Cielo C Prieto

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.

Just because something is past its "expiration date," it might not actually be expired! I will spend 10 minutes learning about the difference between best by, use by, and sell by dates and how to tell if my food is actually expired.

I will spend 15 minutes educating my family on the basics of living a reduced/no-plastic lifestyle.

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.

In addition to refusing and reducing my consumption of single-use plastics, I will pick up 5 piece(s) of litter each day of the Plastic Free Ecochallenge.

Pinterest may want you to think that you need a cupboard full of matching mason jars, but reusing what we already have is one of the best ways to reduce our waste. This month, instead of recycling glass jars (such as pasta sauce, pickles, and salsa jars), I will save them to reuse for food storage.

Get creative in the kitchen (or the garden)! Before tossing food scraps, I'll explore other ways to utilize the scraps and give them another life.

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

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

Throughout its life cycle, polystyrene (styrofoam) can harm people, communities, and the planet. I will refuse styrofoam whenever I can, making sure to kindly let people know why I'm asking for alternative packaging.

I will calculate my ecological footprint, and from the results brainstorm and take action on ways I can reduce my annual footprint.

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.