Susan Marcus

ACHS

"To challenge the possibilities to live free of plastic!"

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
670 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

1.0

documentary

watched
UP TO

300

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

1.0

plastic containers

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

1.0

waste audit

conducted

Susan'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

Lifestyle

Homemade Cleaners

I will make my own cleaning products at home.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Lifestyle

Complete a Waste Audit

I will conduct a waste audit - including recyclables and compost - to understand how much waste I create and where I can reduce the most.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Share My Actions

I will make my environmental actions visible by posting to my social media networks.

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 14
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?

Susan Marcus 7/29/2019 3:06 PM

Look at this: https://www.traderjoes.com/announcement/packaging-improvements-update THIS IS SO AWESOME!!!

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- Jacqui McGrath 7/30/2019 7:38 AM
  
  Great news!! I'm kinda glad I live thousands of miles from the closest TJs as I can't resist their stuff. lol. I've been heartened by news from other companies like Aldi, too, though there's still a looooong way to go... https://inhabitat.com/grocery-giant-aldi-announces-100-sustainable-packaging-by-2025/
  
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- Jacqui McGrath 7/30/2019 7:38 AM
  
  Great news!! I'm kinda glad I live thousands of miles from the closest TJs as I can't resist their stuff. lol. I've been heartened by news from other companies like Aldi, too, though there's still a looooong way to go... https://inhabitat.com/grocery-giant-aldi-announces-100-sustainable-packaging-by-2025/
  
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Susan Marcus 7/25/2019 10:43 AM

Excited to share our team's results with our staff and faculty today!

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Susan Marcus 7/23/2019 8:38 AM

Awesome to see all the plastics diverted from landfills. Well done, teams! We saved 166 bottles and 264 containers just among our team members. Let's make our new habits permanent!

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- Jacqui McGrath 7/24/2019 6:15 AM
  
  Yes!! I've bought myself the nicest stainless steel water bottle I've ever seen with the plan to hold on to it and use it 'forever' :-) -- if I don't lose it! I've lost lots of them over the years and always hope that someone else will appreciate and use my lost re-usable bottles.
  
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Susan Marcus 7/22/2019 9:14 AM

Finding ways to eliminate waste feels great, all the more when we can share with loved ones. Christmas gifts for friends and family members in 2019 will be bamboo toothbrushes! Some great additional possibilities for "easy eco swaps" here.

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- Jacqui McGrath 7/24/2019 6:03 AM
  
  these are great!! thank you for sharing. I'm going to save this and use it for inspiration for gifts, too :)
  
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Susan Marcus 7/17/2019 11:19 AM

So proud of this team! Awesome Captain Jacqui McGrath! Everyone is doing an amazing job helping get the word out!

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- Jacqui McGrath 7/18/2019 7:45 AM
  
  This month's challenge has become such a fun thing for me -- I'm leveraging it to connect with my community, too. I've got people signing up for my cleaning products party (it'll be a bring your own bottles event and I'll provide the baking soda and vinegar...lol)
  
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Susan Marcus 7/15/2019 8:25 AM

Prep for lunch at work today: Cooked up a large batch of quinoa a few weeks ago and froze in pint containers. Took one out on Saturday, added some fresh local veggies last night, mixed it all together with a little vinaigrette dressing and it's ready for lunch. Keeping it simple, quick, and easy. It helps to have so many abundant farmers markets nearby. We are truly blessed.

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Susan Marcus 7/12/2019 8:53 AM

It is truly amazing to see how well this team is doing, and affirms how people, when focused on a goal, can make a difference. Just imagine the possibilities.

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Susan Marcus 7/11/2019 9:00 AM

When we paddle on the river, we always try to remove plastic from the water. Could not quite reach a bottle washed up near the heron this morning, but the scenery was sure excellent (next time we'll bring an extension rod).

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- Jacqui McGrath 7/12/2019 4:41 AM
  
  what a tranquil way to start the day - beautiful, too. Thank you for sharing!
  
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Susan Marcus 7/09/2019 9:36 AM

I'm adding a layer of additional challenge for myself to keep it raw whenever possible. Realizing I have a long way to go, but it's a start!

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- Jacqui McGrath 7/11/2019 7:34 AM
  
  by the way, Susan, I see an option to "Reply" to my own posts directly below them. I think you can, too, if you look at them in the "My Team" feed. Not sure if this link will work, but this is the one that I've saved: https://plasticfree.ecochallenge.org/dashboards/posts?filter_type=team
  
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- Jacqui McGrath 7/11/2019 7:31 AM
  
  I didn't know you were referring to food when I read this and I wondered what you meant. Haha! Great idea to go raw when possible, especially in the summertime.
  
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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?

Susan Marcus 7/07/2019 8:40 AM

One of my favorite lunch meals during the work week is the Quinoa & Black Bean Salad from a nearby locally-owned deli. (For some reason they only serve this salad in a single-use plastic container.) Today I am making it at home — it’s so easy and will save money, and also plastic! I’m sure there will be plenty of other opportunities to support our local deli, which also happens to be a fellow B-Corp. But when it comes to this lunchtime staple, from now on I’m packing my own. :)

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- Jacqui McGrath 7/08/2019 9:39 AM
  
  Yum! Maybe the deli would be open to adding a "bring your own container" option?! I've stopped buying coconut water at my local (Mexican) store for the same reason, but I'm thinking of tracking down the coconut water folks to suggest they start stocking it in glass bottles with a deposit, too. It's a long shot, but I think there'd be enough demand to make it worth their effort.
  
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