Krystina Jarvis

Columbus Zoo & Aquarium

"Do what you can, when you can, where you can."

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
1,665 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

9.0

conversations

with people
UP TO

35

disposable cups

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

60

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

139

pieces of litter

picked up
UP TO

1.0

waste audit

conducted

Krystina's actions

Community

Share My Actions

I will make my environmental actions visible by sharing about them on my social media networks and the Plastic Free Ecochallenge participant feed.

COMPLETED 9
DAILY ACTIONS

Kitchen

Use a Reusable Mug

If possible, I will avoid sending 1 disposable cup(s) to the landfill per day by using a reusable mug or bringing my own travel cup.

COMPLETED 31
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Join a Cleanup Effort

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

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Keep My Community Clean

I will pick up 5 piece(s) of litter each day.

COMPLETED 6
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Research Local Waste Sites

I will spend 30 minutes finding out where landfills and/or toxic waste sites are situated in my region and which communities are most impacted by these sites.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Study

Complete a Waste Audit

I will conduct a waste audit - including recyclables and compost - to understand how much waste I create and where I can reduce the most.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Kitchen

Try a New Recipe

I will try new recipe(s) or food preparation method(s) each day, such as canning, pickling, making yogurt, or baking granola bars or bread.

COMPLETED 2
DAILY ACTIONS

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?

Krystina Jarvis 7/31/2023 11:50 AM

Don't forget everyone - you cannot retroactively check in or log your actions after MIDNIGHT TONIGHT (your local time). So be sure to get all those one-time actions done, get one more round of one-time actions in, and answer all of those reflection questions before then!

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- Kris Hay 7/31/2023 3:55 PM
  
  Go team!
  
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Krystina Jarvis 7/28/2023 6:33 PM

I made potato salad from scratch today!!! My partner and I love potato salad but the tubs are plastic and can only be recycled at the drop-off recycling center, so this month I wanted to learn to make it. It was surprisingly simple, just took a bit of time. The only plastic was the mayo, since the only mayo in glass at the store we went to was more than twice as expensive as the plastic containers 😔 It's a more readily-recyclable plastic, which is good, but looking at the ingredients I'm feeling like it can't be that hard to make mayo from scratch next time? I welcome any tips!

But for now, I am feeling SO accomplished and so excited to dig into this tonight. Thank you to this challenge for the push I needed to try something new!

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- Kris Hay 7/29/2023 7:19 AM
  
  Yaaaaay! It looks yummy. 😋 ~I feel you on the mayo jar. We’ve shifted to making potato salads & tuna salads that use non-mayo dressings instead*. The flavor is of course different, but IMO (now that I’ve adjusted and don’t expect mayo-based dressing) they can be equally tasty! *Example: olive oil & lemon juice whisked with red onion, capers, & dill.
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Kitchen Use a Reusable Mug

Since the restrictions that COVID-19 has required of our society, trying to use your own cup might present new barriers, as well as new opportunities for creative problem solving. How were you able to achieve success on this action? How can you make it a long-term habit?

Krystina Jarvis 7/28/2023 8:57 AM

I used to be SO good about only getting coffee on the go if I had a reusable mug or mason jar with me, but since COVID restrictions I really fell out of the habit. This month, I re-set that rule for myself - no travel cup, no travel coffee.

I knew that the Starbucks closest to my apartment did not accept personal mugs since they're drive-thru only, so I've been more conscious about where I go for my frappuccinos.

I forgot how much I truly love showing off my mason jars, custom koozies, and whale conservation glass straws at the coffee shop! I get so many looks from other people like, "Whoah - I never would have thought of that!" And I said it earlier this month, but I swear frappuccinos just taste better in glass. I will absolutely be sticking to this habit long after the month ends.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Community Share My Actions

Have you noticed a difference in how your community, friends, and family members use plastics since you've shared your own actions?

Krystina Jarvis 7/28/2023 8:53 AM

Absolutely! I've been sharing publicly my plastic-free and zero waste actions for years now and I've absolutely noticed a shift in how the people around me use plastics. Even if they aren't actively working towards being plastic-free, they're more aware of the plastic around them and wanting to recycle correctly and understand why things are the way they are. It's so rewarding to see how our seemingly small actions in our own lives can have such massive ripple effects around us!

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Krystina Jarvis 7/27/2023 2:32 PM

This is one of my favorite ways to be imperfectly "plastic free" - washing and reusing plastic baggies!

The bulk store that I shop at doesn't allow personal containers, since they can't tare out the weight of the container. So instead, I reuse plastic baggies I already have at home or that I have to use from the store's bulk aisles. When I get home, I pour the bulk goods into jars, wash the baggies, and put them back in the drawer ready to go the next time I head to the store.

After combining households, we definitely have a lot of them, but they're only single use if we only use them once! Many of these have been in rotation for years.

It's not about being perfect, it's about shifting our mindsets and noticing what's happening around us so we can make better choices when we can and where we can. 💙

What's your favorite way to be imperfectly plastic free?

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Krystina Jarvis 7/26/2023 12:03 PM

With the move this month, I haven't gotten to my one-time actions yet, and I just ran into the store to grab my favorite yogurt that comes in a glass jar, only to discover the price has gone up $2 since the last time I bought it 😳 If that's not motivation to learn how to make my own yogurt, especially on top of already having that action selected for the month, I don't know what is. Updates to come! Any yogurt-making tips much appreciated :)

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- Krystina Jarvis 7/27/2023 3:16 PM
  
  Thank you @Sam!! I don't have an Instapot so I'm gonna give the crock pot method a try. So great to hear first-hand that it works well! My go-to yogurt is locally made and pretty thick, and it looks like it has four different types of bacteria, so I'm hopeful that'll work as the starter.
  
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- Sam Peterson 7/26/2023 2:17 PM
  
  I've been using an Instapot with the yogurt setting to make my batches once a week for two years, though I haven't checked the prices recently to see if the math still works out to savings. I use a small scoop of yogurt starter, add a gallon of whole or minimum 2% milk, and run overnight for 9 1/2 hours. Pop it in the fridge for a day to set, then use a Euro Cuisine strainer to separate out the whey if you like it thicker. Makes about a gallon that lasts 2 people a week, and I use the whey for other cooking. After the first time you just save a scoop from each batch to start the next one. Be sure whatever starter you use has live bacteria in, and fuller fat milk tends to work better - I use Chobani whole fat plain Greek yogurt and Horizon organic milk. Note: Before I had the Instapot I used a crock pot wrapped in towels, and it did work, but the new way is foolproof!
  
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- Krystina Jarvis 7/26/2023 12:26 PM
  
  @Geoffrey - right??! It's a 32oz jar but still - a bump up from $6 to $8, plus a jar deposit, is a lot. I'm so glad it's an option I have available to me, but if I can learn to do it myself and save the $8, even better.
  
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- Geoffrey Ball 7/26/2023 12:24 PM
  
  $2 man that's some serious inflation.
  
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Krystina Jarvis 7/20/2023 10:56 AM

Finally got that frappucino I so badly wanted a couple days ago! A new day, a new mason jar. This one is one of my faves 🥰😍

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- Lizzy Simpson 7/26/2023 8:44 AM
  
  Yum!!
  
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- Kris Hay 7/20/2023 12:30 PM
  
  Yum!
  
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Krystina Jarvis 7/18/2023 7:43 PM

Feeling proud of myself today! It's the second to last day of moving and I am WIPED. While I was out doing deliveries for my shop today, I SO BADLY wanted a Starbucks frappuccino, but I didn't have a cup or a straw with me, so I fought the urge to go through the drive thru and kept drinking my water instead.

Saved a plastic cup and a plastic straw, and stayed a bit more hydrated (which is desperately needed after all the moving, cleaning, and working this week).

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- Sam Peterson 7/19/2023 1:04 PM
  
  Way to stay strong!
  
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- Mary Hanks 7/19/2023 12:48 PM
  
  Krystina, you are an example to us all in showing how to put the needs of the planet above your own! And thank you for your kind words about my water bottle conversation with the door-to-door solicitor.
  
  Good luck with the move! I know you'll be glad to have it over. Not that getting everything into place is an easy task either, of course.
  
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Krystina Jarvis 7/16/2023 6:42 PM

Today was the big moving day and, while the move itself was totally zero waste, the first dinner in the new place was anything but. After a long day of picking up heavy things and moving them in the heat, we had zero energy to cook a meal, so it was a fast food kinda night for us.

But ya know what? Tomorrow is a new day in a new home and a new chance to say no thanks to plastics 😎🏡

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- Krystina Jarvis 7/17/2023 9:40 AM
  
  Oh there will be a disgusting amount of pizza consumed over the next few days, I'm sure of it 🤣🤣
  
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- Kris Hay 7/17/2023 8:59 AM
  
  This is why we eat so much pizza. ~No time/energy to cook? Here’s dinner in a cardboard box. It isn’t recyclable, but at least it’s not plastic. 😁
  
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Krystina Jarvis 7/11/2023 9:47 PM

Holy moly. I'm starting the moving process tomorrow and I've found FIVE travel pouches for reusable straws tonight. Who needs this many free travel straw pouches?? I feel like this is prime example of sustainability being turned into hardly more than a buzzword... I'm offering all of these to my local Buy Nothing Group but if no one wants them they're ultimately going to end up as waste.

Too many free straws and travel pouches.
Too many free tote bags.
Too many free water bottles. 🤦‍♀️

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- Danielle McCowan 7/12/2023 7:54 PM
  
  Oh man! I often think about how much stuff we produce and give away as advertising/marketing. It seems very wasteful to me. By the way, I would be interested in a pouch if you don't get rid of them all. Let me know if that's a possibility.
  
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