Denise Blevins

Don't forget to celebrate the good! This month, I will give shout-outs on social media, my office's internal communication channels, or the Participant Feed to a local company, coworker, friend, or family member for their sustainable efforts.

I will host or participate in a beach, highway, river, or other cleanup effort in my community.

Every time we tumble dry our laundry, our clothes' lifespans get a little shorter. The lint trap is evidence of the shedding fibers and our clothes slowly losing their quality. The less time our clothes need to be in the dryer, the longer they'll last. So this month, I will clean my dryer's interior and exterior air vents to help the dryer work more efficiently (and extend the life of the dryer!).

While most stores offer lenient return policies, what actually happens to all of those returns? I will spend 10 minutes learning about what happens to returns and how I can make better purchasing decisions to avoid returns in the future.

Prioritizing whole foods is one of the most effective ways to avoid single-use plastic in the kitchen, since most whole foods can be purchased without any packaging. This month, I will prepare 1 whole foods-based meals at home each day.

Eliminating 100% of all plastic from our lives simply isn't possible. Throughout this month, I will embrace imperfection in my plastic-free journey while exploring and testing new ways to reduce my plastic footprint.

The only thing worse than a single-use item is a zero-use item! I will use (and use up) what I already have in my home before buying something new.

Every single textile ever made will, at some point, become worn out - and dealing with that waste costs millions of tax dollars every year. I will spend 60 minutes learning about the different types of textile recycling and creating a plan for what I'll do with my clothes and other textiles when they are too worn out to use anymore.

Whether I'm at work, on the go, or having food delivered, I will keep 1 plastic cutlery out of the landfill per day by using my own reusable cutlery.

Produce doesn't need to be stored in plastic bags to stay fresh! I will learn how to properly store my produce to extend its freshness without single-use plastic.

Help us make the Plastic Free Ecochallenge the best it can be! Take the challenge pre-survey (and look out for the post-survey at the end of the challenge!) so we can better understand the impact the challenge has and how we can improve in the future. Plus, you'll earn points for completing it! Thank you!

To extend the life of my ink cartridges, I will set my printer default to draft mode to use less ink or toner per print job.

I will purchase unpackaged produce at the grocery store or at the farmer's market.

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.

There's value in our old electronics! This month, I will properly recycle any old laptops, tablets, cell phones, or other electronics I have lying around so the raw materials can be reused and reduce demand for virgin materials - thereby also protecting critical wildlife habitat for animals such as gorillas and forest elephants.

While it can be tempting to throw away (or drop off at Goodwill) any and everything that no longer brings us joy, there are so many options that are better for the planet! This month, I will declutter my home and properly dispose or re-home the things I no longer want.

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.

In addition to refusing and reducing my consumption of single-use plastics, I will pick up 1 piece(s) of litter each day of the Plastic Free Ecochallenge.