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Mike Shirley's avatar

Mike Shirley

SF Teaching Zoo Zero Wasters

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 771 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    19
    disposable cups
    not sent to the landfill
  • UP TO
    1.0
    documentary
    watched
  • UP TO
    90
    minutes
    spent learning
  • UP TO
    52
    pieces of litter
    picked up
  • UP TO
    1.0
    waste audit
    conducted

Mike's actions

Lifestyle

Buy Only What I Need

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

COMPLETED 13
DAILY ACTIONS

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

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

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

Keep My Community Clean

I will pick up 4 piece(s) of litter each day.

COMPLETED 13
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Use a Reusable Mug / Collapsible Cup

I will avoid sending 1 disposable cup(s) to the landfill per day by using a reusable mug or bringing my own collapsible cup.

COMPLETED 19
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?


  • Mike Shirley's avatar
    Mike Shirley 7/30/2019 4:55 AM
    Everyone keep up the good deeds, the world becomes better with us taking personal responsibility, and then takings action. People take notice to what we do; While walking up to bus stop from a distance, I witnessed the same person I see at the Bus stop a bunch picking up trash near the bus stop like I've done this past month. I didn't preach/lector this person, I lead by example and it seems to have paid off!!! This is must be what proud parents feels like.... :)

  • Mike Shirley's avatar
    Mike Shirley 7/22/2019 11:19 AM
    We've had to purchase non health and safety stuff over the weekend and even an hour or so ago. So I've failed to reach all my Eco-challenge goals but will keep being mindful of the footprint we're leaving.

  • Mike Shirley's avatar
    Mike Shirley 7/19/2019 4:57 AM
    Adjusting my lifestyle takes effort, research, time, and thank goodness I'm blessed enough to follow through. It's not easy changing bad-habits once they've settled in, but once I find out what's wrong, I do my best to make the needed changes to my lifestyle. Makes me think, I should never be satisfied with whatever Eco-efforts I'm attempting because there's always something else to learn, or do just around the corner....

  • Mike Shirley's avatar
    Mike Shirley 7/16/2019 4:28 AM
    Another day and I'm hopeful that I'll be at my best! That includes me being more thoughtful to how my actions effect the world we live in today, and this starts with taking personal responsibility, then things grow from there. Yummy, coffee is good this morning but am I drinking Eco-friendly coffee? Hmm....... another research project is now on my list to check out. This reflection never ends, does it?
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Community Keep My Community Clean
    How does the act of picking up litter connect you more to your community?

    Mike Shirley's avatar
    Mike Shirley 7/11/2019 3:59 PM
    It might seem silly but I'm enjoying the small contribution of trash collecting I 'm doing at this time. I think if everyone did just did a little bit each day like this, we'd put a serious dents into all this trash littering up our world. 

  • Mike Shirley's avatar
    Mike Shirley 7/10/2019 5:53 PM
    Heck, yeah, wish I could pick up all the trash I see, but for now, I'm picking up what trash on my way to the bus stop. At first, I just picked up around the bus stop itself, but then I switch my tactics after passing trash that drove me crazy. I'm now carrying a waste bag with me (The hands just weren't cutting it) and this had expanded those trash possibilities 10-fold!!!

  • Mike Shirley's avatar
    Mike Shirley 7/05/2019 5:08 PM
    Challenges are going OK and having this cool website to track them for us is awesome!!! Plus, I finally figured out how to get my PC to log back into this ecochallenge website again. Being lockout from this website was not a fun ride at all..... :(
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Lifestyle Natural Fibers
    What are the benefits (to people, animals, and the environment) of purchasing clothes made with natural fibers?

    Mike Shirley's avatar
    Mike Shirley 7/05/2019 4:45 PM
    Natural fibers are biodegradable
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Lifestyle Watch a Documentary
    Which documentary did you choose to watch? What did you learn?

    Mike Shirley's avatar
    Mike Shirley 7/05/2019 4:39 PM
    Watched "The True Cost", and now tell anyone that will listen, what wearing the coolest cloths could actually cost some folks. Many sad stories told within this documentary, no doubt! I buy most of my cloths from thrift shops and try to stay away from first-line cloths buys whenever possible. Still, its can be tough avoiding the machine. When I do but from retail, I could do even better concerning my own research to learn which cloths companies walk the walk and not just talk the talk.... 
  • 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?

    Mike Shirley's avatar
    Mike Shirley 7/05/2019 4:24 PM
    I like buying only what's needed to prevent unneeded waste and the fact it saves money is a bonus.