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Susan J Murphy's avatar

Susan J Murphy

Saugerties Green Team

"During this Challenge, I want to get closer & closer to Zero Waste Living, and help others to come along. But it's too easy to get mired in detail, so when the Challenge is over, I mean to aim up, to make change at the corporate level. "

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 193 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    1.0
    community event
    hosted or attended
  • UP TO
    29
    conversations
    with people
  • UP TO
    2.0
    disposable cups
    not sent to the landfill
  • UP TO
    1.0
    documentary
    watched
  • UP TO
    170
    minutes
    spent learning
  • UP TO
    1.0
    plastic containers
    not sent to the landfill
  • UP TO
    2.0
    zero-waste meals
    consumed

Susan J'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

Cook a Zero-Plastic Waste Meal

I will prepare 2 meal(s) at home each day without using any items packaged in single-use plastic.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY 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

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 1
DAILY ACTION

Community

Visit A Waste Management Facility

I will visit a local dump/transfer station, material recovery facility, and/or landfill to learn about the waste stream.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Shop the Bulk Bins

I will purchase dry goods from the bulk section of my grocery store, and use my own containers to do so.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY 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 1
DAILY ACTION

Lifestyle

Natural Fibers

When available, I will purchase clothing made with natural fibers, such as cotton, linen, or wool, rather than synthetic fibers.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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

Lifestyle

Naked Bins

I will either line my trash cans with repurposed newspaper or paper bags, or I will not line my trash cans at all.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY 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

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 J Murphy's avatar
    Susan J Murphy 7/29/2019 9:58 AM
    As the Saugerties Green Team continues its anti-plastic work, I'd love to be able to boast that we came in at #1 or #2 in the world for this Eco Challenge! It's a bit late to be doing it now, but I'm working away to get team members to boost their points. 

  • Susan J Murphy's avatar
    Susan J Murphy 7/29/2019 8:27 AM
    Sorry to see this Plastic Free Eco Challenge coming to an end. But the Saugerties Green Team will continue to meet and create new ways to fight the flood of plastic that's engulfing the world! Next project may be a published survey of all restaurants in Saugerties that prepare take-out food: what do they use? are they amenable to changing? Another project: reusable mesh produce bags!

  • Susan J Murphy's avatar
    Susan J Murphy 7/29/2019 8:24 AM
    On Friday 7/27, 9 of us got together to write letters about reducing plastics. After some debate, we agreed to write a group letter to the grocery stores we shop at locally: Mother Earth Storehouse (in Saugerties & Kingston), Adams Fairacre Farms in Kingston, Price Chopper in Saugerties, and Sunflower Natural Foods in Woodstock. Where appropriate, we wrote to the CEOs at corporate headquarters and sent copies to the managers of the local stores. We asked them to work with their suppliers to reduce the amount of unnecessary plastic packaging, especially organic produce! It is a scandal that the only way you can buy organic salad greens or organic eggs is in big plastic boxes! And shrink-wrapped organic zucchinis or sweet potatoes is an abomination! 
    We wished we could invite all the team members who are signed on to this challenge, but we couldn't figure out how to do that. We hope that future eco-challenges will make intra-team communications easier. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Lifestyle Natural Fibers
    What are the benefits (to people, animals, and the environment) of purchasing clothes made with natural fibers?

    Susan J Murphy's avatar
    Susan J Murphy 7/29/2019 8:15 AM
    Since almost all my clothes are acquired at a thrift store, a yard sale or a clothing swap, I don't always get to know exactly what fibers are in the clothing I wear. But I have influenced my husband to stop buying microfiber fleece! 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Food Shop the Bulk Bins
    How has buying bulk impacted the quality of the food you receive? Why do you think Western society relies more on prepackaged foods rather than buying in bulk?

    Susan J Murphy's avatar
    Susan J Murphy 7/29/2019 8:13 AM
    It's tricky: the Health Dept doesn't want the bulk sellers to let us bring in our own containers, so we have to be sneaky about it...
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Food Use a Reusable Mug / Collapsible Cup
    Great job on getting rid of your disposable cup habit! How does it make you feel? What's next on your list to reduce your waste?

    Susan J Murphy's avatar
    Susan J Murphy 7/29/2019 8:12 AM
    My husband and I always carry several reusable travel mugs in our car. We often make a cup of coffee to carry out of the house, so we're not tempted to stop along the way for one. 
    Next on my list: figure out how to bring my own takeout containers when I eat in a restaurant. The Health Dept won't let a "takeout" place use my container, but I can use my own containers for what used to be called "doggie bag" leftovers, and now are frankly just called "leftovers." Yum: leftover french fries made into hash browns the next morning, leftover veggies in soup, cold pizza for breakfast! 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Community Visit A Waste Management Facility
    Landfills and recycling centers tell us a lot about our communities and purchasing habits. What did you glean from your visit?

    Susan J Murphy's avatar
    Susan J Murphy 7/29/2019 8:07 AM
    I have visited landfills and recycling centers many times in the past. I have yet to visit one of the big "single stream" sorting centers, but I'm planning on it, with my neighbors. I have attended several seminars about recycling and alternatives to plastics. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Food Cook a Zero-Plastic Waste Meal
    Do an inventory of your kitchen to see how many single-use plastics you've used in the past. What are some resuable alternatives to these commonly used products? What would your impact be if you switched all the single-use products from your inventory to reusable?

    Susan J Murphy's avatar
    Susan J Murphy 7/29/2019 8:05 AM
    Instead of plastic cooking implements: wood, steel, bamboo, silicone. 
    Instead of plastic wrap: waxed paper, recyclable aluminum foil, beeswax food wraps. 
    Instead of plastic storage containers: glass and silicone. 
    Instead of buying products in plastic: glass. 
    And ALWAYS wash out plastic bags, to re-use them as many times as possible before consigning them to the film-plastic collection bins in the lobbies of many stores. 
  • 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 J Murphy's avatar
    Susan J Murphy 7/29/2019 8:01 AM
    At first, we only worried that non-biodegradable plastics were filling up our trash dumps. Then we worried that the manufacture of plastics is using up fossil fuels. Then we got scared about chemicals leaching into our food & drink. Then we learned that plastics are being burned for fuel, creating dioxins and other noxious pollutants. Now we know that as they photo-degrade (that is, as the polymer bonds are broken by solar radiation) plastics are emitting methane and ethylene, greenhouse gases far more potent than CO2. And STILL the satanic mills keep cranking out more and more of it! The only way to stop them is to REFUSE plastics as much as we can!

  • Susan J Murphy's avatar
    Susan J Murphy 6/22/2019 12:23 PM
    Today several of us re-created at the Farmers Market the Anti-Plastics display we had originally put together for the GoSmartGoGreen Fair on May 4th. Lots of info about the problems of plastics and examples of things you can use instead, including silicone bags & lids, portable bamboo eating utensil kits, beeswax food wraps, and our new fave, washable fabric produce bags. Thanks to team members Carole, Elizabeth, Janet, and soon-to-be team member Pietro, my dear husband who always lets me volunteer him for things I want to do!