaging Options

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

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Lifestyle

Watch a Documentary

I will watch a documentary film about waste with family and friends and talk about what we learned.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Minimize Packaging

I will purchase food items with the least amount of packaging.

COMPLETED 6
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Use Reusable Bags

I will not accept any disposable bags when making purchases, including produce bags.

COMPLETED 19
DAILY ACTIONS

Family

Discover Together

I will spend 15 minutes educating my family on the basics of living a reduced/no-plastic lifestyle.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Pets

Pet Waste

I will spend 15 minutes learning how to compost pet waste at home or research pet waste composting services available in my area.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Lifestyle

Travel Eating

If traveling, I will bring my own airplane snacks and eat at local restaurants to avoid take-out containers.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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 1
DAILY ACTION

Lifestyle

Buy Only What I Need

I will not buy anything except items required for health and safety.

COMPLETED 11
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Keep My Community Clean

I will pick up 2 piece(s) of litter each day.

COMPLETED 6
DAILY ACTIONS

Personal Care

Pretty oh so Pretty

I will purchase beauty products that are packaged in sustainable packaging.

UNCOMPLETED
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
Lifestyle Watch a Documentary

Which documentary did you choose to watch? What did you learn?

Susan Hanson 7/31/2019 4:53 PM

Julie's presentation was super informative and provided a lot of food for thought about the true cost of materials, their life cycle cost and how to truly reduce each person's impact.
Some materials and items cost more to recycle so it's important to advocate for over all changes to reduce our negative impact.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Personal Care Pretty oh so Pretty

How can you advocate for the importance of reducing packaging to the rest of your friends, family and larger community?

Susan Hanson 7/31/2019 4:43 PM

It starts with conversations. I was successful in getting my husband to reduce his use of plastic bags for produce by reusing them them we buy wet or items that would stain. We do use reusable net bags for most of our produce.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Lifestyle Buy Only What I Need

As you have reduced your spending, what have you noticed about your 'health and safety' purchasing habits? How might this change your longer term purchasing decisions?

Susan Hanson 7/31/2019 4:41 PM

Yes, I have reduced my spending this month and been more conscious when I do need to spend money for these areas. It is difficult to do this every day during an entire month.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Lifestyle Travel Eating

Was this action easy or difficult to do? How did it change your travel experience?

Susan Hanson 7/31/2019 4:39 PM

I have not traveled during this time period. I do not think this will be difficult to implement for my upcoming trip in August. I appreciate the tips.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Advocate For More Food Packaging Options

Single use plastics have become normalized in our society to the point that most people don't see them as a problem. What would you say to a friend, colleague, or family member who may not understand why these disposables are an issue?

Susan Hanson 7/28/2019 1:28 PM

I would suggest that when you multiple the number of single use plastics by the billions of people on the earth or the hundreds of millions in our country you can see how large the impact is. It's important for each of us to help reduce our use is disposable plastics daily.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Community Keep My Community Clean

How does the act of picking up litter connect you more to your community?

Susan Hanson 7/28/2019 1:26 PM

It makes me feel like I am helping the community as a whole and gain an awareness of how clean our development is.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Minimize Packaging

With the added mindfulness of reducing your packaging, what have you noticed about the amount and type of single use plastics used for packaging when you shop in the grocery store?

Susan Hanson 7/28/2019 1:25 PM

The store where we shop helps with this since reducing waste is part of their mission.. It is New Seasons located in Oregon and Washington.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Family Discover Together

What concerns you the most about how we are affecting the planet? Consider both local and global actions.

Susan Hanson 7/28/2019 1:24 PM

The amount of overall garbage that humans create and do not have good ways to minimize their impact is what concerns me most. .

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Community Write Letters or Emails

How might thinking creatively help us address big systems problems - like plastic pollution - differently?

Susan Hanson 7/25/2019 11:04 AM

I sent in an email to Costco suggesting they reduce their excessive plastic packaging. I am looking forward to their response.
I tried to send the same message to Amazon to eliminate their plastic package envelopes. After 15 minutes of searching on their website and having an unsuccessful chat with Customer Service, I gave up. They make it too difficult to communicate with them.

Read More
Susan Hanson 7/15/2019 6:32 PM

Looking for ideas of how to appropriately dispose of plastic items that recyclers are not taking any more--plastic bags, soft sided plant containers, small harder plastics,etc. I live in Oregon. Thoughts?

Read More
- Meghan Jones 7/17/2019 11:24 AM
  
  I recently had some similar questions and called the Metro recycling hot line at 503-234-3000. They may be able to help! There is also a place called the Portland Child Art Studio that accepts some small plastic items: http://portlandchildart.org/donate.html.
  
  Read More