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 15 minutes outside in nature, and share my observations, reflections, and learnings on the Participant Feed.
COMPLETED 18
DAILY ACTIONS
Community
Share My Actions
One of the best ways we can create change in our communities is simply by talking about it! This month, I will make my environmental actions visible by sharing about them on my social media networks and the Plastic Free Ecochallenge participant feed.
COMPLETED 18
DAILY ACTIONS
Kitchen
Skip Plastic Bags
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.
COMPLETED 19
DAILY ACTIONS
Kitchen
Use a Reusable Mug
Even just one to-go coffee or tea a week adds up to 52 trashed cups in a year! I will avoid sending 2 disposable cups to the landfill per day by using a reusable mug or travel cup.
COMPLETED 31
DAILY ACTIONS
Kitchen
Fill a Water Bottle
Bottled water corporations make plastic bottles, not water. If the tap water in my area is safe for consumption, I will use a reusable bottle instead and stop purchasing bottled water, saving 1 disposable plastic bottles a day.
COMPLETED 24
DAILY ACTIONS
Study
Estimate Your Ecological Footprint
I will calculate my ecological footprint, and from the results brainstorm and take action on ways I can reduce my annual footprint.
COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Family + Pets
Take the pre-survey!
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!
COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Community
Give Some Green Gratitude
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.
COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Participant Feed
Reflection, encouragement, and relationship building are all important aspects of getting a new habit to stick.
Share thoughts, encourage others, and reinforce positive new habits on the Feed.
To get started, share “your why.” Why did you join the challenge and choose the actions you did?
Just read the article in today's The Guardian about how "reusable" isn't always the environmentally friendly adjective we think it is. That said, I estimate that my reusable cloth grocery totes have each been used well over 2000 times. I have one that I've used since 1994!
Yeah, I used my ancient cloth bags when grocery shopping this afternoon, but I the asparagus got stuck in a plastic bag, the berries came in a plastic container, and the salmon was shrink-wrapped. #fail
Easy peasy today -- a full schedule of volunteer activities at the BioPark meant that avoiding plastic was a cinch. Here's fellow a Nature's Notebook volunteer taking a measurement on one of our Rio Grande Cottonwoods.
Interesting article in Nature about biodegradable plastics... https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02356-y Plant taxonomy meme just to snag 5 extra points for including a photo.
Had a long chat yesterday at the Botanic Garden with the Curator of Plants about labels. We are gradually retiring our plastic labels in favor of longer lasting metal ones. We'll be adding QR codes soon, like this one (photo taken at the Santa Fe Botanic Garden),
Saw the new playground at Winrock this afternoon. From my Plastic Free Ecochallenge point of view, I wonder how much plastic went into it? I remember as a kid playing on all-metal playground equipment. (Yes, hot as hell in the summer, but that's when you play in the creek.)
There are many pros and cons to social media use in today's society. How can you mindfully use social media as a tool for connection and sharing your values with your community?
Rather than piling on to the noise in FB, x-Twitter, Instagram, etc., I quietly keep posting to my personal blog, Ecologist at Large, which has a microscopic following.
