A: When at work, those folks around me will see how I bring my food in reusable dishes. I find it's a matter of setting up a system that works so that it becomes habit and not a struggle. I carry a recycled apple bag in my car that always has the items I need and it's easy to carry between the house and car.
Vivian Beatrice
POINTS TOTAL
- 0 TODAY
- 0 THIS WEEK
- 624 TOTAL
participant impact
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UP TO5.0minutesspent learning
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UP TO3.0pieces of litterpicked up
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UP TO12pieces of plastic cutlerynot sent to the landfill
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UP TO12plastic containersnot sent to the landfill
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UP TO13zero-waste mealsconsumed
Vivian's actions
Family
Swap the Snacks
I will swap out 1 prepackaged snacks a day for fresh fruits or veggies.
Lifestyle
Travel Toiletries
If traveling, I will reuse my old travel tubes to refill with my soaps or only bring bar soaps with me in a TSA approved reusable quart sized bag.
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.
Food
Use Reusable Utensils
I will keep 1 plastic cutlery out of the landfill per day by using my own reusable cutlery.
Community
Keep My Community Clean
I will pick up 1 piece(s) of litter each day.
Food
Use Reusables at Work
I will use reusable dishes and silverware when eating at work.
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.
Create Your Own Action
Learn to make our own beeswax wraps as an alternative to using plastic
Community Event: A group of us from the Saugerties Green Team will learn how to make our own beeswax wraps as an alternative to using plastic. We will then host an event to shows other folks how to do it for themselves and others. We had one trial run so far and need to tweak the recipe we found online as the wraps were not clinging enough to do the job they need to do... to create a good seal on food. Looking forward to creating our own 'plastic alternative'!
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?
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Vivian Beatrice 7/18/2019 7:24 AMHere are a couple of us from the Saugerties Green Team experimenting
with making beeswax wraps as an alternative to plastic.
Sorry to say we could not come up with a
good recipe using the 3 ingredients: beeswax, pine rosin and jojoba oil,
to satisfy our need for clinginess and texture.
HELP!!
Does reading this feed anyone have a recipe that works?
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K M 7/25/2019 8:13 AMI should have spell checked that better.
*keep the mixture very liquidy
*We used the oven and iron technique -
K M 7/25/2019 8:11 AMHey! I saw your comment about the beeswax wraps and I wanted to share the recipe that worked at my workshop. We used 2 parts beeswax to 1 part pine resin (Or white copal, and make sure you grind it into as fine a powder as possible!) with about 1 tablespoon of jojoba oil per 2 cups of mixture. We mixed the beeswax and oil first, heating them up in the microwave, then slowly stir in the powdered resin, reheating the mixture as needed to keep it very liquify and smooth. It is fine if some of the resin clumps, but blending slowly helps. We used the over and iron technique, and I like the oven best, but the iron is more practical for some.
For your wraps that didn’t make it, just use twine or rubber bands to hold them in place or you can sprinkle powdered resin lightly and evenly across the already made wraps, and use the iron technique to disperse it. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out! k.mankowski@hotmail.com
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REFLECTION QUESTIONFood Use Reusables at WorkIt is often true that we only have control over our own actions and not the collective community. How can you lead by example when it comes to switching disposables for reusable dishes in your community?
Vivian Beatrice 7/01/2019 5:58 AMQ: It is often true that we only have control over our own actions and not the collective community. How can you lead by example when it comes to switching disposables for reusable dishes in your community?
A: When at work, those folks around me will see how I bring my food in reusable dishes. I find it's a matter of setting up a system that works so that it becomes habit and not a struggle. I carry a recycled apple bag in my car that always has the items I need and it's easy to carry between the house and car. -
Vivian Beatrice 6/29/2019 5:37 AMbaby steps...
ALDI says all packaging will be reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2025
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Vivian Beatrice 6/14/2019 4:14 AMI hope this is the ‘future’, making a plastic alternative out of a renewable, biodegradable source.. in this case.. cactus!
We need to put an end to petroleum products.
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/stories-48497933/how-to-make-biodegradable-plastic-from-cactus-juice-
Susan J Murphy 7/29/2019 11:23 AMLet's see now: corn, hemp, cactus... what other fibers have been used to synthesize polymers that function like plastic?
A nagging concern is: once these things have been converted to plastic polymers, do they have (all, many, most) of the problems of fossil-fuel-based plastics?
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Vivian Beatrice 6/11/2019 6:06 PMIs this recyclable?
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Vivian Beatrice 6/13/2019 8:28 AMThanks for your responses Maggie and Jen,
Here's a handy chart our Plastic Free group has found to be useful.
It is a little shocking that #1 plastic, which is the crystal clear plastic bottles that
Poland Spring water and our local health food stores use.. are NOT Reusable!!
They are recyclable but not safe for reuse.
I can't find any Recyclable label on the coconut sugar package!
Wondering if it is required by law ? -
Maggie Ostdahl 6/12/2019 7:49 AMWhat Jen said, and where in your community will accept soft plastic for recycling. https://earth911.com/ can be a good resource to find out. -
Jen Joseph 6/12/2019 7:11 AMIt depends on the type of plastic, should be a number somewhere on the packaging to tell you.
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Vivian Beatrice 6/04/2019 7:44 AMVery excited to be learning how to reduce and refuse the plastic around us, with everyone here on the Saugerties Green Team.
I hope we can share ideas and learn from each other how to transform our plastic addictions into more sustainable lifestyles.
My hope is that we can show those around us that there are ways to live without consuming so much plastic.
Viewing the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is my inspiration that our lifestyles need to change.
We are each contributing to this horrible problem. Can we achieve zero-waste before it's too late?
It's a massive task and I am looking forward to putting our collective minds together.
Vivian