Patrick Horley
7/31/2022 6:46 PM
This is the easiest way to reduce plastic consumption. The hard part is remembering to grab the bags from your trunk.
July 1 - July 31, 2022
Patrick Horley
"The whole world wins when we compete in the plastic free challenge. "
POINTS TOTAL
- 0 TODAY
- 0 THIS WEEK
- 914 TOTAL
participant impact
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UP TO2.0community eventshosted or attended
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UP TO6.0conversationswith people
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UP TO1.0documentarywatched
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UP TO20minutesspent learning
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UP TO45plastic containersnot sent to the landfill
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UP TO17plastic strawsnot sent to the landfill
Patrick's actions
Pets
Rubber Glove Pet Hair Removal
I will use a rubber glove to remove pet hair from clothes, carpets and furniture.
Lifestyle
Practice Sustainable Fashion
I will spend 10 minutes learning about the costs of fast fashion and begin trying to practice sustainable fashion in my own life.
Lifestyle
Travel Eating
If traveling, I will bring my own snacks and meals in my own containers to avoid the waste of take-out containers.
Lifestyle
Travel Toiletries
If traveling, I will reuse my old travel tubes to refill with my soaps or only bring bar soaps with me in a TSA-approved reusable quart-sized bag.
Community
Join a Cleanup Effort
I will host or participate in a beach, highway, river, or other cleanup effort in my community that follows the CDC’s current guidelines for prevention of disease transfer.
Community
Host a Watch Party
I will host a watch party with friends and/or colleagues to watch and discuss a movie about plastics.
Community
Estimate My Plastic Consumption
I will visit the rePurpose website, complete the 3-minute plastic consumption calculator, and explore how I can reBalance my annual plastic footprint.
Food
Go Strawless
I will keep 1 plastic straw(s) out of the landfill per day by refusing straws or using my own reusable straw.
Food
Minimize Packaging
I will purchase food items with the least amount of packaging.
Food
Choose Reusable Food Storage
I will only use reusable containers instead of single-use plastic storage items (such as plastic wrap, single-use sandwich bags).
Food
Cook a Plastic Free Meal
I will prepare meals at home each day without using any items packaged in single-use plastic.
Food
Skip Plastic Bags
When possible, I will not use disposable bags when shopping, including produce bags.
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?
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REFLECTION QUESTIONFood Skip Plastic BagsHow difficult was this challenge for you? What made it easy or difficult?
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REFLECTION QUESTIONFood Cook a Plastic Free MealDo an inventory of your kitchen to see how many single-use plastics you've used in the past. What are some resuable alternatives to these commonly used products? What would your impact be if you switched all the single-use products from your inventory to reusable?
Patrick Horley 7/31/2022 6:45 PMI'm realizing that it's next to impossible to cook a meal with zero single use plastic unless you grow the food yourself or buy directly from a farmer. Even if you buy some fresh veggies at the grocery store and skip the plastic bags in the produce section and at the cash register, it still probably came to the store in a big plastic bag. And the trucker that brought it there surely ate some chips or some slim jims. It's all connected, man.... It's all connected!
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REFLECTION QUESTIONLifestyle Travel EatingWas this action easy or difficult to do? How did it change your travel experience?
Patrick Horley 7/31/2022 6:30 PMI didn't travel anywhere in July, but this is normally what we do anyway. It's easy to do and usually ends up being healthier than the alternative because the snacks aren't full of salt and grease like your typical gas station junk food. -
REFLECTION QUESTIONCommunity Estimate My Plastic ConsumptionWhat did you find out about your plastic consumption by using the calculator? What did or didn't surprise you?
Patrick Horley 7/31/2022 6:26 PMIt's the eating out that really adds up. We try to get takeout from places that use minimal packaging (i.e. wrapping a sandwich in paper rather than in styrofoam box which is also nice because it doesn't get as soggy). I knew I would score better than most Americans, but I was surprised by how little plastics are used on average in India. Something to aim for. -
REFLECTION QUESTIONLifestyle Travel ToiletriesWhat is the benefit of using bar soaps or refilling your travel sized containers? Is this an action you think you will keep in your life?
Patrick Horley 7/23/2022 1:01 PMI won't be traveling this month but in preparation for next month, I refilled an older small sample tube of toothpaste from a large one. Best way to do it is to squeeze from the larger tube into a syringe and slowly plunge the toothpaste into the smaller tube. -
REFLECTION QUESTIONLifestyle Practice Sustainable FashionHow can you express your personality, creativity, and values in ways that don't require fast fashion or buying more clothes and accessories?
Patrick Horley 7/23/2022 12:58 PMI wear what's comfortable to me. Even if I've had it for a decade. And likely it has never been "in fashion" as I'm not really a fashionable guy. It's easy for me to avoid buying more clothes. Part of my personality IS my dedication to conservation which pairs nicely with my frugality. Also, a lot of my clothes come second hand. It's more about reducing the ecological impact than it is about saving money but both make me happy! -
REFLECTION QUESTIONFood Go StrawlessHave you noticed a shift in your community as more messaging about reusable straws becomes mainstream? Cite some examples.
Patrick Horley 7/21/2022 11:36 PMI do see more people using reusable straws and that makes me happy. It's more acceptable now to pack a straw and soon that will be as mainstream as anything else, especially once those images of turtles with straws in their nostril start becoming more prevalent. But for a lot of people, a reusable straw is too much of an inconvenience and that's fine too. I'm not here to judge, I don't know everyone's situation. But it's on us to push companies to offer a paper straw substitute. While I still frown on that, it's a lot shallower of a frown. Also, let's normalize drinking straight from a cup. What's this fascination with straws all about anyway? One dentist 60 years ago said drinking your Coke from a straw is better for your teeth and then it happened everywhere? Is that what we can blame? Why don't we just skip the soft drinks all together then? -
REFLECTION QUESTIONCommunity Join a Cleanup EffortHow does working with others to clean up your community make you feel?
Patrick Horley 7/21/2022 11:29 PMWorking with others to clean the community makes us feel more like a community rather than just people who happen to live near each other. It shows pride (and it also helps property values but that's another story) -
REFLECTION QUESTIONCommunity Host a Watch PartyHow does hosting a watch party help you to get to know your guests, connect them to the cause you are focusing on, and build your community?
Patrick Horley 7/21/2022 11:26 PMI watched Plastic Island on Netflix with my friend's kids in the crowd. We explained the concepts to them as we went through the documentary. Everything made sense to the kids as to why we shouldn't use single-use plastics. But to the generation older than ours, "plastics make it possible" and it's that kind of brainwashing that got us to this point. If only people thought about the following generations more... -
Patrick Horley 7/15/2022 2:54 PMStarted my day by cleaning up the easement around my property. It will look alright for a day or two before trash blows back into the cacti.
