Malti Dudakia

Each year, approximately 2% of all fishing gear used globally is lost to the sea, becoming "ghost gear" and continuing to impact marine animals. This month, I will reduce my seafood consumption and enjoy 2 vegetarian or vegan meals each day.

Just because something is past its "expiration date," it might not actually be expired! I will spend 30 minutes learning about the difference between best by, use by, and sell by dates and how to tell if my food is actually expired.

Natural cork is a sustainable, renewable, and biodegradable material, but many wineries are switching to synthetic corks for their wine bottles. Using a database like CORKWatch, I will choose wines with a natural cork closure, and properly compost or recycle them after enjoying my wine.

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.

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.

Using your dishwasher doesn't just save water! I will use my dishwasher whenever possible to extend the life of my sponges and dish cloths, and shed less microfibers from them.

Vegetable broth cartons are not easily recycled and often not accepted for recycling at all. To avoid or reduce my use of these cartons, I will save my vegetable scraps and fresh herb stems to make homemade vegetable broth instead.

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.

Pinterest may want you to think that you need a cupboard full of matching mason jars, but reusing what we already have is one of the best ways to reduce our waste. This month, instead of recycling glass jars (such as pasta sauce, pickles, and salsa jars), I will save them to reuse for food storage.