I will purchase beauty products that are packaged in sustainable packaging.
COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Personal Care
Just Say No
I will avoid buying toxic plastics, including polycarbonate, polystyrene and polyvinyl.
COMPLETED 14
DAILY ACTIONS
Personal Care
Brusha Brusha Brusha
I will replace my plastic toothbrush with a bamboo toothbrush.
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
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
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
Lifestyle
Travel Eating
If traveling, I will bring my own airplane snacks and eat at local restaurants to avoid take-out containers.
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?
REFLECTION
QUESTION
LifestyleNatural Fibers
What are the benefits (to people, animals, and the environment) of purchasing clothes made with natural fibers?
According to a 2011 paper published Mark Browne, 85% of the human-made debris were microfibers. This incredibly high percentage of clothing-based pollution really says two things. We need to focus on buying natural fibers and buying second hand. Synthetic fiber (Polyester, Acrylic, Rayon, Nylon, Acetate and Triacetate)used for clothing has a high energy consumption during it's manufacturing process and utilizes far more non-reusable resources (crude oil). Natural fibers (Cotton, linen, silk, wool, cashmere, hemp) utilize far less energy to create and will eventually decompose as they are made from plant materials. Due to this, they won't end up in the throat of a fish, the nest of a bird, or the sushi you are eating.
With this, it's also more eco-friendly to buy second hand. Textile dyeing is the second largest polluter of clean water globally (first being agriculture.) (I've attached a decent introduction to why fast fashion and new clothing is detrimental to our environment below.) https://www.newsweek.com/2016/09/09/old-clothes-fashion-waste-crisis-494824.html
Plastic toothbrushes are one of the worst things in a bathroom! They are created with non-renewable fossil fuels, take over 500 years to deteriorate, and there are better alternatives! I find myself getting frustrated though because the bamboo toothbrushes are often in plastic containers... Next step is finding a plastic-free toothpaste, though my current toothpaste by Toms can be recycled through TerraCycle. (and is cruelty free!)
Harald and I did a quick trash pick up on trail today and we got two full buckets full of trash. The most collected item were straw wrappers, which coincidentally are the most difficult to see on the forest floor! (Runner ups included plastic spoons, food wrappers, cigarette butts and field trip stickers.) It's a bit disheartening every time we do a trash clean up here. What can we do about this? How can we help ensure more of our trash (and our guests') isn't ending up here? Could we have impactful photos near our trash cans? Cigarette butt holders along the trail?Si
