"The main goal of personal environmental responsibility has to be the end of avarice. It's consumerism that drives our most destructive personal anti-green impulses. Embrace living more simply, so others may simply live.
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POINTS TOTAL
0
TODAY
0
THIS WEEK
547
TOTAL
participant impact
UP TO
40
pieces of litter
picked up
UP TO
9.0
plastic containers
not sent to the landfill
UP TO
46
pieces of plastic cutlery
not sent to the landfill
Michelle's actions
Food
Use Reusable Utensils
I will keep 2 plastic cutlery out of the landfill per day by using my own reusable cutlery.
COMPLETED 23
DAILY ACTIONS
Community
Keep My Community Clean
I will pick up 2 piece(s) of litter each day.
COMPLETED 20
DAILY ACTIONS
Food
Use Reusables at Work
I will use reusable dishes and silverware when eating at work.
COMPLETED 8
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?
At the end of the month, I am amazed at all the plastic that enters my life when I am least accounting for it. I'm going to continue to remain aware so I can make better choices.
I just found out about a company that makes fabric (or possibly clothing) partially from "thread" spun from recycled water bottles. I think it's called ReTHINK but I'm having difficulty locating any information about it. Check out the picture - does anyone know more about them?
It's great to wear only natural fibers, but most of us can't avoid at least some polyester, polar fleece, acrylics, or even nylon, which means we're already wearing plastic. I love my Rothys, too - almost all recycled water bottle. (I did find out the RETH?NK company is out of business, alas.)
I admire the innovating thinking here. The only caution against plastic-based products is that if we wouldn't want plastic leaching into our personal products or food, not sure that we would want to put them against our skin either.
Does anybody have a great use for old prescription bottles? They're impossible to recycle. I've used them to mix paint, to try to keep a week's prescription in the car in case of emergencies, to store beads and game pieces, and a few other things. What are your ideas? How may of THOSE can we keep out of a landfill?
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?
By "this" I mean can I count using my regular dishes when I am dining at home, or is this for when we're dining out or getting take out? I'll claim the points daily but I'm not a cheater. :)
It is often true that we only have control over our own actions and not the collective community. How can you lead by example when it comes to switching disposables for reusable dishes in your community?
My main block is the transportation of it - It's going to be rather unglamorous, carrying silverware in my fist to the lunchroom and back, and unhygienic to toss them in my purse. So is the solution to use a single use bag to carry them?
I'll clean a couple of old makeup bags, the kind they give out at every counter, and use for clean and "to be cleaned." I could use old eyeglass cases too I suppose.
Another suggestion – when you’re talking about reusable cutlery or reusable bags (for example) as a means to cut plastic waste, bring what you already have from home. Ordering or buying new goods means they could be shipped for miles (plastics are petrochemicals) and wrapped in plastic themselves. The eco container industry, for the most part, is not green. You can make no-sew grocery bags from tee shirts that have outlived their first lives, and it's a great way to get kids involved. Check YouTube!
I would like to encourage everybody to join your local Freecycle.org and TrashNothing.com because it's a win-win! You can offer or request useable items from your local community. It gives the items new life, keeps them out of the landfill, and saves you from dropping those items at the local thrift store (especially helpful if it's furniture you want gone!).
For another do-your-own challenge, I commit to buying only second-hand durable household items in July. If I can't find it second-hand and keep something from a landfill, I don't need it.
Lisset Avery 7/23/2019 6:57 AMI admire the innovating thinking here. The only caution against plastic-based products is that if we wouldn't want plastic leaching into our personal products or food, not sure that we would want to put them against our skin either.