Allison Shell

Akron Zoo - Staff

"To be more mindful of my plastic use and eliminate it whenever possible. "

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
1,095 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

29

plastic straws

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

105

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

1.0

documentary

watched
UP TO

68

plastic containers

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

27

pieces of plastic cutlery

not sent to the landfill

Allison's actions

Food

Use Reusable Bags

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

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Pets

Pet Waste

I will spend 10 minutes learning how to compost pet waste at home or research pet waste composting services available in my area.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Personal Care

Brusha Brusha Brusha

I will replace my plastic toothbrush with a bamboo toothbrush.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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

Family

Discover Together

I will spend 15 minutes educating my family on the basics of living a reduced/no-plastic lifestyle.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Use Reusables at Work

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

COMPLETED 19
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Plant a Garden

I will plant an herb or vegetable garden in my home, workplace, or community garden

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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 29
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 27
DAILY ACTIONS

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 27
DAILY ACTIONS

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?

Allison Shell 7/31/2019 8:19 PM

While scrolling though my Instagram feed I’m seeing lots of zero waste and plastic free ads! I think this is great and I hope that these companies will be successful and that some of the more expensive items will become more affordable over time, although as I’ve mentioned in other posts, sometimes I have to recognize these purchases as worthy investments :)

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Allison Shell 7/31/2019 7:45 PM

Thinking about my next steps— looking for recommendations for toothpaste in reusable or recyclable containers and sustainable cat litter....

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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.

Allison Shell 7/31/2019 6:31 PM

I have enjoyed sharing with my friends and family about my journey this month. I had a good discussion with my fiancé after watching Minumaism together. Bringing out my plastic container (although I’ll admit sometimes I can feel a little embarrassed about it— something I’m working on!) can be a good conversation starter when I’m out to dinner and I hope t can help others to start adopting some of these little tricks. On the personal level, I think by being more mindful, getting less take out, buying feeer items wrapped in plastic can really make a difference. But really, big change needs to happen on a corporate and manufacturing level. We need to stop wrapping things in so much plastic. On a personal level we can work to make change but often there aren’t other options or there aren’t easy enough alternatives for people who aren’t as amenable to change.

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Allison Shell 7/31/2019 5:48 PM

We went out for my mom’s retirement party tonight and it was great that it was at a restaurant where we had access to their plates and silverware and didn’t have to resort to single use items. While I brought my usual “to-go” box we had more food than could fit in it so I was really happy to see that they had paper to go boxes there instead of plastic of styrofoam.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Lifestyle Watch a Documentary

Which documentary did you choose to watch? What did you learn?

Allison Shell 7/31/2019 8:58 AM

I chose minimalism. Watching this documentary is very interesting. I’ve always been a pretty frugal person which has helped keep my possessions down, but I’ve also been guilty of just buying things because they are cheap. Going through yoga teacher training and becoming more mindful I try to think of the true cost of things. If something is cheap, why is it cheap? Was it made by someone who is underpaid and mistreated? Will it just fall apart soon after I buy it? With this new mindset I try to buy higher quality items when I truly need them rather than buying things just because they are cheap. It is hard for me to spend more money at the moment, but I know in the long run I am truly saving money and living a more responsible life.

I’ve always been a pretty cluttered person and I have struggled with that for a long time. It brings me stress, it makes me feel guilty for having too many things, and I would really like to change that. What’s hard is getting rid of those things in a responsible way. I think I need to forgive myself for making mistakes in the past and just move forward and try not to buy things I don’t truly need. I’m fortunate that I’m not stuck on always having the newest technology or latest fashion trends, but I definitely do have a little too much of an attachment to my things that I’m working through to become more minimal.

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Allison Shell 7/31/2019 8:26 AM

Looked into composting pet waste— I don’t think this is something I’d want to do myself, it’s a little scary to worry about compromising any foods I would grow in my garden. I saw that Columbus has a service that will pick up your pet waste for you and compost it. I would imagine it would be a while before akron might offer this service but something I can do in the mean time at least would be to switch to a biodegradable/natural cat litter.

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Allison Shell 7/31/2019 8:18 AM

Went for a lovely walk to the store this morning and brought my own bag and bought bar soap with no packaging. However, I have some favorite foods that come in plastic packaging that I need to look into how to make on my own. I think that would be really rewarding and probably having it fresh and homemade would be even better!

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Allison Shell 7/31/2019 7:18 AM

I’m on my weekend and am looking for some motivation to get going on cleaning and organizing my house. Excited to be watching this documentary about minimalism and consulting my Marie Kondo book to keep plugging away at making changes about what I keep and use in my home. It hasn’t just been about what I already have but about being really mindful about anything new that I bring into my home.

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Allison Shell 7/31/2019 7:13 AM

While I have really enjoyed making changes for myself through this challenge, I see how many changes need to be made on a larger scale as well. The boxed lunches provided at a training I attended all contained plastic wrapped plastic cutlery. Even though I had my own silverware, it’s frustrating that the plastic silverware was there at all and I worry that it will just end up being thrown away, or will be thoughtlessly used just “because it’s there” by someone who otherwise could have gone to get reusable silverware. Additionally, all of the items in the box were individually wrapped. While it was mostly paper, the bags had plastic “windows”— again, pointless and frustrating. I’d love to see manufacturers to stop making packaging like this and for catering companies to ask clients if they want plastic cutlery or not. Maybe even offering a small discount for declining them.

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- Sandi Phillips 7/31/2019 8:15 AM
  
  I thought the exact same thing! I didn't even use the utensils, but I'm "stuck" with them. Same with at restaurants - the waiters will usually put the straws on the table so I have to make sure not to ask for one. An easy change would be to ask for a straw if you want one (like asking for lemon in water).
  
  Agreed, change needs to happen at the manufacturer level.
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Pets Pet Waste

By composting your pet waste, you are turning waste into nutrients to feed the soil. In what other ways can you turn waste into a resource in your life?

Allison Shell 7/31/2019 6:58 AM

While I’m trying to eliminate plastic use sometimes it is unavaoidable so I try to reuse the plastic containers for carryout food, to send people home with leftovers from dinner at my house etc. I try to reuse boxes for storage and keep packaging and bubble wrap to be used again for things that need to be mailed or moved.

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