Coalition of North American Zoos and Aquariums

Plastic Free Ecochallenge 2019

July 1 - July 31, 2019

dana wu

Seattle Aquarium - Staff & Volunteers

"'living simply makes loving simple.' - bell hooks"

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
1,245 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

90

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

2.0

community events

hosted or attended
UP TO

93

pieces of litter

picked up
UP TO

2.0

documentaries

watched
UP TO

1.0

conversation

with a person
UP TO

49

plastic containers

not sent to the landfill

dana's actions

Community

Keep My Community Clean

I will pick up 3 piece(s) of litter each day.

COMPLETED 31
DAILY ACTIONS

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.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Family

Swap the Snacks

I will swap out 1 prepackaged snacks a day for fresh fruits or veggies.

COMPLETED 22
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

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

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

Personal Care

Back in the Bowl

I will purchase refillable beauty products.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Host a House Party

I will host a house party with friends and/or colleagues to watch a movie or present a guest speaker on plastics.

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

Food

Plant a Garden

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

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Visit A Waste Management Facility

I will visit a local dump/transfer station, material recovery facility, and/or landfill to learn about the waste stream.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Minimize Packaging

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

COMPLETED 25
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?

dana wu 7/31/2019 2:33 PM

way to go Seattle Aquarium peers! we're finishing strong in this year's challenge and looking forward to announcing winners, and hearing feedback from everyone as we move into august!

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dana wu 7/30/2019 2:34 PM

only one more day left to the challenge - keep up the great work everyone and stay tuned after the challenge to see more prizes become available to multiple participants!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Personal Care Back in the Bowl

Why is it so difficult to understand the impacts our purchases and waste have on other people, animals, and places? How might your experience with this challenge impact your future consumption and choices?

dana wu 7/30/2019 2:30 PM

i don't think it's personally that difficult or challenging - esp. as i think i take the time to research and consider reciprocity and resources that go into shipping, processing, production, disposal, etc. i think it can be most challenging at times when i or others are in a rush, don't / can not make the time to plan in advance in our current modern culture, don't have the monetary or other resources to make different choices, etc. i think this challenge is a great reminder for me to reflect inward on my progress and where i can continue to learn and grow my lifestyle and habits to become less reliant on plastics. it's also a great opportunity for me to lead, mentor, share, and dialogue with my friends and colleagues what i've learned and how we can work together to share resources and make collective impacts.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Lifestyle Complete a Waste Audit

What did you learn about the waste you create? Where can you reduce the most?

dana wu 7/30/2019 2:24 PM

the first waste audit i ever did was back in my first year of undergrad for an environmental studies class. we carried around a clear plastic bag and for a week, put everything in there and hauled it behind our backs - instead of chucking our waste into the trash cans. it made a HUGE difference in shifting my perspective of waste really quickly!

i would've really liked to have completed this challenge this year to see what my current status is in terms of waste production. if i could make a hypothesis, i would venture a guess to say i can improve the most in the area of plastic packaging (esp. for food like cheese, half and half, meat products, etc.)

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Lifestyle Watch a Documentary

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

dana wu 7/30/2019 2:19 PM

last week we watched PLASTIC CHINA, and i learned what it took to sort through plastic waste that's exported out to china - the kinds of negative health impacts and adverse (economic and environmental) conditions that result from this dirty work. i learned that there are nearly 5,000 plastic processing farms in the one village being highlighted. i learned that prilling is the term used to make a product into pellets, in order to simplify handling and reduce dust.

i also learned that some of my colleagues and peers are interested in learning about this complex and large scale plastic issue, in a more intersectional manner!

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dana wu 7/28/2019 10:09 PM

took a trip down memory lane this weekend, hiked out to chilean memorial (from rialto beach) and did a sweep on the way back south - was surprised to see how relatively clean it was, but then again there were tons of campers near hole in the wall, and i didn't want to invasively comb through backshore where they were set up. some items i picked up included:

* one flip flop
* one gill net float
* lots of small styrofoam pieces
* strapping band
* rope
* bottle caps

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dana wu 7/25/2019 10:43 AM

PLASTIC CHINA movie night was a great success! thanks to the 8 CEaLers who showed up, ate delicious Ethiopian food together, and discussed themes of economics of waste stream, lack of education, capitalism, consumerism and culture of convenience, and how it all intersects together with both human and environmental health impacts. such good discussions - looking forward to more intersectional learning opportunities in the near future!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Community Visit A Waste Management Facility

Landfills and recycling centers tell us a lot about our communities and purchasing habits. What did you glean from your visit?

dana wu 7/24/2019 12:22 PM

this week, during our planning team's milkshake meeting, we discussed ideas including this field trip and will bike rack it for 2020 potentially! again, i may have been too over ambitious - i've never been before to a waste management site (only cedar grove composting - i don't really count that one though) and it's been on my list for some time. looking forward to making it a reality in the near future if not sooner!

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dana wu 7/23/2019 4:50 PM

soooooo excited for tomorrow evening's movie night with all staff ! we'll be watching and discussing the documentary movie PLASTIC CHINA over delicious Ethiopian dinner! vegetarian and gluten-free options available, please feel free to bring your own snacks and food to supplement also!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Plant a Garden

Besides having access to fresh herbs and vegetables, what benefits will you see from growing your own garden?

dana wu 7/23/2019 4:48 PM

i spent 2 years growing my own veggies in a p-patch garden before, and i miss it dearly! don't know if i will be able to make time this year to get it started in my backyard beds:( may have been a lil over ambitious this time around.....

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