Suzannah Yu

Seattle Aquarium - Staff & Volunteers

"Staying mindful and continuing to be a conscious consumer. "

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
688 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

4.0

conversations

with people
UP TO

10

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

35

pieces of litter

picked up
UP TO

16

plastic containers

not sent to the landfill

Suzannah's actions

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

Lifestyle

Buy Only What I Need

I will not buy anything except items required for health and safety.

COMPLETED 16
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Buy Unpackaged Produce

I will purchase produce items without plastic packaging.

COMPLETED 16
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Use Reusable Bags

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

COMPLETED 16
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Lobby for Reusables

I will lobby my workplace to have reusable dishes and silverware in order to minimize disposables.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Family

Discover Together

I will spend 5 minutes educating my family on the basics of living a reduced/no-plastic lifestyle.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Keep My Community Clean

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

COMPLETED 7
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Minimize Packaging

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

COMPLETED 15
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?

REFLECTION QUESTION
Lifestyle Buy Only What I Need

As you have reduced your spending, what have you noticed about your 'health and safety' purchasing habits? How might this change your longer term purchasing decisions?

Suzannah Yu 7/20/2019 12:34 PM

I noticed how important it is for us, as consumers, to question whether we really need another item, and to determine if it is worth purchasing something with an environmental cost that would might only marginally improve our lives. For the long term, I think having this questioning mindset will be important for each purchasing decision. That also includes whether to freely accept freebies!

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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?

Suzannah Yu 7/20/2019 12:30 PM

Produce might be prepackaged in plastic in order to encourage the consumer to purchase a set amount of the item (usually more than the consumer intended). Harder plastic packaging is useful for items that are easily bruised like raspberries, and would allow the packages to be stacked. In that instance, it benefits both the producer and consumer to be able to bring the berries back without squishing any.

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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?

Suzannah Yu 7/20/2019 12:23 PM

Single use plastic packages the majority of the items in the store! I find that to avoid all of the plastic packaging, choosing items from the out perimeter of the store (fruits, veggies) are the main areas I choose from.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Use Reusable Bags

How difficult was this challenge for you? What made it easy or difficult?

Suzannah Yu 7/20/2019 12:21 PM

This challenge has been relatively easy for me to accomplish because of a convenient foldable tote bag that folds up into a pocket sized rectangle, which can be easily taken with me everywhere I go.

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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.

Suzannah Yu 7/20/2019 12:16 PM

My greatest concern for the planet is the way in which we consume without being mindful of the other organisms that also consider this world to be their home.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Lobby for Reusables

What are some of the cases you could make to an employer for why switching to durable dishes and utensils is actually in their best interest as well?

Suzannah Yu 7/20/2019 12:13 PM

While the investment for durable dishes and utensils may cost more at the onset, overtime, the cost for constantly purchasing compostable plates will outweigh the benefits of convenience. Durable dishes and utensils also results in less compost, which means changing and tossing out the compost bins will have to occur less frequently.

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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?

Suzannah Yu 7/17/2019 9:57 AM

I was definitely surprised to see the break down of which category I am using the most plastic. It is very helpful for targeting future waste reduction efforts.

Read More