Jeff Prasnal

Zoo New England

"To do my part and spread the word to others about saving our planet."

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
1,165 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

170

plastic bottles

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

27

plastic straws

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

235

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

145

pieces of litter

picked up
UP TO

1.0

documentary

watched
UP TO

21

plastic containers

not sent to the landfill

Jeff's actions

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

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

Food

Use Reusable Water Bottles

I will use a reusable bottle and stop purchasing bottled water, saving 2 disposable plastic bottle(s) a day.

COMPLETED 29
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Keep My Community Clean

I will pick up 5 piece(s) of litter each day.

COMPLETED 29
DAILY 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 27
DAILY ACTIONS

Personal Care

Pearly Whites

I will purchase toothpaste in an aluminum tube or in a glass jar or make my own!

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Use Reusables at Work

I will use reusable dishes and silverware when eating at work.

COMPLETED 21
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Make Your Own

I will try new recipe(s) or food preparation method(s) each day, such as canning, pickling, making yogurt, or baking granola bars or bread.

COMPLETED 23
DAILY ACTIONS

Lifestyle

Watch a Documentary

I will watch a documentary film about waste with family and friends and talk about what we learned.

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

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
Lifestyle Travel Toiletries

What is the benefit of using bar soaps or refilling your travel sized containers? Is this an action you think you will keep in your life?

Jeff Prasnal 7/31/2019 10:03 AM

The bars of soap can come in plastic but there are some that just come in a cardboard container. The big bottles of liquid soap and shampoo have a lot of plastic and are a waste. Some of the refill containers are big and minimize the plastic waste.

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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?

Jeff Prasnal 7/31/2019 10:00 AM

My wife and I went for a walk the other night and we were picking up trash as we go. A neighbor saw us doing it and gave us a big shout out and thanked us for what we were doing. maybe he will be inspired to clean up some trash as well.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Family Discover Together

What concerns you the most about how we are affecting the planet? Consider both local and global actions.

Jeff Prasnal 7/31/2019 9:57 AM

The Oceans with all the animals that live in there are in danger. Coral reefs are dying, Large island size trash drifts, animals entangled in plastic, and the poor animals who eat the trash thinking it is food.

Read More
Jeff Prasnal 7/31/2019 9:52 AM

Hey great job everyone this July. The zoo has never looked cleaner and you should all be proud. Im so impressed with all your hard work and dedication. Just because the challenge is over lets keep up the plastic avenging. Its been an honor saving the planet with all you heroes.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Personal Care Pearly Whites

Currently most of the packaging for toothpaste is plastic. How can you advocate for more alternatives through your purchasing power and influence in community?

Jeff Prasnal 7/31/2019 9:45 AM

I tried making my own toothpaste this year and it worked out ok. This hot weather kept separating the components in the paste. The coconut oil turned to liquid and the baking soda sat at the bottom. I tried refrigerating the paste but then i had to thaw it for an hr before i could use it. I feel like it worked well cleaning my teeth but I couldn't find the right temp to keep the paste form.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Lifestyle Travel Smart

How can/did you prepare to be successful in this action? Did you engage in conversation with anyone about your new habit?

Jeff Prasnal 7/31/2019 9:39 AM

When traveling with my wife to new york I was explaining and teaching her pack more appropriately. She had her shoes wrapped in a plastic bag then in the suit case but after talking with her we removed the plastic wrap. Plus we each brought a thermos for water and brought those all around the city as well.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Use Reusable Water Bottles

Using the links provided, investigate the bottling practices of water corporations. There have been many cases where the water rights of the local people have been violated or even completely disregarded when a corporation decides to bottle water from a particular water source. How can you advocate for those who have been harmed by this bottling process?

Jeff Prasnal 7/30/2019 9:57 AM

Change is inevitable and technology has given us other options. The water corporations are gonna make thier money and that's all they really care about. Personal Water purifiers will help eliminate machines and pollutants from those environments as Well as displacing people from those areas.

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Jeff Prasnal 7/30/2019 9:50 AM

I'm sad that this challenge is coming to an end but I'm very motivated to keep it going with all these activities. I've made a lot of lifestyle changes and intend to keep it going when the month is over. I hope everyone else will too. Well done everyone getting to second place in the nation. Thank you to everyone with their kind words and support ovef this past month. Its an honor to work with you all.

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- Andrea Lewicki 7/30/2019 9:57 AM
  
  Jeff, I want to say thank you to you. You've been a great team member, and have been so active and inspiring to others! Keep up the great work!
  
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Jeff Prasnal 7/29/2019 11:40 AM

Hey fellow plastic haters. to all those that love frozen treats or slushes but hate the plastic. I made watermellon frozen slushes last night. Cut up you watermellon and freeze half of it and refrigerate half for about 2 hrs. Then blend both together adding a small amount of water to get the grinding started. you can enjoy the slush drink of freeze it again into a spoon served shaved ice situation. all natural and all delicious. try it out. oh by the way zero plastic used.

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- Zoo New England Team 7/30/2019 9:30 AM
  
  Awesome idea!
  
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- Erica Farrell 7/29/2019 4:51 PM
  
  Sound yummy!
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Use Reusables at Work

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?

Jeff Prasnal 7/29/2019 11:24 AM

Well, we can lead by example by doing just that. Everyday come in with reusable tupper-ware and talk about it at lunch. maybe, in the most polite way possible, call a co-worker out for their plastic bag use or even offer that coworker an alternative. I have plenty of tupperware at home but maybe that other person doesnt. Offer to bring in a container that they could use instead of the plastic one time use stuff.

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