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Karen Flanigan's avatar

Karen Flanigan

NJDEP - Eco Ninjas

"Time to break free from single-use plastic! "

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 1,061 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    1.0
    plastic bottle
    not sent to the landfill
  • UP TO
    2.0
    pieces of litter
    picked up
  • UP TO
    17
    plastic containers
    not sent to the landfill
  • UP TO
    70
    minutes
    spent learning

Karen's actions

Kitchen

Skip Plastic Bags

When possible, I will not use disposable bags when shopping, including produce bags.

COMPLETED 7
DAILY ACTIONS

Kitchen

Swap the Snacks

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

COMPLETED 4
DAILY ACTIONS

Study

Learn about Plastic Production

Plastic production, not just disposal, pollutes communities and harms people. I will learn about the impacts of plastic production on humans, animals, communities, and the environment.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Bathroom

See the Green

I will recycle used contact lenses and packaging.

COMPLETED 4
DAILY ACTIONS

Bedroom

Practice Sustainable Fashion

I will spend 30 minutes learning about the costs of fast fashion and begin trying to practice sustainable fashion in my own life.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Keep My Community Clean

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

COMPLETED 2
DAILY ACTIONS

Bathroom

Skip contacts; wear glasses

I selected the recyle contacts action, but have choosen to wear my glasses instead the past few days That's better...reduce use of disposable contacts.

COMPLETED 17
DAILY ACTIONS

Family + Pets

Balloons Blow

Although a long-standing festive tradition, balloons are harmful for animals and the environment. I will spend 20 learning about the dangers of balloons and find eco-friendly alternatives to use instead.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Study

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

Kitchen

Glass Bottle Baby

I will replace 1 plastic bottles with glass or stainless steel alternatives.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Participant Feed

  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Kitchen
    How difficult was this challenge for you? What made it easy or difficult?

    Karen Flanigan's avatar
    Karen Flanigan 7/23/2023 3:48 PM
    Bringing bags to the grocery store is programmed, but I'm not yet programmed to take them in to all stores. I do carry more than I should instead of accepting a bag. That has only ended in disaster a few times.

    • Heather Sampey's avatar
      Heather Sampey 7/28/2023 7:03 AM
      I agree with you on this! I find a lot of times I forget to bring my bags into the store, even though I pack them in my car. Its not quite programmed in my mind yet to bring them in with me. Working on it though! lol.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Family + Pets
    Had you ever considered the environmental impact of balloons before? How can you share this information with your friends and family to encourage them to avoid balloons, too?

    Karen Flanigan's avatar
    Karen Flanigan 7/16/2023 6:55 AM
    I remember as a kid being super upset when balloons were released at the Olympics Opening Ceremonies one year. And all these years later people still do it...but luckily a lot of kids guilt their adults out of it with "you're killing sea turtles!"...
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Bedroom
    How can you express your personality, creativity, and values in ways that don't require fast fashion or buying more clothes and accessories?

    Karen Flanigan's avatar
    Karen Flanigan 7/02/2023 10:55 AM
    Thoughts on the fashion audit- With fewer stores where you can go and pick clothes yourself, we are forced to shop online, and end up returning things... shipping them twice. Yikes!

  • Karen Flanigan's avatar
    Karen Flanigan 7/01/2023 8:35 AM
    Here we go! Ready, Ninjas?

  • Karen Flanigan's avatar
    Karen Flanigan 6/05/2023 9:45 AM
    Back for another EcoChallenge!