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Welcome to Plastic Free Ecochallenge 2023!

Watch the short video below to learn the basics.
You'll be an Plastic Free Ecochallenge 2023 expert in no time!

Coalition of North American Zoos and Aquariums
Plastic Free Ecochallenge 2023
July 1 - July 31, 2023
Laurie Lacey's avatar

Laurie Lacey

ABQ BioPark

"Taking Care of the Planet We Love"

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 1,021 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    96
    pieces of litter
    picked up
  • UP TO
    2.0
    plastic containers
    not sent to the landfill
  • UP TO
    50
    minutes
    spent learning

Laurie's actions

Community

Keep My Community Clean

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

COMPLETED 20
DAILY ACTIONS

Study

Numbers Everywhere

The numbers #1-7 on plastics tell us a lot - and can help us be better recyclers. I will learn what these numbers mean and which types of plastics are accepted for recycling in my area.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Study

Follow the Chasing Arrows

The chasing arrows symbol we associate with recycling doesn't always actually mean something is recyclable. I will spend at least 10 minutes learning the different meanings the symbol can have.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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

Community

Research Local Waste Sites

I will spend 30 minutes finding out where landfills and/or toxic waste sites are situated in my region and which communities are most impacted by these sites.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Kitchen

Try a New Recipe

I will try new recipe(s) or food preparation method(s) each day, such as canning, pickling, making yogurt, or baking granola bars or bread.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Kitchen

Swap the Snacks

I will swap out 4 prepackaged snacks a day for fresh fruits or veggies.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Participant Feed

  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Study
    Recycling right requires both systemic change and personal and community awareness. How can you expand what you've learned about the chasing arrows symbol to encourage broader changes in your community?
    Laurie Lacey's avatar
    Laurie Lacey 7/31/2023 2:00 PM
    Challenges, such as this one, raise our awareness and keep it honed in on our daily activities so that we can examine and improve habits always with the goal of lessening our impact on our environment. We carry that forward in all we do: examine - improve!
    Read More
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Kitchen
    How does swapping out prepackaged snacks for fresh fruit or veggies benefit your family?
    Laurie Lacey's avatar
    Laurie Lacey 7/31/2023 1:55 PM
    This one is a no brainer. The ‘snacks’ available that abound in kids lunch boxes are nutrition poor and calorie intense. Learn to love the freshness of mangos, and carrots and berries and plums, etc. etc. - the variety is amazing.
    Read More
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Kitchen
    How do you feel about being more involved in the food preparation process? Joyful, overwhelmed, engaged, empowered? What are the benefits of choosing to process or produce your own food instead of buying it pre-processed?
    Laurie Lacey's avatar
    Laurie Lacey 7/31/2023 1:53 PM
    I love cooking and this time of year tomatoes are the best! Each year I make and freeze, in glass containers, tomato soup. So delicious - using the summer’s energy all winter long.
    Read More
  • Laurie Lacey's avatar
    Laurie Lacey 7/27/2023 8:17 PM
    Have you heard of Dr. Tung’s smart floss? Dental floss in paper packaging! Very eco-friendly. I’ve never seen it in a store but Amazon has it and it’s wonderful. Just say no to plastic packaged dental floss.
    Read More
    • Christina Gonzalez's avatar
      Christina Gonzalez 7/31/2023 10:03 AM
      Cool! I have been using Dr. Tung's (cute name) floss this month! It works well. I have bought mine at Whole Foods.
      Read More
  • Laurie Lacey's avatar
    Laurie Lacey 7/25/2023 1:31 PM
    Spent the morning shredding paper for the primates and while it isn’t plastic, it is certainly ‘waste’ so all 7 bags of papers got repurposed and other resources weren’t used to supply bedding. Keeping the big picture in mind…
    Read More
    • Makenna Griffith's avatar
      Makenna Griffith 7/26/2023 8:37 PM
      Another positive is that paper biodegrades and is compostable! I feel horrible when I use a paper towel but then I throw it in my worm bin and feel a tiny bit better so you’ve got this!
      Read More
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Community
    In what neighborhoods or areas of your region are landfills or other waste sites located? Which communities are most affected by these locations?
    Laurie Lacey's avatar
    Laurie Lacey 7/20/2023 1:25 PM
    At Valle de Oro Natl. Wildlife Refuge in the South Valley, they are surrounded by commercial sites. The visitor’s center offers a QR code for a ‘toxic tour’ of the surrounding areas with ‘super fund’ sites. Work at the refuge helps to monitor water/soil/plant health that is impacted by the historical and current use of much of the area around it. It was an eye opener about how bad the community has been effected.
    Read More
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Study
    Were you surprised by what the different plastic identification numbers mean? How can this information help you become a better recycler?
    Laurie Lacey's avatar
    Laurie Lacey 7/08/2023 1:46 PM
    I wonder that the burden of getting rid of plastics always falls on the consumer and yet, how can we keep up as long as corporations continue to spew out more? I do think there are many alternatives and corporations are slow to change how they operate. Putting a number on a plastic, even if it is ‘potentially’ recyclable does not fix the problem for a number of reasons (market for recyclables, transporting, etc.). We need our government (EPA?) to take action.
    Read More
    • Makenna Griffith's avatar
      Makenna Griffith 7/08/2023 2:33 PM
      Warning may contain adult/mature content: https://liquiddeath.com/pages/death-to-plastic is a canned water company that’s entire goal is to bring DEATH to plastics! At one point they sold prepaid stamps to send single use plastics back to pepsi and coke for them to dispose of instead of staying in landfills
      Read More
  • Laurie Lacey's avatar
    Laurie Lacey 7/06/2023 2:31 PM
    I know that a dwindling number of people receive a printed newspaper but surely there is a better way to deliver the paper than a plastic bag or rubber band - both offenders. This would especially apply to ABQ since we rarely have to deal with wet weather. Has anyone heard of/seen a better way?
    Read More
    • Deb Cook's avatar
      Deb Cook 7/11/2023 6:36 PM
      Great question Laurie! I bet there are other cities out there that have navigated away from heavy plastic bag use for newspapers.
      I just may investigate!
      Read More
    • REBECCA VAUGHAN's avatar
      REBECCA VAUGHAN 7/06/2023 9:29 PM
      good point
      Read More
  • Laurie Lacey's avatar
    Laurie Lacey 7/03/2023 2:20 PM
    I found out that 1-7 plastics can be recycled and what they are repurposed for. For example, a number 5, PP (polypropylene) is recycled to make brooms, ice scrapers, and rakes. CABQ accepts 1-7 plastics but says “bottle/tubs”. Does that mean those are the only plastics that they recycle? If that is true, are all those take-out containers considered tubs or put in the land fill? What about egg cartons? Recycling is not as simple as filling a blue bucket.
    Read More
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Community
    How does the act of picking up litter connect you more to your community?
    Laurie Lacey's avatar
    Laurie Lacey 7/02/2023 6:21 AM
    Shared responsibility=Shared benefits
    Read More