Rachel Andrea Dowell

Maryland Zoo

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
176 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

21

plastic bottles

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

21

plastic containers

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

21

plastic straws

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

6.0

zero-waste meals

consumed

Rachel's actions

Food

Cook a Zero-Plastic Waste Meal

I will prepare 1 meal(s) at home each day without using any items packaged in single-use plastic.

COMPLETED 6
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Minimize Packaging

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

COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS

Family

Provide the Alternatives

I will provide daily plastic free alternatives (straws, water bottles, cuttlery, bar soap, bamboo toothbrushes, etc.) for my family to use.

COMPLETED 7
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Buy Unpackaged Produce

I will purchase produce items without plastic packaging.

COMPLETED 4
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?

Rachel Andrea Dowell 7/16/2019 6:21 AM

Saturday farmer's market every week! We bring our own bags and they have produce in green cardboard.

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Rachel Andrea Dowell 7/09/2019 3:03 PM

Learning alot, more than I thought. Plastic is everywhere. With this challenge my daughter and I have developed plastic radar. See it where we used to not. So that is a big plus. It was if it had become invisible.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Family Provide the Alternatives

What single-use items (e.g. straws, coffee cups, vegetable bags, plastic bags) does your family regularly use? What could be substituted instead?

Rachel Andrea Dowell 7/09/2019 2:59 PM

Plastic Ziploc. We reuse and wash them.But I still wish we had a better alternative to keep our food fresh in the fridge. We can fit so much in our drawers of they are in the bags. Mesh just doesn't kept as fresh and that feels like looking dollars.

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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?

Rachel Andrea Dowell 7/09/2019 2:56 PM

Geeze, thinking about it there were no berries in plastic or seems 10or 12 years ago. The lettuce in bags, tomaroes, avocados in nets and as my husband says it gets you to buy more than we need!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Buy Unpackaged Produce

Why do you think these produce products started amassing so much plastic packaging? Who is the plastic packaging really serving -- the consumer, the producer, or someone else?

Rachel Andrea Dowell 7/09/2019 2:27 PM

Hmm,the consumer. The mini peppers in the plastic zipper bag seem so attractive and easier on the bag. And then bring home and store in the bag. So, again it appears easier for the consumer, but I'm not sure it is.

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