Coalition of North American Zoos and Aquariums

Plastic Free Ecochallenge

July 1 - July 31, 2020

Nidhi Kaul

Go Green LinkedIners

"Do more with less. ♻️"

Points Total

0 Today
0 This Week
1,061 Total

Participant Impact

up to

5

minutes

spent learning
up to

37

plastic containers

not sent to the landfill
up to

284

pieces of plastic cutlery

not sent to the landfill
up to

186

plastic straws

not sent to the landfill
up to

23

public officials or leaders

contacted
up to

1

waste audits

conducted

Nidhi's Actions

Personal Care

Pearly Whites

I will purchase toothpaste in an aluminum tube or in a glass jar or make my own!

Completed
One-Time Action

Lifestyle

Travel Toiletries

If traveling, I will reuse my old travel tubes to refill with my soaps or only bring bar soaps with me in a TSA approved reusable quart sized bag.

Completed
One-Time Action

Lifestyle

Natural Fibers

When available, I will purchase clothing made with natural fibers, such as cotton, linen, or wool, rather than synthetic fibers.

Completed
One-Time Action

Lifestyle

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

Food

Plant a Garden

I will plant a herb or vegetable garden in my home, workplace, dorm room, or community garden.

Completed
One-Time Action

Lifestyle

Support a Sharing Economy

I will create or support a sharing economy with family, friends, and neighbors.

COMPLETED 31
DAILY ACTIONS

Lifestyle

Homemade Cleaners

I will make 10 of my own cleaning products at home.

Completed
One-Time Action

Food

Skip the Straw

I will keep 10 plastic straw(s) out of the landfill per day by refusing straws or using my own glass/metal straw.

COMPLETED 31
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Use Reusable Utensils

I will keep 10 plastic cutlery out of the landfill per day by using my own reusable cutlery.

COMPLETED 31
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Start Composting

I will start a compost collection at home, work, or school.

Completed
One-Time Action

Community

Write Letters or Emails

I will write 2 letter(s) or email(s) per day to a public official or company to advocate for plastic reduction policies that are better for both the planet and people.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Estimate My Plastic Consumption and Go #PlasticNeutral

I will visit rePurpose website, complete the 3-minute plastic consumption calculator, and explore how I can reBalance my annual plastic footprint.

Completed
One-Time Action

Personal Care

Pretty oh so Pretty

I will purchase beauty products that are packaged in sustainable packaging.

Completed
One-Time Action

Personal Care

Dam the Flow

I will use a menstrual cup and/or cloth pads

Completed
One-Time Action

Food

Use Reusable Containers

I will only use reusable containers instead of single-use plastic storage items (such as plastic wrap, single-use sandwich bags).

COMPLETED 31
DAILY ACTIONS

Feed

Nidhi Kaul 7/31/2020 9:19 AM

Folks in the San Francisco Bay Area, any recommendations on organic CSAs near us to start subscribing from? I've heard of a few but they are all waitlisted due to high demand! Another option I am considering is Imperfect Produce, but I have heard some stories about receiving rotten produce in their boxes. Any thoughts welcome.

P.S. So sad the challenge is ending today, has been a lot of fun learning from y'all.

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Nidhi Kaul 7/30/2020 10:06 AM
Yesterday evening, I completed the Employee's Guide to Sustainability on LinkedIn Learning and had some of my knowledge reinforced by Elizabeth Bagley. I highly recommend the course and, having met Elizabeth a few times at the California Academy of Sciences (San Francisco) in the past, she is a great person to connect with and constantly learn from. One of the coolest takeaways from this course was how to start getting into a circular economy via loopstore.com. This is how it works:
- Imagine zero-waste versions of your everyday essentials from all your favorite brands. That’s us.
  Why own a product's packaging (and have to throw it away when you're done), when all we really want is the stuff inside? With Loop, temporarily place a 100% refundable deposit to borrow the packaging, and we'll professionally clean and reuse it once you're finished.
- When you're done with a Loop product, just put it back into the Loop Tote and schedule a free pick up from your home. Alternatively, you can also return them at one of our drop off points, or schedule a pick up to coincide with your next delivery.
There are some great brands here that I use often, such as Haagen Dazs, Nature's Path, Seventh Generation, Clorox, Crest, and REN Skincare. I'm going to try this out soon!
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Nidhi Kaul 7/30/2020 9:58 AM

Ben Lai just shared that there is a startup working on red algae that can decrease the amount of methane that cows emit and drastically reduce our global GHG/carbon footprint. LINK here. I thought that was so cool and had to share. Meat consumption, particularly of red meat, is such a huge contributor to GHG and this could really make a dent. Of course our first choice would be to choose plant forward meals, but it's so difficult to ask people to change their diet as it is so personal. Hence this is a great 2nd option.

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Nidhi Kaul 7/29/2020 6:57 PM

One terrible habit that I have developed during quarantine is online shopping. I have been buying clothing, receiving it, disliking it, and then returning it in store. Though I have voiced my preference of minimizing packaging with the company (removing bags within larger bags, only shipping in boxes vs. bags, no padding, etc.) I still end up with a lot of plastic wrapping after I've returned the misfits. Ideally I would shop in person but do not feel safe doing so right now.

How do you all make online shopping work for you in a low waste way?

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- Mirela Dinu 7/30/2020 1:59 AM
  
  Before buying I think to myself: Do I really need it or can I live without it? And most times I give up and not buy at all. It´s a way of saving also. We definitely do not need all the things that we buy.
  
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Reflection Question
Lifestyle Complete a Waste Audit

What did you learn about the waste you create? Where can you reduce the most?

Nidhi Kaul 7/28/2020 9:41 AM

Plastic lining, plastic bags, plastic crates -- particularly when it comes to food. During quarantine, I'm living with my family more, and I have noticed how much plastic is used in Costco produce. I need to contact my local Costco to voice my concern about their plastic usage. Any tips on how to continue shopping at Costco but reduce my plastic footprint? This link makes me feel it isn't possible: https://meredithtested.com/2016/03/11/zero-waste-at-costco/

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- Ellen Van Looy 7/28/2020 10:33 AM
  
  Not sure if this would be applicable to Costco as I'm in Ireland, but I'll share anyway. When I'm shopping in a physical store, I make a point of asking where I can leave any packaging I don't need. Some supermarkets already have recycling bins at the check-out so you can leave unwanted packaging there.
  It by no means solves the issue that the packaging shouldn't be created in the first place but does help to make it more visible and to make people more aware of it.
  
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Nidhi Kaul 7/27/2020 11:07 AM
Last Wednesday, I watched The Story of Plastic (courtesy of our Go Green Movie Club!) It took a few days for me to truly digest what I had learned.
- How oil companies touch and control virtually every aspect of our lives is disturbing.
- Plastic is related to fracking?!
- Microplastics in 80-90% of our tap water AND our bottled water. Time to invest in a tap filtration device - any recommendations?
- Recycling has a very dark story, particularly far down the supply chain after the US has sold it to the Global South.
I'm disheartened. The only large-scale way to prevent this is with government regulation, and with U.S. election day coming up, I can't think of anything more important than voting.
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Reflection Question
Lifestyle Travel Toiletries

What is the benefit of using bar soaps or refilling your travel sized containers? Is this an action you think you will keep in your life?

Nidhi Kaul 7/22/2020 5:30 PM

What I've started to do is reuse my Lush containers. Though I don't shop there often, their containers are amazing for TSA-friendly (when I do travel, though I have not recently) and minimalist packing for short weekend trips. Definitely an action I will keep going forward.

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- Ellen Van Looy 7/22/2020 11:38 PM
  
  Lush containers are SO handy!
  
  Read More
Reflection Question
Lifestyle Natural Fibers

What are the benefits (to people, animals, and the environment) of purchasing clothes made with natural fibers?

Nidhi Kaul 7/22/2020 5:25 PM

People: we can rest assured that there will be minimal post-life harm (burning of toxic petrochemicals)
Animals: particularly I enjoy clothes made of wool since it is taken from animals such as alpacas and sheep without harming the animal. Cruelty free is always best :)
Environment: no microplastics from our laundry!

These are just the ones that came to me, but if others have additional thoughts on benefits, would love to hear. Natural fiber clothing is quite expensive, so would like to have more reasons to justify my purchases.

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Reflection Question
Personal Care Pearly Whites

Currently most of the packaging for toothpaste is plastic. How can you advocate for more alternatives through your purchasing power and influence in community?

Nidhi Kaul 7/22/2020 5:21 PM

One thing my mom has introduced me to is Ayurvedic tooth powder. Ayurveda is commonly accepted in India, its land of origin, but its popularity is spreading to the Western world as well. Multani mitti, or fullers earth, is distributed in glass bottles, and since Ayurveda is now trendy, we could get folks to convert on the basis of health.

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- Carol White 7/23/2020 5:44 AM
  
  I'll check this out. Thanks for the tip.
  
  Read More
Reflection Question
Food Use Reusable Containers

How can you think outside the box (or bag!) when it comes to disposables?

Nidhi Kaul 7/22/2020 4:41 PM

Bring your own container to a restaurant or grocery store! For example, I have an obsession with boba drinks. So after getting tired of tossing my plastic cups day after day, I used a 16oz mason jar I had in my pantry, took the lid and drilled a very large hole into it, inserted my steel boba straw, and started bringing that to Boba Guys (pre-COVID, of course). What's cool is that I even got a reusables discount of 10 cents. That's an added benefit of living in a city with eco-friendly policies.

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