Jan Jensen

Washington County (Official Team for Employees of Washington County Oregon)

"My mission is to become more aware and thoughtful of the massive quantities of plastic that has unfortunately become a part of our lives. "

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
59 TOTAL

Jan's actions

Personal Care

Brusha Brusha Brusha

I will replace my plastic toothbrush with a bamboo toothbrush.

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.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Buy Unpackaged Produce

I will purchase produce items without plastic packaging.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY 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 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Skip the Straw

I will keep 1 plastic straw(s) out of the landfill per day by refusing straws or using my own glass/metal straw.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

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
Food Buy Unpackaged Produce

Why do you think these produce products started amassing so much plastic packaging? Who is the plastic packaging really serving -- the consumer, the producer, or someone else?

Jan Jensen 7/29/2019 9:21 AM

I can't seem to find a good answer as to why all the plastic boxes and wrappers for produce, but was surprised to read how much water is used for the pre-packaged triple rinsed produce. I will attempt to locate and purchase bulk greens whenever possible.

I am going to replant lettuce and spinach in my garden every 10 days to keep a continuous supply, adding shade netting so that I can grow it successfully during the warmest months. For people with limited garden space, you can grow it in a very small area and even in containers on a deck. A package of seed, for a month of salads costs $1.50 and one plastic box for a night or two, $3.00.

Read More
- Robin Straughan 7/31/2019 11:53 AM
  
  New Seasons has a good supply of bulk greens at a reasonable price, as do many farmers markets this time of year.
  
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- Max Lopez 7/30/2019 8:14 AM
  
  For the first time in my life I have my own small garden! I had a lot of misses, but a couple of good hits. I'm excited to take what I've learned from this year (cherry tomatoes grow very well, too well!), Peas need to be up front, box elder bugs are really bad! Next year I'm going to try spinach!
  
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- Jennifer Nelson 7/29/2019 10:32 AM
  
  University of Michigan did a good life cycle analysis on food packaging and highlighted where it pays off in terms of having a lower carbon footprint to preserve food than to waste it. That said, nothing will ever beat growing your own for sustainability on a local level!
  
  Here is the executive summary of the study, if you have time and interest later: https://www.oregon.gov/deq/FilterDocs/PEF-Packaging-ExecutiveSummary.pdf
  
  Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Personal Care Brusha Brusha Brusha

What are the benefits of switching to bamboo toothbrushes? How would you implore others in your community to make this switch as well?

Jan Jensen 7/29/2019 8:52 AM

Bamboo is awesome. It grows super fast, mostly without chemicals. If you remove the bristles, they are biodegradable and are naturally antimicrobial.

With over 7 billion people in the world, can you imagine the amount of plastic toothbrushes saved from landfills?

Read More
- Jennifer Nelson 7/29/2019 8:59 AM
  
  Jan, you win some straws! Thanks for participating and posting to the feed. :D
  
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