Marissa Tompkins

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

Who says saving money and saving the planet don't go together? Using an app like Too Good To Go or Flashfood, I'll help rescue food from local bakeries, restaurants, and grocery stores that would otherwise go to waste.

Vegetable broth cartons are not easily recycled and often not accepted for recycling at all. To avoid or reduce my use of these cartons, I will save my vegetable scraps and fresh herb stems to make homemade vegetable broth instead.

Most conventional shower curtain liners are made from polyvinyl chloride (or PVC), which contains chlorine, phthalates, and plasticizers, and typically need replaced often. When it's time to replace my shower curtain liner, I will replace it with a plastic-free option and research the best ways to care for it.

While most stores offer lenient return policies, what actually happens to all of those returns? I will spend 45 minutes learning about what happens to returns and how I can make better purchasing decisions to avoid returns in the future.

Plastic production, not just disposal, pollutes communities and harms people. I will learn about the impacts of plastic production on humans, animals, communities, and the environment.

I will conduct a waste audit of my trash and recycling to understand how much waste I create and create a plan for where I can reduce the most.

Our tax dollars are subsidizing the fossil fuel industry, making the cost of plastics artificially low and encouraging further plastics production. I will spend 45 minutes learning about oil subsidies and how I can advocate for their elimination.

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.

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!

Eliminating 100% of all plastic from our lives simply isn't possible. Throughout this month, I will embrace imperfection in my plastic-free journey while exploring and testing new ways to reduce my plastic footprint.

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.

Prioritizing whole foods is one of the most effective ways to avoid single-use plastic in the kitchen, since most whole foods can be purchased without any packaging. This month, I will prepare 1 whole foods-based meals at home each day.

I will spend at least 30 minutes researching the impacts of bioplastics and how to properly dispose of them in my city, and I will share this information with 1 friends, family, and/or colleagues.

I will record a 15-20 second video sharing why I am taking action for the planet.

To extend the life of my ink cartridges, I will set my printer default to draft mode to use less ink or toner per print job.

When I need to replace my dish soap, I will switch to a bar or refillable option.

The average American uses about 141 rolls of toilet paper each year, most of which is wrapped in plastic film. To cut down on my toilet paper usage, I will install a bidet in my bathroom.

Single-use plastics are everywhere, but that wasn't always the case. I will spend at least 45 minutes learning about the history of single-use plastics and how it became ubiquitous in our daily lives.

I will hang-dry my laundry to use the sun as a natural bleach alternative, or use another natural bleach alternative.

In the US, about 1 billion toothbrushes are thrown away each year. And because plastic is designed to last, nearly every plastic toothbrush ever created still exists. When it's time to replace my current toothbrush, I will replace it with a plastic-free bamboo option.

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

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.