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October 2 - October 23, 2019
Jody Benson's avatar

Jody Benson

Zero Waste Los Alamos

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 161 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    0.0
    disposable cups
    not sent to the landfill

Jody's actions

Water

Mulch the Base of Trees and Plants

I will prevent water runoff and increase absorbency by mulching the base of plants and trees at my home or work.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

Install a Toilet Tank Bank

I will reduce the amount of water flushed and save up to 11 gallons (41 L) of water each day by installing a toilet tank bank.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Advocate For More Food Packaging Options

I will advocate for alternatives to single-use packaging at local grocery stores, markets, at work, or on campus.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Choose Two-Sided Printing

I will save up to .21 lbs (.09 kg) of paper each day by switching from one-sided printing to two-sided.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Go Paperless

I will reduce the amount of paper mail that I receive by 3.4lbs (1.5kg) a month or 41lbs (18.6kg) a year by opting into paperless billing, ending unwanted subscriptions and opting out of junk mail.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Use Reusable Bags

I will not accept any disposable bags when making purchases.

COMPLETED 0
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
    Water Install a Toilet Tank Bank
    Name some of the human activities impacting the health of water systems, both locally (your watershed) and globally (freshwater and oceans). What can you do to improve the health of water systems?

    Jody Benson's avatar
    Jody Benson 10/23/2019 7:53 PM
    I'm a really water miser, but here's something.  I have stacks of old prescriptions that I never used--that my mom never used.  Protocol is to take them to the police station or to fill the bottle with coffee grounds. But I will bet these meds still end eventually up in the water system.  So...I guess I'll just keep them in the drawer. 
  • 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?

    Jody Benson's avatar
    Jody Benson 10/23/2019 7:46 PM
    Well, I didn't do it, but team member Katie sent us all this:
    https://www.catalogchoice.org/
    https://www.uline.com/CustomerService/CustomizeMailing

    I'm going to do it (I just need to gather all my junk mail together and just try to STOP it!



  • Jody Benson's avatar
    Jody Benson 10/19/2019 4:09 PM
    How's it going?  I'm a single person who freezes in the dark to save energy--an old westerner who's been worried about the environment for 60-years, so in my daily activities, nothing's changed much.  What I AM excited about are the kids and their efforts.  At the High School we have the EcoClub working on the County imposing a bag-fee on single-use-plastic shopping bags.  This is something we adults tried to do five years ago, but had no leadership from our elected officials (as the complainers said and are still threatening the kids about:  "It's government overreach--you take away our bags, you'll take our guns next").  These kids are brave to go after it again.  At the Middle School, the 7th grade (with their spectacular science-teacher sponsor!) is working to design, and then get a grant to, transform a giant gravel space into a wildlife habitat as well as an outdoor "classroom" space.  The younger ones value wildlife and want to make a space for them.  The older ones are working on policy to protect that wildlife's continued existence.  
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Water Mulch the Base of Trees and Plants
    Where are your nearest natural bodies of water? How might they be affected by runoff?

    Jody Benson's avatar
    Jody Benson 10/19/2019 4:00 PM
    Heavy rain or snow melt in my neighborhood runs off into the canyon, and flows down eventually to the Rio Grande. In this desert area, we often only have "male rains," that is, the heavy downpours.  Snows?  Not so much lately.  I mulched my meager little strip of garden with the hopes that it'll hold more of the moisture.  It's been a really dry summer.
  • 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 reusable 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 create a successful habit of not using plastic bags?

    Jody Benson's avatar
    Jody Benson 10/19/2019 3:56 PM
    Just take the stuff to the car in your cart and bag everything in the bags that you left in the back--or if you didn't bring your bags, of course just dump the stuff in your car and when you get home, go into the house and get your bags.  I bet we all do this, but how to tell others how easy it is and how much life it saves?

    • Sara Martinez's avatar
      Sara Martinez 10/20/2019 8:12 AM
      I feel this was the obvious solution to forgetting your reusable bags. So Obvious I didn't think about it. I make people run back out or I try and look like I am not struggling carry everything in my arms!
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Waste Choose Two-Sided Printing
    Choosing two-sided printing can be an easy adjustment on your computer settings. How can you help others make this same switch? Can it be encouraged company wide?

    Jody Benson's avatar
    Jody Benson 10/19/2019 3:53 PM
    I already do this as much as possible--here's the rub.  If I'm printing scratch copies to edit, I try to print them on already-printed on a single-side paper, BUT, my Brother printer often won't rerun used paper.  It's incredibly frustrating.  But--in advocating for saving resources, we got the leader of one of our groups to print double-sided for handouts, and also, in another case, our manager who prints (we wish he WOULDN'T print anything since we all receive the presentations electronically already) double-sided. Small successes.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Waste Use a Reusable Mug
    Maybe you've heard how good it is to switch from a single use coffee cup to a reusable one, but it's just hard to make the switch. What stands in your way of making this a habit? By identifying the challenges, you can begin to work through them to have better success in taking this action. Knowing the difference you are making, how does it make you feel?

    Jody Benson's avatar
    Jody Benson 10/02/2019 8:49 PM
    Heck, nothing stands in my way--except when I forget to bring a cup to an event.  I carry a cup in my car, but when I'm on my bicycle without a backpack....it's a big oops.  Sometimes I'll just avoid the drink.

  • Jody Benson's avatar
    Jody Benson 10/02/2019 8:44 PM
    The simple thing to do is request that our Smiths Marketplace sells net bags for produce.  Our Zero Waste group is working on getting this Smiths to live up to its corporate goal of zero single-use plastic shopping bags.  If you have a Kroger in your area, let them know you support this goal, and then lobby them to get on the stick to actualize their values.  https://www.kroger.com/f/zero-hunger-zero-waste
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Waste Use a Reusable Water Bottle
    While water bottles are needed for health and safety in certain places, we can do more to reduce the unnecessary use of them. What are the barriers to you using reusable bottles and tap water instead of bottled water? How could you make this a permanent habit?

    Jody Benson's avatar
    Jody Benson 10/02/2019 8:40 PM
    Today I heard on BBC that India's Prime Minister Modi was banning single use plastics in India!  I couldn't believe it and--alas--although it was true yesterday, it's not true today.  They believed it was too bit a task.  But here's something else going on in India--making road-building material out of melted shredded plastic waste.  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/09/the-man-who-paves-indias-roads-with-old-plastic