Alyssa White

Yost Grube Hall Architecture

"Be plastic-free!!!"

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
669 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

5.0

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

27

petitions

signed

Alyssa's actions

Personal Care

Just Say No

I will avoid buying toxic plastics, including polycarbonate, polystyrene and polyvinyl.

COMPLETED 10
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

Personal Care

Lather Up

I will replace my soaps, shampoos, and conditions with either a bar or refillable option.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Minimize Packaging

I will purchase food items with the least amount of packaging.

COMPLETED 12
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Sign a Petition

I will sign a petition in support of a plastic-related initiative in my state/province.

COMPLETED 9
DAILY ACTIONS

Personal Care

Back in the Bowl

I will purchase refillable beauty products.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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

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

Buy Unpackaged Produce

I will purchase produce items without plastic packaging.

COMPLETED 7
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?

Alyssa White 7/26/2019 9:07 AM

I would like to research how we can start specifying / designing with less plastic in our materials and furniture. The DEQ presentation yesterday made it clear that fixed and movable furniture cause a big global warming impact in TI projects, and those elements are most likely made with plastic! Continuing Astrid and Yukari's efforts, collecting information and EPDs on TI-related products is just as important and would help us to inform our clients about what we want to stand behind as a firm!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Community Estimate Your Plastic Consumption and Go #PlasticNeutral

What did you find out about your plastic consumption by using the calculator? What did or didn't surprise you?

Alyssa White 7/23/2019 11:08 AM

I was surprised to see a large proportion of my plastic use comes from the home, grocery, and clothing category. I wasn't surprised to see a large part of it being from takeout/delivery food, but I realized that the things I buy at the grocery store can be just as bad. I need to start actively looking at products and assessing them (and the plastics within them!) before I buy them to actually make a difference. I was also generally surprised to see that my number was about 5% above the average American, but I purposely took a conservative route for this calculator because I know I ultimately use WAY more than I think I do, so that's pretty eye-opening!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Lifestyle Natural Fibers

What are the benefits (to people, animals, and the environment) of purchasing clothes made with natural fibers?

Alyssa White 7/22/2019 2:27 PM

It gives us the ability to reuse pieces of clothing as something else, recycle it to be made into new clothes, or allow them to decompose naturally without harming the environment with chemicals and other toxins.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Community Sign a Petition

What is a plastic-related issue in your state/province?

Alyssa White 7/19/2019 9:09 AM

I've seen many petitions on change.org based out of my home state of Florida, and a lot has to do with plastic on the beaches / in the water! It's incredible to see the damage we've done to places we pay so much to go visit and regard so highly on a tourist / economic standpoint.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Personal Care Back in the Bowl

Why is it so difficult to understand the impacts our purchases and waste have on other people, animals, and places? How might your experience with this challenge impact your future consumption and choices?

Alyssa White 7/15/2019 9:40 AM

It's difficult to understand the impact of waste because we never see it... Out of sight, out of mind... Therefore, the firsthand connection to it is lost. There's no scale or calculator tying us to the amount of waste we produce individually, but if we did, I'm sure it would be staggering. I'm trying to look at everything I use and imagine how many of those I have bought and thrown away in my lifetime, or even in the last few years.

I recently purchased a refillable deodorant from https://www.mymyro.com/ and have really liked it so far. This is a small step to reduce my waste stream but I hope to find more products like this that can replace all of the single-use containers I use in my daily routine.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Minimize Packaging

With the added mindfulness of reducing your packaging, what have you noticed about the amount and type of single use plastics used for packaging when you shop in the grocery store?

Alyssa White 7/15/2019 9:25 AM

I've become very aware of the amount of plastic used to package and sell produce at the grocery store. Even when using reusable bags instead of the tear-off plastics ones, there are still so many things packaged in plastic. I'm happy to say, I went to the farmers market this weekend and was able to purchase all of the fruits and veggies I usually buy at the store, SANS PLASTIC! This is really encouraging and I will make more of an effort to do this every weekend instead of buying these things at the store!

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Alyssa White 7/15/2019 9:07 AM

I signed this petition to help ban the use of plastic bags in my favorite Florida-based grocery store, Publix! http://chng.it/N4yZ4q7zDC

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Alyssa White 6/28/2019 9:38 AM

I'm excited to explore ways I can become less plastic-dependent when it comes to personal care and beauty products!

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