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October 3 - October 24, 2018
Sherry Liptan's avatar

Sherry Liptan

Zero Waste PDX

"Creating new habits that will continue on in my daily life. "

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 945 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    5.0
    lightbulbs
    replaced
  • UP TO
    42
    meatless or vegan meals
    consumed
  • UP TO
    270
    minutes
    spent learning
  • UP TO
    44
    plastic bottles
    not sent to the landfill
  • UP TO
    1.0
    waste audit
    conducted
  • UP TO
    22
    zero-waste meals
    consumed

Sherry's actions

Waste

Find Local Recycling Depots

I will spend at least 30 minutes finding out where to recycle the recyclable items that I can't put in my curbside bin.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Personal Waste Audit

I will collect all of my unrecyclable, non-compostable trash to raise my awareness of how much I send to the landfill.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

Collect Rain Water

I will create a rain garden or bioswale, or use rain barrels to collect water for outdoor watering needs.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Energy

Choose LED Bulbs

I will replace 5 incandescent lightbulb(s) with Energy Star-certified LED bulbs, saving up to $14 per fixture per year.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health

Audit Toxic Cleaning Products in my Home

I will spend 20 minutes researching toxic chemicals found in cleaning supplies and personal care products and remove them from my home.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health

Go get a check up

I will make an appointment for my annual physical.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Go Paperless

I will reduce the amount of paper mail that I receive by opting into paperless billing and ending unwanted subscriptions.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Reduce Animal Products

I will enjoy 1 meatless meal(s) and/or 1 vegan meal(s) each day this week.

COMPLETED 21
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Zero-Waste Cooking

I will cook 1 meal(s) with zero-waste each day

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Simplicity

Buy Used Clothes

I will spend 10 minutes learning about the perils of fast fashion and will buy my clothes at second-hand stores when I shop.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Use a Reusable Water Bottle

I will keep 2 disposable plastic bottle(s) from entering the waste stream by using a reusable water bottle.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Eliminate Toxic Plastics

I will avoid buying toxic plastics - including polycarbonate, polystyrene and polyvinyl - and instead replace them with bioplastic or durable options.

COMPLETED 22
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
    Waste Personal Waste Audit
    Why is it so difficult to understand the impacts our purchases and waste have on other people, animals, and places? How might your experience with this challenge impact your future consumption and choices?

    Sherry Liptan's avatar
    Sherry Liptan 10/24/2018 5:37 PM
    Being in the moment, seeing the waste I am creating. Often when I am doing something I am thinking about the next thing I am going to do, I am not thinking about what impact I am having right now. This challenge helped me stop and think about the paper napkin in front of me and realize I was taking it home with me to add to my daily waste collection. When I changed out light bulbs for LED I already knew where I can take them because of another challenge I had completed. This whole experience is having a ripple effect in my life. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Health Go get a check up
    How do you practice self care?

    Sherry Liptan's avatar
    Sherry Liptan 10/24/2018 5:29 PM
    I have added many plants to my indoor spaces, cleaning the air. I journal almost daily, have a daily Buddhist practice, attend several yoga classes a week at my neighborhood studio. I also have almost eliminated animal products from my diet eating a mostly plant based diet.I eat mostly unprocessed foods.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Energy Choose LED Bulbs
    Changing lightbulbs is an excellent first step toward energy efficiency! In what other ways can you exercise your civic duty to protect the environment and reduce carbon emissions?

    Sherry Liptan's avatar
    Sherry Liptan 10/24/2018 5:22 PM
    I can ride my bike and walk more. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Waste Find Local Recycling Depots
    Our ability to recycle certain things ebbs and flows based upon many factors. Luckily there are places that accept uncommon things to recycle or dispose of in a less harmful way. What did you find when looking for places to recycle items that can't be recycled in your curbside bin?

    Sherry Liptan's avatar
    Sherry Liptan 10/24/2018 5:20 PM
    Ikea will except batteries and light-bulbs. This is helpful since one of my challenges was to change out light-bulbs to LED. I also found Plastic Lizard in St Johns. They take plastic caps and lids. Both of these I found through the facebook page I belong to, Zero Waste PDX. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Health Audit Toxic Cleaning Products in my Home
    To what extent do you believe that environmental factors contribute to your own health or issues with health?

    Sherry Liptan's avatar
    Sherry Liptan 10/16/2018 4:51 PM
    I believe that environmental factors are important for health and well being. Whatever I bring into my home becomes a part of the space I live in. Food, plants, clothing, plastic, paper, furniture, art, cleaning supplies and people all add to the environment. This can be toxic or healing.  Fresh air and light is a source for good health. Plants will help clean the air. Opening windows for air, opening curtains or shades for light. Thoughts, words and actions can also contribute to health or be toxic. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Waste Go Paperless
    Reducing your paper mail can be such a freeing action to take -- by reducing what is coming in, you can reduce what is going into the recycling bin too. How does it make you feel? What is the next step you will take to reduce your waste?

    Sherry Liptan's avatar
    Sherry Liptan 10/11/2018 11:33 AM
    I am grateful that this challenge prompted me to do this. I have been thinking about it but never took the action. I am going to follow up with others in the house and ask them to do the same. There are four adults that receive junk mail. 

  • Sherry Liptan's avatar
    Sherry Liptan 10/10/2018 6:49 PM
    I refilled many pantry items  today bringing mostly jars I reused, along with some glass canning jars. They were much lighter going into the store, than coming out :). No plastics used, except for one small cap on a bottle I purchased to buy vanilla. 

  • Sherry Liptan's avatar
    Sherry Liptan 10/09/2018 10:56 PM
    Another challenging night for food. It was so tempting to get take out, but we used what we had and made a vegan meal at home. Zero waste. 

  • Sherry Liptan's avatar
    Sherry Liptan 10/08/2018 10:39 PM
    Tonight we had vegan take out from a food cart. We took our own containers and got away almost plastic free, they insisted on putting our stainless steel container in a plastic bag because it was to hot to handle. Next time we will take a kitchen towel to wrap it in. 

  • Sherry Liptan's avatar
    Sherry Liptan 10/07/2018 10:04 PM
    Once you get home with your produce you have purchased without using plastic, how do you store it? Here is a link with some ideas. 
    https://myplasticfreelife.com/2010/05/how-to-store-produce-without-plastic/