Lisa Garriott

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 60 minutes outside in nature, and share my observations, reflections, and learnings on the Participant Feed.

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.

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!

Instead of buying new plastic highlighters, I will simply use colored pencils instead for all of my highlighting needs.

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.

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.

The chasing arrows symbol we associate with recycling doesn't always actually mean something is recyclable. I will spend at least 30 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.

I will lobby my workplace to have reusable dishes and silverware in order to minimize disposables.

The numbers #1-7 on plastics tell us a lot - and can help us be better recyclers. I will learn what these numbers mean and which types of plastics are accepted for recycling in my area.

In addition to refusing and reducing my consumption of single-use plastics, I will pick up 10 piece(s) of litter each day of the Plastic Free Ecochallenge.

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.