Cara Laviola

Columbus Zoo Community

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
954 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

120

plastic bottles

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

5.0

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

3.0

disposable cups

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

1.0

piece of litter

picked up
UP TO

13

pieces of plastic cutlery

not sent to the landfill

Cara's 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

Community

Share My Actions

I will make my environmental actions visible by posting to my social media networks.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Use Reusable Water Bottles

I will use a reusable bottle and stop purchasing bottled water, saving 3 disposable plastic bottle(s) a day.

COMPLETED 11
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Use Reusable Utensils

I will keep 1 plastic cutlery out of the landfill per day by using my own reusable cutlery.

COMPLETED 13
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Use a Reusable Mug / Collapsible Cup

I will avoid sending 1 disposable cup(s) to the landfill per day by using a reusable mug or bringing my own collapsible cup.

COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS

Personal Care

See the Green

I will properly recycle used contact lenses and packaging.

COMPLETED 30
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Keep My Community Clean

I will pick up 1 piece(s) of litter each day.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Personal Care

Dam the Flow

I will use a menstrual cup and/or cloth pads

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
Personal Care Dam the Flow

Disposable tampons and menstrual pads are often quite expensive. What are the economic and personal benefits of this switch for you?

Cara Laviola 7/25/2019 7:31 PM

Economically, making the switch to a reusable menstrual cup made sense. I probably went through one box of tampons every 1.5 cycles, and tampons are anything but cheap if you want reliable protection. Personally, I appreciate that the cup lasts longer during the day. I actually went through a period without worrying about leakage. Healthwise, menstrual cups pose less of a risk of toxic shock syndrome. Healthier for me + healthier for the environment = win/win!

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Cara Laviola 7/25/2019 7:24 PM

Can't believe we're almost to the end of the challenge! Going to try and finish the next week out strong and take these good habits with me through the rest of the year!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Community Keep My Community Clean

How does the act of picking up litter connect you more to your community?

Cara Laviola 7/15/2019 6:35 AM

My fiance and I went for a walk last night, and picked up a piece of plastic that had once contained ice. It makes me so sad to think that someone did not dispose of it properly, as it's actually one of the types of bags that can be recycled at Giant Eagle.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Community Share My Actions

In what ways is social media an effective tool for sharing your values?

Cara Laviola 7/11/2019 8:39 AM

Posting the Plastic Free EcoChallenge was an easy way to get my LinkedIn connections to sign up for the challenge!

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Cara Laviola 7/03/2019 7:21 AM

So thankful I found Terracycle (https://www.terracycle.com/en-US/brigades/bauschrecycles). It enables me to recycle my daily contact lenses and packs so that I can have healthy eyes and reduce the amount of plastic that goes to landfills!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Use Reusable Utensils

How can you be an advocate for using resusables instead of disposables for the rest of your community? Where are they currently dependent on disposable cutlery, and how can you convince them of the need for change?

Cara Laviola 7/01/2019 3:06 PM

Unfortunately, planning is key for this challenge, as most businesses don't make it easy for consumers to avoid plastic cutlery/ plastic packaging. After having meetings all through lunch, I had no choice but to swing by Starbucks for something quick due to my lack of food prep. As you can see from the picture, everything I ate was wrapped in plastic. With everything Starbucks is doing to help consumers avoid the straw, I wish they would go one step further with their available food choices.

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Cara Laviola 7/01/2019 7:29 AM

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Cara Laviola 7/01/2019 6:21 AM

Bringing in my own water bottle is an easy yet effective way to keep plastic out of landfills. We as consumers have more power than we think to change company behaviors by being responsible spenders!

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