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Juan Leguizamon's avatar

Juan Leguizamon

Life Unplastic Gainesville

"To do my part and encourage others to join the movement."

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 1,233 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    56
    disposable cups
    not sent to the landfill
  • UP TO
    1.0
    documentary
    watched
  • UP TO
    125
    minutes
    spent learning
  • UP TO
    60
    pieces of plastic cutlery
    not sent to the landfill
  • UP TO
    348
    plastic bottles
    not sent to the landfill
  • UP TO
    22
    plastic containers
    not sent to the landfill

Juan's actions

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

Use a Reusable Mug / Collapsible Cup

I will avoid sending 2 disposable cup(s) to the landfill per day by using a reusable mug or bringing my own collapsible cup.

COMPLETED 28
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Use Reusables at Work

I will use reusable dishes and silverware when eating at work.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Use Reusable Water Bottles

I will use a reusable bottle and stop purchasing bottled water, saving 4 disposable plastic bottle(s) a day.

COMPLETED 30
DAILY ACTIONS

Lifestyle

Buy Only What I Need

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

COMPLETED 24
DAILY ACTIONS

Personal Care

Pearly Whites

I will purchase toothpaste in an aluminum tube or in a glass jar or make my own!

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Family

Discover Together

I will spend 30 minutes educating my family on the basics of living a reduced/no-plastic lifestyle.

COMPLETED
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

Travel Smart

If traveling, I will bring my own plastic free items (water bottle, grocery bags, collapsible food containers, utensils, straws, etc.) with me.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Lobby for Reusables

I will lobby my workplace to have reusable dishes and silverware in order to minimize disposables.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Use Reusable Utensils

I will keep 3 plastic cutlery out of the landfill per day by using my own reusable cutlery.

COMPLETED 20
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Estimate Your Plastic Consumption and Go #PlasticNeutral

I will visit rePurpose website, complete the 3-minute plastic consumption calculator, and explore how I can reBalance my annual plastic footprint.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Start Composting

I will start a compost collection at home, work, or school.

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?


  • Juan Leguizamon's avatar
    Juan Leguizamon 7/30/2019 5:24 AM
    Does anyone have recommendations of where to buy reduced-waste pasta or bulk pasta? I know whole foods have some noodles in their bulk section but I'm wanting to find long noodles (Spaghetti, Fettuccine, etc.)

    • Life Unplastic 's avatar
      Life Unplastic 7/30/2019 7:58 AM
      Hey Juan! You can find fresh pasta wrapped in paper at the Wednesday farmers market! Look for Bleu Basil ☺️

  • Juan Leguizamon's avatar
    Juan Leguizamon 7/29/2019 5:48 AM
    Last week I had a hard time with the meals I prepped. I have been trying to get creative with my recipes and the ingredients I buy since I have been buying zero waste but I definitely haven't found a handful of recipes that I love and am excited to eat.

    If anyone has some recipes they enjoy or recommend, I'd love to try them out :) 

    • Erin Nicole's avatar
      Erin Nicole 7/31/2019 11:45 AM
      I've really enjoyed taco bowls. I use steak (preferably local and always organic grass-fed), lettuce, salsa, sour cream, and cheese. Sometimes I add rice. I've heard tempeh or eggplant are good subs for steak if you're vegetarian!

    • Life Unplastic 's avatar
      Life Unplastic 7/30/2019 8:53 AM
      I made a vegetarian version of pepper steak (I subbed portobello mushrooms for the steak) last light that turned out really good.

      Rice -buy in bulk
      Produce - most grocery stores will have loose peppers, ginger, garlic, etc .. and fresh market has loose portobellos and broccoli. Maybe luckys too?

      Here’s basically the recipe for the sauce I used except I used honey and a little bit of turbinado sugar instead of brown sugar. The turbinado comes in a cardboard box at Publix. The honey is local and in a glass jar.

      And I did cook broccoli too, but I roasted it on 425 for 25 min separately (drizzle olive oil and toss with minced garlic and s&p) so I could have a little varying texture with the meal.  

      https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a25658914/pepper-steak-recipe/

       
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Lifestyle Watch a Documentary
    Which documentary did you choose to watch? What did you learn?

    Juan Leguizamon's avatar
    Juan Leguizamon 7/25/2019 1:53 PM
    I watched Minimalism and I learned that it doesn't really mean to purge all the things in your life, it really comes down to keeping things that are important to you and that you use most often. It definitely was a bit eye-opening and interesting to see intersections between being minimal and zero-waste

  • Juan Leguizamon's avatar
    Juan Leguizamon 7/25/2019 5:37 AM
    Sorry about all my posts this morning, I try to check in before I start my work day. 

    I just wanted to share how awesome this site is and how excited I am to see the progress I've made in reducing my waste. When I first started the challenge and I looked through the challenges I wouldn't think I would make those changes. Having little changes and "wins" day by day has definitely made this easier and I hope that everyone can be proud of themselves for what they're doing.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Food Start Composting
    Do an inventory of how much food waste you would save from going to the landfill if you start composting all of the time. What are the added benefits of having compost that is readily accessible?

    Juan Leguizamon's avatar
    Juan Leguizamon 7/25/2019 5:32 AM
    Since starting to reduce my single-use plastic waste I have noticed that my trash is never getting full as quickly as it used to. Because of this, the waste that I am producing are receipts, food scraps, coffee grounds, and occasional odds (moving season is upon us). Food waste being my largest amount of waste in my bin I would be able to save most of my trash from going to the landfill.

    I personally don't have a garden nor does my apartment have an area where I would be able to so I don't think I would be able to use my compost for much. I plan on storing my compost in the freezer to limit the smell and take it to the farmers market when I can fill it up.

  • Juan Leguizamon's avatar
    Juan Leguizamon 7/25/2019 5:24 AM
    It's cool to see that the small changes I have been making at work and at home have encouraged others around me to think twice about their waste.

    I try to bring a friend with me when I go buy groceries and most of them leave saying how easy and fun it can be to bring your own containers and hopefully they will attempt it here and there. My coworkers are also carrying around their water bottles more often and one of them even bought metal straws!
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Lifestyle Travel Smart
    How can/did you prepare to be successful in this action? Did you engage in conversation with anyone about your new habit?

    Juan Leguizamon's avatar
    Juan Leguizamon 7/25/2019 5:21 AM
    What I find works best for me is to have a set of supplies in my car for when I am traveling. I usually have my water bottle with me wherever I go but having a few produce bags and reusable totes in the case I stop by the store have helped me stray away from single-use plastics.

    • Hilda Arellano's avatar
      Hilda Arellano 7/25/2019 5:24 AM
      I am working in prepare my travel kit with stuffs that minimize my environmental impact. Yes, are very interesting because more in more places acts for protect the environment 

  • Juan Leguizamon's avatar
    Juan Leguizamon 7/24/2019 5:25 AM
    I went to the store yesterday (I know, it seems like i'm at the store every day but I just forgot to buy snacks for work) and when checking out, the cashier accidentally dropped one of my apples and was about to toss it before I told her that I was going to wash them regardless and the apple was perfectly fine. 

    I have seen a lot of videos and documents about the amount of food waste produced in the United States and I can now see why that is the case. Customers tend to not purchase "ugly" produce which will just cause it to be thrown away.

  • Juan Leguizamon's avatar
    Juan Leguizamon 7/23/2019 5:22 AM
    I brought my own container to purchase Peanut Butter last night for the very first time! I love how it's in between being crunchy and smooth, well at least the one I bought.

  • Juan Leguizamon's avatar
    Juan Leguizamon 7/22/2019 7:04 AM
    While in Orlando I also stopped by a store called Bulk Nation that has a lot of bulk items. The main reason I wanted to go there was because they carry protein powders in bulk. Protein powder in stores generally comes in huge bulky containers so I wanted to try buying it in bulk. The store had a lot of neat items if you're ever in Orlando and have the time to check it out!