Emily Blum

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!

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

I will not buy anything except items required for health and safety.

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.

Science has shown that focused time in nature calms our over-worked frontal lobe and gives space for the areas of our brain associated with emotions, pleasure, and empathy to take over, providing a sense of calm that is measurable in brain scans and even blood tests. Each day this month, I will spend 20 minutes outside in nature, and share my observations, reflections, and learnings on the Participant Feed.

There are many benefits to enjoying meatless meals - including reducing our plastic footprint. Most meats and dairy products are packaged in plastic, so this month, I will reduce my animal product consumption and enjoy 1 vegetarian or vegan meals each day.

Whenever possible, I will not accept any disposable bags when shopping, including produce bags. I will either use my own reusable bags, or keep my items loose.

Because many tea bags and most sleeves and sachets contain plastic, I will switch to using loose leaf tea.

I will swap out my single use plastic bags for a pooper-scooper.

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.