Zach Epstein

Abt Earthlings

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
180 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

97

gallons of water

have been saved
UP TO

1.0

plastic containers

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

1.0

plastic straw

not sent to the landfill

Zach's actions

Simplicity

Meditate

I will meditate or create a moment of silence for 20 minute(s) each day to reflect on things important to me.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

High Impact Action Track

Plant Trees

Nature

I will plant 1 tree(s) in my community, public parks, or backyard.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Reduce Single-Use Disposables

Historically, marginalized and low-income communities live closer to landfills, contributing to a multitude of health problems. I will find out how I can limit single-use items and do my best to limit the waste I generate.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Skip the Straw

Plastic bags and small plastic pieces like straws are most likely to get swept into our waterways. I will keep 1 plastic straw(s) out of the landfill and ocean each day by refusing straws or using my own glass/metal straw.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Energy

Switch to Cold Water

I will switch to washing my clothes in cold water, saving up to 1,600 lbs of CO2 over the course of the next year.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Energy

Power Down the Computer

I will power down my computer and monitor when not using it for more than 2 hours, saving up to (1.1) lbs of CO2 each day that I do this.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

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.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

5-Minute Showers

I will save up to 20 gallons (75 L) of water each day by taking 5-minute showers.

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?

Zach Epstein 10/17/2019 1:27 PM

When I think of Houston's watershed, I think of one thing - flooding. The city bears a lot of the responsibility for recent disasters, due in part to a willingness over time to build in areas previously designated for flood control. I honestly don't know what I can do to improve the situation, other than support public financing of new flood control projects (two R city councilors recently shot down an effort to raise property taxes for that purpose).

But this reflect question stemmed from my buying some toilet tank banks. They're easy to install and probably pay for themselves in little time. Each one cost something like $4, and you save water with every flush. Low-hanging, but not particularly impactful, fruit.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste Reduce Single-Use Disposables

Bringing your own bags and containers to the grocery store, and even to restaurants for leftovers, are a couple of ways to reduce your waste. What single-use items (e.g. straws, coffee cups, vegetable bags, plastic bags) do you regularly use? What could be substituted instead?

Zach Epstein 10/07/2019 7:23 AM

I recently changed the kind of toothpaste I use. The standard plastic tube can't be recycled - and we know plastic recycling rates are really poor even once they get to the recycling plant - so I found a plastic-free alternative. There are lots on the market, but several are only available in Europe. It's even harder to find one that contains fluoride. I ended up settling on Bite, based in CA. The bits don't have fluoride, but the company intends to add a fluoridated alternative. The container is glass, and they company ships re-fills in compostable bags (the shipping packaging is recyclable paper). It's not cheap though. I think about three times more costly than regular toothpaste tubes.

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