Coalition of North American Zoos and Aquariums

Plastic Free Ecochallenge 2019

July 1 - July 31, 2019

Noël Beyer-Hermsen

Columbus Zoo Staff & Volunteers

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
288 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

32

plastic bottles

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

100

plastic straws

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

10

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

17

plastic containers

not sent to the landfill

Noël's actions

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

Skip the Straw

I will keep 10 plastic straw(s) out of the landfill per day by refusing straws or using my own glass/metal straw.

COMPLETED 10
DAILY ACTIONS

Personal Care

Just Say No

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

COMPLETED 5
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Use Reusable Bags

I will not accept any disposable bags when making purchases, including produce bags.

COMPLETED 10
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Use Reusables at Work

I will use reusable dishes and silverware when eating at work.

COMPLETED 7
DAILY ACTIONS

Family

Discover Together

I will spend 10 minutes educating my family on the basics of living a reduced/no-plastic lifestyle.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Use Reusable Water Bottles

I will use a reusable bottle and stop purchasing bottled water, saving 4 disposable plastic bottle(s) a day.

COMPLETED 8
DAILY ACTIONS

Pets

Thrifty Pets

I will purchase my pet's water/food dishes, collars or leashes from the thrift store.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Participant Feed

REFLECTION QUESTION
Food

How difficult was this challenge for you? What made it easy or difficult?
Noël Beyer-Hermsen 7/07/2019 3:17 PM
My family always brings reusable bags to the grocery store and starting to use them myself wasn’t that hard! It felt good doing it while I was shopping

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Pets

How does buying used differ from buying new? How does each purchasing decision make you feel?
Noël Beyer-Hermsen 7/02/2019 11:15 AM
I went out today and bought a dog bowl for my dog. It honestly didn't look different than just buying a new one. It felt good buying a used dog bowl because I wasn't wasting anymore plastic. And the dog bowl I got was very cute

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food

Have you noticed a shift in your community as more messaging about reusable straws becomes mainstream? Cite some examples.
Noël Beyer-Hermsen 7/02/2019 11:13 AM
I work at a diner in my city, we are supposed to hand out straws to our customers but I have noticed more people bringing their own reusable straws and giving back the plastic ones I am supposed to hand out to them. I found this really awesome! My parents have reusable straws they bring with them everywhere they go.

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