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Nico Heyning's avatar

Nico Heyning

Aquarium of the Pacific

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 330 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    35
    plastic straws
    not sent to the landfill
  • UP TO
    5.0
    minutes
    spent learning
  • UP TO
    7.0
    zero-waste meals
    consumed
  • UP TO
    5.0
    conversations
    with people
  • UP TO
    17
    plastic containers
    not sent to the landfill
  • UP TO
    3.0
    pieces of plastic cutlery
    not sent to the landfill

Nico'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 7
DAILY ACTIONS

Family

Discover Together

I will spend 5 minutes educating my family on the basics of living a reduced/no-plastic lifestyle.

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

Family

Plastic Free Lunch Boxes

I will only pack reusable cutlery, drinkware and tupperware-like containers in my children's lunches to reduce plastic waste.

COMPLETED 3
DAILY 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

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 7
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Skip the Straw

I will keep 5 plastic straw(s) out of the landfill per day by refusing straws or using my own glass/metal straw.

COMPLETED 7
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Use Reusable Bags

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

COMPLETED 7
DAILY ACTIONS

Participant Feed

  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Food
    Have you noticed a shift in your community as more messaging about reusable straws becomes mainstream? Cite some examples.

    Nico Heyning's avatar
    Nico Heyning 7/03/2019 9:18 AM
    This one is starting to get easier to more I do it. Having friends at the aquarium who also ask for no straws helps me do the same when I'm with my other friends.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Food
    How can you think outside the box (or bag!) when it comes to disposables?

    Nico Heyning's avatar
    Nico Heyning 7/02/2019 7:20 AM
    Having cheap options to store food that aren't plastic is a big problem. Plastic sandwich bags are probably my #1 plastic used since I love bring a sandwich to work. If there were other options, like paper bags, paper wrapping, and/or glass containers, that were easily accessible and cheap, then reducing the amount of plastic sandwich bags is a possibility.

    • Dana Neel's avatar
      Dana Neel 7/02/2019 9:46 AM
      Hey! I know its not incredibly cheap, but I use beeswax wraps, and they last for a year or so depending on usage, so its a worthy investment. I also bring sandwiches in Tupperware. If you pack it in tupperware that it JUST barely fits in, it holds it all together real well :) 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Food
    How difficult was this challenge for you? What made it easy or difficult?

    Nico Heyning's avatar
    Nico Heyning 7/02/2019 7:16 AM
    This isn't a hard challenge once the habit is established, but having a mindset of bringing bags is very hard.

  • Nico Heyning's avatar
    Nico Heyning 7/02/2019 7:15 AM
    They are going ok. Slow but good.