Rozia Francis

I will record a 15-20 second video sharing why I am taking action for the planet.

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.

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.

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.

The plastic industry has convinced us that some plastic bags are "trash bags," while others are just "trash." Instead of throwing empty bags away (such as bread bags, pet food bags, etc.), I will reuse them as trash bags.

Get creative in the kitchen (or the garden)! Before tossing food scraps, I'll explore other ways to utilize the scraps and give them another life.

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.

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.

Who says saving money and saving the planet don't go together? Using an app like Too Good To Go or Flashfood, I'll help rescue food from local bakeries, restaurants, and grocery stores that would otherwise go to waste.

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.

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!

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.

Plastic production, not just disposal, pollutes communities and harms people. I will learn about the impacts of plastic production on humans, animals, communities, and the environment.

I will spend 30 minutes learning about the costs of fast fashion and begin trying to practice sustainable fashion in my own life.

Greenwashing can fool even the most experienced eco-advocate. This month, I will spend 30 minutes learning what greenwashing is, how to spot it, and what I can do about it.

When we wash our clothes, the heat and friction causes our clothes to wear down, releasing microfibers into the water stream. To combat and prevent these microfibers as much as possible, in addition to following best laundry practices, I will use a microfiber catcher in my laundry, or install a microfiber filter for my washing machine.

Single-use plastics are everywhere, but that wasn't always the case. I will spend at least 30 minutes learning about the history of single-use plastics and how it became ubiquitous in our daily lives.

Our tax dollars are subsidizing the fossil fuel industry, making the cost of plastics artificially low and encouraging further plastics production. I will spend 30 minutes learning about oil subsidies and how I can advocate for their elimination.

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 30 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.

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 30 minutes learning about what happens to returns and how I can make better purchasing decisions to avoid returns in the future.

Read an article about public transit and the ongoing mission they have to reduce pollution and move towards sustainable transportation options. They also have a connection to plastic recycling programs. Goal is to put out more information about public transits (bus, rail or train) affects on the environment.

The reality of being eco-friendly has some limitations. Gathering the information and understanding it can be easily accessible but putting those actions into practice is very limiting. If I wanted to do an environmental cleanup they are always in places far away. Or some grocery stores in certain areas will not have eco-friendly items available for purchase but will have them in stores further away. So having the knowledge but not being able to apply it can be one reason there’s delays in people taking actions to save the environment.

One of the biggest challenge to reduce plastic use is to find alternatives. However, this may be a little difficult for individuals that deal with health care needs. There are many bathroom soaps that have plastic free options but contain products that can be a irritant to individuals with skin allergies. So, there is a compromise to select products in plastic bottles that can be recycled but the disadvantage is not being able to use plastic free products.

Throughout the process of learning about plastic and it’s affects on the environment it was prevalent to learn that a-lot of low income neighbors seem to be the dumping grounds for the plastic by-products. This causes an increase in disease exposure and decrease in the care of the environments in these areas. It would be good to look at the different criteria’s of companies/governments that make low income environment the ideal locations for these byproducts.

Gardening is one way to be involved in environmental work. A patio garden is innovative and allows creative to grow. The ability to grow a small portion of vegetables out of garden pot may not have a big impact on reducing plastic but in a way allows for an individual to have a connection to the food they consume.

Most conventional shower curtain liners are made from polyvinyl chloride (or PVC), which contains chlorine, phthalates, and plasticizers, and typically need replaced often. When it's time to replace my shower curtain liner, I will replace it with a plastic-free option and research the best ways to care for it.

Who says we need 5 blades and a ribbon of shaving cream on every $5 razor blade cartridge, when a single blade causes less irritation and costs 92% less? This month, I will replace my disposable razors with steel razors.

Travel-size toiletries aren't just more expensive per ounce, they also have a higher plastic-to-contents ratio, and result in over 980 tonnes (2.2 million pounds) of plastic waste each year. If traveling this month, I will reuse my old travel tubes to refill with my soaps or only bring bar soaps with me.

An estimated 50,000lbs (23,000kg) of contact lenses end up in sewage sludge in the US each year. This month, I will learn how to recycle used contact lenses and packaging or switch to wearing glasses instead.

I will teach my little ones about microplastics while we do a craft project together using glitter alternatives.

Although a long-standing festive tradition, balloons are harmful for animals and the environment. I will spend 5 learning about the dangers of balloons and find eco-friendly alternatives to use instead.

Surface cleaners, glass cleaners, floor cleaners, oven cleaners, toilet cleaners...there's a whole lot of plastic waste involved in cleaning our homes - plus ingredients that can be harmful to aquatic ecosystems and our health. This month, I will make my own cleaning products or choose plastic-free, refillable options.