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October 2 - October 23, 2019

Zero Waste Los Alamos Feed

BACK TO TEAM PAGE

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!


  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Water Collect Rain Water
    Trace the water that flows down the drain from your house to the largest body of water nearby. What is the route it takes?

    Sara Martinez's avatar
    Sara Martinez 10/23/2019 1:00 PM
    Outside of my house the rain collects on the roof and spews into the rain gutters that end one of two sides of my house. At one end it waters my rose bushes, and on the other it it being collected by our huge rain barrel that when it gets full I tip over to water my trees and lawn in my backyard. Then I have to clean it out if it gets gross, which with the water already there it is not a problem.

  • Katie Leonard's avatar
    Katie Leonard 10/23/2019 12:56 PM
    I wish I'd been more diligent about tracking my progress while I was gone.  I also wish the Eco Challenge would allow you to do more things.  Begin limited to 6 or whatever the number was didn't portray the many actions I do every day.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Energy Upgrade My Windows
    How does improving your home's energy efficiency help you better live out your values?

    Sara Martinez's avatar
    Sara Martinez 10/23/2019 12:51 PM
    I put a new weatherstrip on my front door because I could feel the cold air come through the bottom and goodness what a difference it has made! I now can prolong turning on the heat in my home! Holding out until November 1st at the earliest! 

  • Sara Martinez's avatar
    Sara Martinez 10/22/2019 1:42 PM
    “When we reconnect with nature, we will be restore ourselves.” — Lailah Gifty Akita
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Nature Explore My Area
    How can spending more time outdoors enhance your sense of place?

    Sara Martinez's avatar
    Sara Martinez 10/22/2019 1:40 PM
    Spending time outside has made me feel happier and be a happier person. It has helped lower any stress I had collected that day and has helped me relax more. I hope to explore more hiking trails after this challenge (as well as during).

  • Sara Martinez's avatar
    Sara Martinez 10/20/2019 7:54 AM
    "A beautiful environment starts with you!" - Unknown

  • 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.