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 3
DAILY ACTIONS
Community
Share My Actions
I will make my environmental actions visible by sharing about them on my social media networks and the Plastic Free Ecochallenge participant feed.
COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS
Bedroom
Catch Those Microfibers
I will use a microfiber catcher in my laundry, or install a microfiber filter for my washing machine.
COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
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.
UNCOMPLETED
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
Study
Buy Only What I Need
I will not buy anything except items required for health and safety.
COMPLETED 14
DAILY ACTIONS
Study
Dig into Bioplastics
I will spend at least 30 minutes researching the impacts of bioplastics and how to properly dispose of them in my city, and I will share this information with 2 friends, family, and/or colleagues.
UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Community
Learn about Environmental Justice
Using the action resource links below, my family will spend 30 minutes learning about environmental justice, causes of environmental injustice, and how plastic waste disproportionately impacts already vulnerable communities.
UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Community
Give Some Green Gratitude
I will give a shout-out on social media to a local company, coworker, friend or family member for their plastic free or green efforts.
UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Community
Keep My Community Clean
I will pick up 3 piece(s) of litter each day.
COMPLETED 25
DAILY ACTIONS
Community
Days for Girls @ the Zoo
Come by the Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo on Saturday, July 8, 10 am - 1 pm and chat with volunteers from Days for Girls. They will be giving out FREE reusable washable pads (for menstruation and incontinence) and beds for companion animals made by volunteers at the North Florida Sewing Center.
COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Kitchen
Cook a Plastic Free Meal
I will prepare meals at home each day without using any items packaged in single-use plastic.
COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION
Family + Pets
Mend broken toys
Instead of replacing toys when they break, fix them.
Every time I participate in this challenge, I find that around the 3/4 mark, I start to waver in my actions. I don't know if it has to do with what I have going on in July or if it's a mid month funk. Anyone else experiencing this? How are you motivating yourself at this point in the challenge?
I don't know if this helps, but I have noticed a certain tiredness I feel now. I've decided that it has to do with my discouragement with what I see around me (went to Publix today and watched so many people come out with plastic bags) as well as my acceptance that the actions I've taken thus far are all I can do at this time. I am absolutely imperfect in my plastic free life, but I'm doing the best I can for now. I motivate myself with the thought that I'm being true to myself and my values and that my choices do make a difference, even if I can't see it right now. I try to find joy in the fact that my husband and children recycle better than they did a few years ago and that when they are in doubt about recycling something, they come to me and ask.
Awww. That is so creative an cute! I bet your pooch appreciates being able to still play with his favorite rehabbed toys! When our cats have completely slobbered over their catnip toys and worn out the smell, I hand wash and then dry them and stick them into a fresh bag of catnip so they can still enjoy them.
Great idea and helps them last even longer! My parents have a couple dachshund's and they destroy every toy that crosses their path. Would love to find something that would be indestructible from them!
In 2020, in a frenzy to ensure I had paper products since they were flying off shelves, I got a large roll of brown paper towels from our local plastic-free shop, Life UnPlastic. Shortly after, I invested in some reusable napkins (rainbow colors so my daughter could get excited about using them) and cheap rags. Every time we used a napkin, it went in the wash until I had a full load to run the cycle. Nervous to grow bacteria on my wet cloths, I got command hooks so they could hang in my kitchen to dry out fully between uses.
And here I am, over three years later, and this is what is left of that paper towel roll. I've mainly used it to pick up dog messes and put fried food on. Three years later, it still exists. The New York Post reported about a survey conducted in 2020, that found the average respondents to the survey said they used around 145 rolls of paper towels a year, translating to an average of over $10,500 spent on them in a lifetime (https://nypost.com/2020/08/25/how-americans-are-literally-flushing-thousands-of-dollars-down-the-toilet/)! What?! While I was intrinsically motivated to switch to reusables, you can't deny, the savings is a HUGE bonus. Not to mention, those rolls come wrapped in plastic most of the time.
I wanted to share this with the team to stress that reducing single-use plastic in our lives is a process. It starts with a goal and a series of steps to set yourself up for success. It takes time to get your household on board (and patience - no shaming!), it takes some planning and creativity, and it takes grace for ourselves as we have slip ups along the way. It's why I love Plastic Free EcoChallenge. Every year, I really commit to a goal and get 31 days to practice. We can do this, one step at a time.
Great job! My daughter (25) is the biggest violator of our paper towel rolls! I think she thinks they grow on trees! LOL. We purchase the "select-a-size" paper towels as we found many years ago that the full size is too much than we need. I will take my skinny piece and fold in half to use at dinner, then reuse my paper towel multiple times until time to dispose of. I don't feel I am a messy eater and if I lived by myself, I could probably get away with not even going through a whole role in a year! I am looking to the days when my daughter will be moving out (6-9 months from now) and we can save money on paper towels!
Thanks to making bread for the first time last night, I was finally able to achieve one of my goals of making a plastic free meal. I made delicious avocado toast.
Jade, congratulations on that accomplishment. I have become so discouraged with paying high prices for bread and throwing away the plastic that it comes wrapped in that I have finally found an extremely easy and forgiving bread recipe that I'm going to try this evening! It even recommended using a clay baking pot, which I didn't have but which I found at the Repurpose Project today. Thank you for inspiring me to do this.
My daughter and I made bread from scratch for the first time. It was really fun mixing the ingredients and kneading the dough together. Can't wait to try a more complicated recipe next time!
I researched both options thoroughly. After much debate, I went with the Cora Ball. While the Guppyfriend Wash Bag seemed more effective in catching a higher percent of microfibers, it can only hold a small amount of items. Since I do larger loads to reduce my energy and water use, the Cora Ball seemed like the best fit because it can get thrown into any size load. I think it will be easy to add into my routine since I already use wool balls for my dryer.
Krystina Jarvis 7/01/2023 9:36 AMI'd love to hear how you like it! I have the Guppyfriend bag but I've been so curious about Cora Ball!