Mary DeLoria

Washington County

Points Total

0 Today
0 This Week
526 Total

Participant Impact

up to

1.0

energy audits

conducted
up to

540

minutes

of additional sleep

Mary's Actions

Simplicity

Work-Life Balance

I will not work more than 8 hour days each day to practice work-life balance.

COMPLETED 19
DAILY ACTIONS

Energy

Online Energy Audit

I will complete an online energy audit of my home, office, or dorm room and identify my next steps for saving energy.

Completed
One-Time Action

Simplicity

De-Clutter My Home

I will de-clutter, clean, and donate or recycle unneeded items in my home.

COMPLETED 18
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Use Reusable Bags

I will not accept any disposable bags when making purchases.

COMPLETED 17
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Happiness

I will write down three things every day that I am grateful for, or send one email every day thanking or praising someone.

COMPLETED 19
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Healthy Sleep

Effectively working for sustainability requires self care! I will commit to getting 30 more minute(s) of sleep each night to achieve at least 7 hours per night.

COMPLETED 18
DAILY ACTIONS

Feed

Mary DeLoria 10/23/2018 7:24 AM

How's my challenge going? Some days are better than others, and I still haven't gotten those extra cloth shopping bags made yet . . . I spent time making and canning apple juice and applesauce from our own organically-grown apples, and drying many, many pounds of apples for later enjoyment. We also donated 75 lbs. of fresh apples to the food bank.

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Mary DeLoria 10/11/2018 7:33 AM

Thursday is grocery shopping day for me - and I'm set: I've got my "Bag o' Bags" in the car, shopping list (courtesy of Google Home: I say, "Hey Google - add milk to my shopping list!" and it 'magically' appears on Google Keep, which I access on my phone while shopping), and combine my shopping trip with a work commute trip to save gas. (And time!)

What would make this complete for me? Being able to eliminate plastic packaging from store-bought items. I do what I can - but some of it seems nearly unavoidable. Like the 'safety seals' on vitamin bottles. I try to recycle what I cannot avoid, and try to avoid putting anything in the garbage can at home by practicing the reduce (what I buy), reuse (re-purpose where I can), and recycle (whatever I can) way of life.

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- Robin Straughan 10/11/2018 8:53 AM
  
  Sometimes plastics are really important for things like food safety and preservation. Don't feel bad about needing a little in your life. As long as it's properly disposed of at the end of its life, it's okay. :)
  
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Reflection Question
Simplicity De-Clutter My Home

How can you prevent yourself from accumulating more things in the future?

Mary DeLoria 10/09/2018 7:10 AM

I think about the challenge my family will have to clear out my belongings after I am gone - that really makes me want to get rid of (via donation, recycling, whatever) the things I don't use or need. It also causes me to limit my purchases.

Plus, there's the benefit - fewer things to clean and keep organized!

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- Elizabeth Love 10/09/2018 11:45 AM
  
  I've just begun this process and I've got my adult daughter helping - she keeps reminding me not to buy anything new until we go through the old and verify if we really need something. I'm trying to manage one corner at a time so not to overwhelm myself.
  
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- Tricia Kennedy 10/09/2018 10:02 AM
  
  I'm working on this too! It's hard finding the time to get it all done, but it is great seeing the results.
  
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Reflection Question
Health Happiness

How does/can practicing gratitude keep you centered and motivated to work for a better world?

Mary DeLoria 10/08/2018 7:10 AM

It has helped me to realize that I actually enjoy sewing and am immensely grateful for having a simple sewing machine that always does what I need it to and works well doing it. For years, I thought I really disliked sewing, only to realize lately that it wasn't the sewing I disliked, it was the muscle memory of having to lay out fabric and patterns on the kitchen floor to cut them out that I disliked and avoided. I now have a working-height large work area that I can comfortably use to lay out and cut pattern pieces when preparing to sew clothing. And a fun rotary cutter to use! Makes drudgery nearly a pleasure - it's all in having good tools, isn't it?

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- Diane Overstreet 10/09/2018 1:03 PM
  
  I love to sew as well. I especially enjoy designing creative projects for other people. I'm so grateful for that creative outlet!
  
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Reflection Question
Health Healthy Sleep

Consider how many hours of sleep you get now. How would you like to shift your sleep patterns? What are you finding works for you to be successful in this action?

Mary DeLoria 10/08/2018 7:06 AM

On 'work nights', I usually get between 7 and 7.5 hours of sleep, depending on how long I read after I go to bed at 8:30. On the weekends, though, I tend to go to bed late - often after midnight - yet get up between 7 and 8 a.m., rarely sleeping later.

Ideally, I would be in bed by 11 on weekends, but with a 'night-owl' spouse, it's increasingly unlikely that this shift will happen. Accordingly, I 'allow' myself the occasional sleep-in to make up the difference. That seems to work for me at this stage in my life.

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Reflection Question
Energy Online Energy Audit

What most interested or surprised you about your own energy footprint?

Mary DeLoria 10/03/2018 9:56 AM

My score is based on actual electricity usage data and back-of-the-envelope calculations for wood pellets to heat our home and garage-based workshop. I think I could've improved the score significantly by using actual data for the wood pellet portion of the calculation.

Our electricity usage runs high during times when we are actively heating our sun room (because of plant sensitivity to cold) and using our food dehydrator. Time for a more energy-efficient fan/heat source for the dehydrator.

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Mary DeLoria 10/02/2018 2:21 PM

Choosing my own challenge: I will minimize the waste caused in my fiber arts avocation by 1) fully utilizing all the raw fleece I purchase - whether by processing it into yarns or composting the unusable trimmings or using the waste for mulch. I will avoid purchasing man-made materials for use in my fiber arts creations. I will minimize the use of non-eco friendly dyes and focus on using 'green' fabric and fiber dyes or using native plants for dyeing fiber and yarns.

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Reflection Question
Waste Use Reusable Bags

What do you do if you find yourself in the situation of needing a bag for items but don't have a reuseable one with you? Carry things out in your hands? In a cart? Accept a disposable one? If you find yourself in this position often, what system could you put in place to try to establish this a successful habit?

Mary DeLoria 9/12/2018 10:23 AM

I've begun collecting reusable produce bags, and will soon re-purpose lightweight fabric that I have on-hand to make some.

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Mary DeLoria 9/12/2018 10:22 AM

I'm considering which challenges I can participate in - those that make sense for my lifestyle and amount of bandwidth I can commit to.

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