Libby Hayes

OKC Zoo and Botanical Garden

"And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good."

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
396 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

1.0

pieces plastic cutlery

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

4.0

plastic straws

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

5.0

pieces of litter

picked up
UP TO

2.0

plastic containers

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

10

minutes

spent learning

Libby's actions

Community

Keep My Community Clean

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

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Family + Pets

Homemade Pet Treats

I will prepare my own pet treats to avoid plastic packaging.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Family + Pets

Balloons Blow

Although a long-standing festive tradition, balloons are harmful for animals and the environment. I will spend 10 learning about the dangers of balloons and find eco-friendly alternatives to use instead.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Kitchen

Skip Plastic Bags

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

COMPLETED 2
DAILY ACTIONS

Study

Say No to Styrofoam

Throughout its life cycle, polystyrene (styrofoam) can harm people, communities, and the planet. I will refuse styrofoam whenever I can, making sure to kindly let people know why I'm asking for alternative packaging.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Family + Pets

Purchasing plant based items that are normally plastic.

Many new options for purchasing plant based items relate to your electronics, from purchasing plant based cell phone cases or pop its. You don't have to give up your safety and comfort with your devices, just make different choices.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Family + Pets

Get Rid of Glitter

I will teach my little ones about microplastics while we do a craft project together using glitter alternatives.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Kitchen

Use Reusable Utensils

I will keep 1 plastic cutlery out of the landfill per day by using my own reusable cutlery.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Kitchen

Go Strawless

I will keep 1 plastic straw(s) out of the landfill per day by refusing straws or using my own reusable straw.

COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS

Participant Feed

Libby Hayes 7/14/2023 6:51 PM
Michelle in Elephants and I are looking into finding a recycling program for the hay bale string. I've heard that some plastic bag recycling will take it too! Let us know if you have an 'in' for this, we want to be better environmental stewards with our 'necessities' at the zoo!

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- Brittany Alvarez 7/15/2023 7:16 PM
  Great idea! This reminded me of a video I saw of a person accepting dog, cat, bird, etc. food bags and turning them into totes. Would be great to be able to recycle the hay string and all of these grain/dry food bags too!
  
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- Amalia Friess 7/14/2023 9:56 PM
  Love this!
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Kitchen

How can you be an advocate for using reusables instead of disposables for the rest of your community? Where are they currently dependent on disposable food packaging or eating utensils, and how can you convince them of the need for change?
Libby Hayes 7/12/2023 9:41 AM
It is easy to be an example at work utilizing reusable utensils because everyone is bringing their own lunches the majority of the time. It's harder at public gatherings. I try to be an advocate at my house with house guests when even my own husband suggests plastic ware or paper plates instead of our dishes. I would rather run another load of dishes than use disposable items unnecessarily.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Family + Pets

How can you and your little one exercise your creativity without creating more plastic waste?
Libby Hayes 7/12/2023 9:38 AM
We created slime over my weekend as an activity with my kids. Lots of people opt to add glitter to their slime to make it more visually appealing, but we try not to use glitter in any of our craft projects, especially if they are not a permanent crafted item.

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Libby Hayes 7/12/2023 9:37 AM
I bought a plant-based pop socket replacement this weekend when my old one broke. Easy choices that make a difference! And it wasn't even more expensive!

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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?
Libby Hayes 7/07/2023 9:34 AM
I have been trying to communicate the environmental impacts of balloons to my church because they regularly make balloon arches as a way to decorate and create a photo op for the church. This most recent decorations had way less balloons than they've used in the past!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Kitchen

How difficult was this challenge for you? What made it easy or difficult?
Libby Hayes 7/07/2023 9:32 AM
I counted a ziploc bag as my bag saved from the landfill today. When bringing in chips to work, I normally bring them in the bag they come in, but due to needing to split it between my family today, I used a reusable ziploc bag instead!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Kitchen

Have you noticed a shift in your community as more messaging about reusable straws becomes mainstream? Cite some examples.
Libby Hayes 7/07/2023 9:31 AM
No. I feel that all restaurants still automatically give you straws. There would be a bigger shift in the community if it became common standard for restaurants to ask first instead of handing it to you first.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Family + Pets

How could you reduce your waste even further (i.e. by making pet treats out of kitchen scraps or about-to-go-bad produce)?
Libby Hayes 7/07/2023 9:29 AM
I already feed about-to-go-bad produce. My dogs regularly eat bananas and carrots, etc that are starting to get soft.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Community

How does the act of picking up litter connect you more to your community?
Libby Hayes 7/07/2023 9:28 AM
Picking up litter connects me to my community by helping beautify it and being an example to others that see me pick up litter. They can be inspired to be like you.

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