Coalition of North American Zoos and Aquariums

Plastic Free Ecochallenge 2019

July 1 - July 31, 2019

Carrie Dean

Reid Park Zoo

"Make sustainable choices locally to affect change globally."

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
1,730 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

125

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

29

zero-waste meals

consumed
UP TO

1.0

documentary

watched
UP TO

35

conversations

with people
UP TO

32

plastic containers

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

1.0

donation

made
UP TO

1.0

waste audit

conducted

Carrie's actions

Personal Care

Just Say No

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

COMPLETED 27
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Lobby for Reusables

I will lobby my workplace to have reusable dishes and silverware in order to minimize disposables.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Personal Care

Brusha Brusha Brusha

I will replace my plastic toothbrush with a bamboo toothbrush.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Shop the Bulk Bins

I will purchase dry goods from the bulk section of my grocery store, and use my own containers to do so.

COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS

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

Food

Plant a Garden

I will plant an herb or vegetable garden in my home, workplace, or community garden

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

Pets

Pet Waste

I will spend 30 minutes learning how to compost pet waste at home or research pet waste composting services available in my area.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Advocate For More Food Packaging Options

I will advocate for alternatives to single use packaging at local grocery stores, markets, or work.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Use Reusable Containers

I will only use reusable containers instead of single-use plastic storage items (such as plastic wrap, single-use sandwich bags).

COMPLETED 31
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Raise Money For a Nonprofit

I will raise money to support a nonprofit dedicated to plastic pollution reduction.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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 29
DAILY ACTIONS

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

Lifestyle

Buy Only What I Need

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

COMPLETED 30
DAILY ACTIONS

Lifestyle

Homemade Cleaners

I will make my own cleaning products at home.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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?

Carrie Dean 7/31/2019 7:44 AM

This will probably be my last post. This has been fun and challenging, I will miss it, but I will keep up the fight against single use plastics!

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Carrie Dean 7/30/2019 5:45 PM

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Carrie Dean 7/30/2019 8:10 AM

The challenge made me really evaluate all my disposable product use not just plastics. Bring on the next challenge!

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Carrie Dean 7/29/2019 8:30 AM

I am so impressed! At our Volunteer Appreciation event yesterday, so many volunteers brought their own re-usable plates utensils, and they were all flaunting it! It is so encouraging to see such great changes being embraced; this is the kind of peer pressure I can get behind!

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Carrie Dean 7/28/2019 7:09 AM

I must be living under a rock, but a couple days ago, I learned that not only will grocery stores recycle plastic bags, but they will also take chip bags and the plastic wrapping from things like paper towels and toilet paper etc. Hooray!

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Carrie Dean 7/27/2019 7:15 AM

I'm having some anxiety about the challenge ending; will I continue the actions I started or slip back into old habits because it's more convenient? This challenge has been so amazing for the support, being held accountable, and bringing awareness of the amount of plastic everywhere. I will do my best, and if I slip up, I'll just start over!

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Carrie Dean 7/26/2019 6:59 AM

The Reid Park Zoo Team is doing amazingly well! Congratulations to everyone!

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Carrie Dean 7/26/2019 6:54 AM

Got take out the other night. The place wraps everything in paper, so good there, but they then put it in a plastic bag. When I arrived, I told the woman at the counter that I had didn't need a bag, I had one. She look dubiously at my tiny scrunched bag and said, "Are you sure?". As I unfolded the bag, I said, "It gets larger." She said, "Oh, I see, cool!" Every little bit!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Community Raise Money For a Nonprofit

What are organizations in your region doing to address plastic pollution or other related issues? How can you support them?

Carrie Dean 7/25/2019 12:47 PM

Found this interesting organization (more toward the political side of the issues, but a great place to sign petitions/write letters) that addresses a lot of issues, including plastic. Making our voices heard whether it's at the grocery store or advocating within government makes a difference!
https://environmentarizona.org/

Not directly plastic pollution, but definitely indirectly, I found this place that evidently will pick up your compost. There is a cost associated, but for folks like me who don't have a yard to compost in and end up hauling it elsewhere, it might be worth it.
https://scrapsonscraps.com/

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- Amy Abdai 7/25/2019 2:41 PM
  
  I have been using Scraps on Scraps for a year or two. It is nice for someone like me who is too lazy to deal with composting on her own. Only negative I can say is emails about missed pick-ups are not answered promptly. Fortunately I can usually get more that 2 weeks worth of materials in my bucket.
  
  Read More
Carrie Dean 7/25/2019 7:43 AM

So I somehow expect the younger folks to be more in tune with environmental issues, completely forgetting that my parents and grandparents grew up without a lot of plastic and a culture of resource conservation (holdover from the depression era). So I did an inventory of my parents' houses and lo and behold (and I should have remembered this from when I was a kid), there is an entire cupboard of plastic containers that my mom uses to store leftovers, and my dad has always used the lids from the peanut canisters (cardboard) as coasters, and the list goes on.

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