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Misty Mehers's avatar

Misty Mehers

Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens

"Keeping green in my home and community- working to keep tomorrow"

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 950 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    22
    plastic straws
    not sent to the landfill
  • UP TO
    35
    minutes
    spent learning
  • UP TO
    1.0
    community event
    hosted or attended
  • UP TO
    4.0
    hours
    volunteered
  • UP TO
    22
    plastic containers
    not sent to the landfill
  • UP TO
    1.0
    waste audit
    conducted
  • UP TO
    44
    pieces of plastic cutlery
    not sent to the landfill

Misty's actions

Food

Skip the Straw

I will keep 1 plastic straw(s) out of the landfill per day by refusing straws or using my own glass/metal straw.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Minimize Packaging

I will purchase food items with the least amount of packaging.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Use Reusable Utensils

I will keep 2 plastic cutlery out of the landfill per day by using my own reusable cutlery.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Buy Unpackaged Produce

I will purchase produce items without plastic packaging.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Use Reusable Bags

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

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Family

Discover Together

I will spend 30 minutes educating my family on the basics of living a reduced/no-plastic lifestyle.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Personal Care

Lather Up

I will replace my soaps, shampoos, and conditions with either a bar or refillable option.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Join a Cleanup Effort

I will host or participate in a beach, highway, river, or other cleanup effort in my community.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Volunteer in my Community

I will volunteer 4 hour(s) in my community.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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

Family

Thoughtful Toys

I will only buy cloth, wooden or plant-based natural rubber toys. Or make our own toys from recycled items found in our home!

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

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

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
    Food Minimize Packaging
    With the added mindfulness of reducing your packaging, what have you noticed about the amount and type of single use plastics used for packaging when you shop in the grocery store?

    Misty Mehers's avatar
    Misty Mehers 7/17/2019 9:19 AM
    Single use items are costing us a fortune in money and in environment- an unnecessary way of buying 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Food Use Reusable Bags
    How difficult was this challenge for you? What made it easy or difficult?

    Misty Mehers's avatar
    Misty Mehers 7/17/2019 9:18 AM
    omgracious I love my shopping totes- and I always keep them on hand! I even use them in clothing stores- because- why not?
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Food Skip the Straw
    Have you noticed a shift in your community as more messaging about reusable straws becomes mainstream? Cite some examples.

    Misty Mehers's avatar
    Misty Mehers 7/17/2019 9:17 AM
    I think the more you see reusable straws out there the more people will catch on. I personally skip the straw- I have reusables but I am not a huge straw person anyway
  • 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?

    Misty Mehers's avatar
    Misty Mehers 7/17/2019 9:16 AM
    I was researching better options for take out and biodegradable cutlery isn't actually better- the classification is basically skewed- because you have to send it to special facilities that can super heat the "biodegradable" plastics- and the average person and/or company doesn't go through all of that. That term is a feel good- but ineffective.  
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Community Estimate Your Plastic Consumption and Go #PlasticNeutral
    What did you find out about your plastic consumption by using the calculator? What did or didn't surprise you?

    Misty Mehers's avatar
    Misty Mehers 7/17/2019 9:13 AM
    With my kids and the snacks and amount of food I prepare- I have had my eyes opened to how much waste can be avoided inside my own home
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Community Volunteer in my Community
    How does volunteering enhance your community and/or change your relationship with it?

    Misty Mehers's avatar
    Misty Mehers 7/17/2019 9:12 AM
    I have met amazing people thanks to my volunteer work in my community! I have even done clean up efforts while vacationing!
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Community Join a Cleanup Effort
    How does working with others to clean up your community make you feel?

    Misty Mehers's avatar
    Misty Mehers 7/17/2019 9:12 AM
    It is wonderful to work side by side with strangers who have a common goal- sense of purpose
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Family Discover Together
    What concerns you the most about how we are affecting the planet? Consider both local and global actions.

    Misty Mehers's avatar
    Misty Mehers 7/17/2019 9:11 AM
    I feel we live in a very toxic world- producing more and more cancer and disease causing products, more waste, more destruction. We are tearing down mother nature faster than we can regrow, replant, revive our world.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Food Buy Unpackaged Produce
    Why do you think these produce products started amassing so much plastic packaging? Who is the plastic packaging really serving -- the consumer, the producer, or someone else?

    Misty Mehers's avatar
    Misty Mehers 7/14/2019 5:37 PM
    plastic is simply convenience- somewhere along the way it became cheaper and easier to put it in plastic, but it turns out it is far from cheaper for our environment
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Personal Care Lather Up
    What are the economic and personal benefits of switching to bar soap/shampoo/conditioner or refillable bottle options?

    Misty Mehers's avatar
    Misty Mehers 7/11/2019 7:19 AM
    I love the soaps at Luckys Market- no wrapping, just grab a naked bar you love and buy it!