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Maggie Ostdahl's avatar

Maggie Ostdahl

National Aquarium

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 855 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    1.0
    advocacy action
    completed
  • UP TO
    2.0
    conversations
    with people
  • UP TO
    30
    minutes
    spent learning
  • UP TO
    27
    pieces of litter
    picked up
  • UP TO
    1.0
    plastic containers
    not sent to the landfill

Maggie's actions

Study

Buy Only What I Need

I will not buy anything except items required for health and safety.

COMPLETED 26
DAILY ACTIONS

Bathroom

Pearly Whites

I will switch to a plastic-free toothpaste — whether purchased or DIY'd.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Kitchen

Plant a Garden

I will plant an herb or vegetable garden using as little plastic as possible and to save from the plastic used buying herbs and veggies.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Kitchen

Travel Eating

If traveling, I will bring my own snacks and meals in my own containers to avoid the waste of take-out containers.

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 1
DAILY ACTION

Community

Advocate for Plastic-Free Dining

I will talk to the owner or manager of a restaurant I frequent to request that they reduce their use of single-use and disposable plastics.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Give Some Green Gratitude

I will give a shout-out on social media to a local company, coworker, friend or family member for their plastic free or green efforts.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Keep My Community Clean

I will pick up 3 piece(s) of litter each day.

COMPLETED 8
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?

  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Study Buy Only What I Need
    As you have reduced your spending, what have you noticed about your 'health and safety' purchasing habits? How might this change your longer term purchasing decisions?

    Maggie Ostdahl's avatar
    Maggie Ostdahl 7/31/2023 8:14 AM
    For a few years now I've been trying to accomplish regular 'buy nothing' days - challenging in our society for sure but fun to achieve. And the annual PFJ has helped me in particular to direct any online purchasing to companies that sell plastic free items with limited plastic packaging - in part so that I can avoid Amazon ;-) So far I've bought exactly zero things from that behemoth in 2023 with no plans to place an order for the rest of the year. (I've averaged about 3 items annually for the previous 5 years.)

  • Maggie Ostdahl's avatar
    Maggie Ostdahl 7/18/2023 8:28 AM
    Read this article and it resounded with me - guessing it may sound a bit familiar to you too! https://www.washingtonpost.com/home/2023/07/18/reduce-household-trash-zero-waste/

  • Maggie Ostdahl's avatar
    Maggie Ostdahl 7/13/2023 2:53 PM
    Always try to minimize plastic packaging when planning/ sourcing house project materials. My pallet of patio pavers arrived today and I forgot about the fact it would be shrink wrapped. UGH.
    I'll be looking into any recycling options and contacting lowe's to encourage them to move to alternatives, e.g. https://palletnets.com/pcnets-alternative-plastic-pallet-wrap-shrink-wrap-stretch-film/
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Community Advocate for Plastic-Free Dining
    What was your strategy in talking with your favorite restaurant's management? Did you find it to be effective?

    Maggie Ostdahl's avatar
    Maggie Ostdahl 7/11/2023 2:45 PM
    Recently I ate outside at one of my fave restaurants, so the beverage came in a plastic cup (happily they use real plates and utensils, and I can understand avoiding glass at the outdoor bar). I wasn't able to speak to management, but have emailed and will follow up next time I go. I thanked them for their excellent food and service, asked if they will serve customers in clean reusable steel cups, and suggested they switch to Ball aluminum cups: https://www.ball.com/aluminumcups/venue-foodservice


    • Patricia Jonas's avatar
      Patricia Jonas 7/15/2023 6:13 AM
      Great suggestion. I was at a favorite restaurant that is pretty environmentally friendly (paper straws, etc) and they apologized when they gave me my drink in a plastic cup as they had run out of glassware.

  • Maggie Ostdahl's avatar
    Maggie Ostdahl 7/11/2023 1:58 PM
    Love reading through this feed and everyone's ideas, thoughtful reflections and channeling so much energy into solutions to the plastic pollution crisis - it's incredibly motivating!

  • Maggie Ostdahl's avatar
    Maggie Ostdahl 7/07/2023 9:49 AM
    Beyond Plastics webinar on Jul 13 (7p E/4p P) that may be of interest: https://www.beyondplastics.org/events/7-12-23

  • Maggie Ostdahl's avatar
    Maggie Ostdahl 6/26/2023 3:51 PM
    Before a recent flight from BWI, I was in line with at least 5 others to fill up our reusable water bottles. It was exciting :)

    • Debra Lee Norton Wear's avatar
      Debra Lee Norton Wear 6/30/2023 3:02 PM
      I am glad more and more people are using reusable water bottles. It’s the cumulation of small changes that will add up to big changes

    • Debra Lee Norton Wear's avatar
      Debra Lee Norton Wear 6/29/2023 8:35 AM
      Change is definitely happening. It is exciting to play a role in the much needed change

    • Patricia Jonas's avatar
      Patricia Jonas 6/27/2023 2:39 AM
      Change is happening. Yesterday at the cafeteria at a Smithsonian museum, an adult asked out loud “where is the water?”. I assume she was looking for water in a plastic bottle because her very young child pointed to the Dasani water in the aluminum container and said “plastic’s not good for us.” The child is now the teacher.