Jeannette McMillan

"My mission during the month of October and the peoples eco challenge is to learn about what small changes I can make in my own life that can have a positive impact on the environment around me. I'd like to focus on reducing my single use plastics, eat less meat, and become more aware of how my actions effect the world around me. "

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
328 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

6.0

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

150

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

4.0

plastic containers

not sent to the landfill

Jeannette's actions

Food

Reduce Animal Products

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

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Simplicity

Needs Vs. Wants

I will adopt a "Needs Vs. Wants" approach and only buy things I need.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Learn About & Practice Sustainable Fashion

I will spend 60 minutes learning about sustainable fashion and begin trying to practice it in my own life.

COMPLETED
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

Recycle Everything I Can

Contamination prevents what is recyclable from being recycled. I will research and recycle all materials that are accepted by local haulers or drop stations in my community, making sure to not contaminate recyclables with non-recyclables.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Participant Feed

Jeannette McMillan 10/20/2019 3:24 PM
Part of sustainable fashion is not only buying pre-owned items and preparing the items that you already have instead of replacing them with new ones. fun fact there is a great shoe repair store on southport. They can replace the rubber on the bottom of your shoes for $20. I just had a pair re-done and they turned out great!

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- Lydia Connolly 10/20/2019 8:56 PM
  Hey Jeannette, this is awesome info that I actually wasn't aware of! I thought about tackling sustainable fashion as part of my ecochallenge as well, but I wasn't sure where to start. This is really good advice, and I definitely want to start to try sustainable fashion as part of my daily lifestyle! Previously, I didn't know that you could help the environment through the type of clothes you wear and how you shop, but I'm glad there are many different ways to try sustainable fashion!
  
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Jeannette McMillan 10/16/2019 12:12 PM
Not surprised but when thinking of needs vs. wants I keep coming back to whether or not it is worth it to order food or to cook something that I already have. I've found that often I just end up cooking something at home because of how long delivery takes or how expensive that it is.

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- Lauren Paris 10/17/2019 9:14 AM
  I totally feel you! It always sounds like a good idea to order food because of my busy schedule and because of the great vegan options in Chicago. However, every time I do it I feel guilty over cost and waste! I wish eco-friendly restaurants were actually eco-friendly in packaging.
  
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Jeannette McMillan 10/13/2019 7:48 PM
Over the weekend I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Chicago Marathon. It was really interesting to find out how trash was sorted and taken away. Gatorade, on of the premier sponsors have manufactured a compostable cup which is awesome considering we went though a few million of them over the course of the race. Every thing was sorted into 3 different colored bag, clear was landfill, blue to recycling, and green was compost. I just thought that this was really cool because each volunteer was trained on this and I love that they made the extra effort.

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Jeannette McMillan 10/10/2019 9:30 AM
One of my challenges that I realize I don't think that much about is needs vs. wants. I originally picked this because I know that I tend to impulse purchase. But since we've started this challenge I haven't been shopping much and when i browse online i've been leaving items in my cart instead of buying them right away and i'm glad because then I change my mind of find something I like more.

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Jeannette McMillan 10/09/2019 9:25 AM
I'm excited to say that being more aware of what we recycle is going really well between me and my roommates. While I was out of town it really pilled up (I took it out on Sunday and already need to take it out again). I'm happy cause the more I learn and talk about what can and can't be recycles the more they learn too. The downside to this is that I know so much of the items that we put in our recycling will be filtered out, It makes me really curious about people who live zero waste lifestyles.

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Jeannette McMillan 10/06/2019 7:26 PM
I was out of town over the weekend and because of that ended up buying so much read-made food. When I came back home after traveling all day the temptation to order in dinner was there. I'm really proud of myself because I remembered that I had already defrosted chicken in the fridge and had gotten veg before I left town. I'm happy cause I saved money and used all of the food that I had already purchases (even if it was meat, oops).

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste

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?
Jeannette McMillan 10/03/2019 8:17 AM
I would say that I use straws, plastic food bags, and plastic wrap most often. i've been trying to cut down on my use of plastic bags by packing my food in reusable containers. I have metal straws at home that I can use but I find that when i'm out people give me straws with the drinks i order even though i might not need one. Asking for servers to leave straws out of my drinks would be a good start, and maybe carrying around a metal straw with me.

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- Blake Wilcox 10/03/2019 9:23 AM
  I agree! It's kind of awkward to ask for no straws when out in public, especially since many servers are likely trained or used to putting one in each drink. I definitely need to work on my confidence to ask for no straw, since I usually have some kind of reusable straw with me.
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste

What have you learned about what is accepted by local haulers for recycling, what you can drop off or ship to certain places, and what is not recyclable in your area? What is the most difficult part of recycling for you?
Jeannette McMillan 10/03/2019 8:13 AM
The most difficult part of recycling for me is plastic bags. A lot of times in my apartment we use single-use bags as garbage bin liners, and remembering to take them out of our recycling is sometimes difficult. I want to look into how I can recycle them or where I can take them.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste

How can you express your personality, creativity, and values in ways that don't require fast fashion or buying more clothes and accessories?
Jeannette McMillan 10/03/2019 8:10 AM
I think using clothing items that we already have in creative ways can help to show more of our personality in how we present ourselves. Trends tend to cycle trough tout the years so instead of buying new items when new items become popular it's a good idea to alter some of the items that you already have or pair them with other things.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Simplicity

How is creativity necessary for practicing simplicity?
Jeannette McMillan 10/03/2019 8:05 AM
I've noticed that I feel the need to shop or look for new items when I'm bored or don't really have anything to occupy my thoughts. I've currently been reading a lot more in my free time and trying to find things to do with my hands so i'm not just scrolling though my phone looking at products. After to listing to a couple of financial podcasts i've also started keeping items in my cart longer when I shop online, then i think about whether or not i really want them and sometimes find the item for less money somewhere else.

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