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Rory Kliewer's avatar

Rory Kliewer

Alaska SeaLife Center

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 562 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    2.0
    advocacy actions
    completed
  • UP TO
    2.0
    conversations
    with people
  • UP TO
    16
    pieces of litter
    picked up
  • UP TO
    33
    pieces of plastic cutlery
    not sent to the landfill
  • UP TO
    40
    plastic bottles
    not sent to the landfill
  • UP TO
    31
    plastic containers
    not sent to the landfill
  • UP TO
    14
    plastic straws
    not sent to the landfill

Rory's actions

Food

Use Reusable Utensils

I will keep 2 plastic cutlery out of the landfill per day by using my own reusable cutlery.

COMPLETED 14
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Community Clean up Lowell Pt

Beach clean up with a focus on MicroPlastics

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Share My Actions

I will make my environmental actions visible by posting to my social media networks.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Give Some Green Gratitude

I will give a shout-out on social media to a local company, coworker, friend or family member for their plastic free or green efforts.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Marina Beach Clean Up

To bring awareness to the fishing practices and the trash the camping sites leave behind while cleaning up the area.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Community Beach Clean Up

Beach Clean up hosted by ASLC - to clean up our community and bring awareness to the dangers of single use plastic and provide tips for reduction

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Personal Care

Ditch cotton rounds

Instead of using single use cotton rounds, I will switch to reusable bamboo rounds.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Lifestyle

HOUSEHOLD MESSES

I will use cloth rags for around-the-house cleanups instead of paper towels.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Lifestyle

PAPER TRASH BAGS

I will line my trash bins at home with paper bags instead of plastic bags.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Lifestyle

MATCHES INSTEAD OF LIGHTERS

I will make an effort to purchase/use matches instead of plastic lighters.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Lifestyle

CANDLES VS. AEROSOLS

I will avoid using aerosol or plastic air fresheners and use a candle or incense instead.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Lifestyle

THRIFT STORE CLOTHING

I will make an effort to purchase clothing from thrift/second-hand stores instead of buying fast fashion clothing.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Lifestyle

RESTAURANT LEFTOVERS

When going out to eat, I will bring my own reusable container for leftovers instead of using the restaurant-provided containers.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

PLASTIC FREE SNACKS

I will make my own snacks instead of purchasing pre-packaged snacks at the store (homemade granola bars, rice krispie treats, dried fruit, trail mix, hummus, applesauce, protein bites, etc.)

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

FARMER'S MARKET PRODUCE

I will take my produce containers to a farmer's market to refill them instead of buying more in plastic packaging from the store.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Lifestyle

Buy Only What I Need

I will not buy anything except items required for health and safety.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

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.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Say No to Styrofoam

Throughout its life cycle, polystyrene (styrofoam) can harm people, communities, and the planet. I will refuse styrofoam whenever I can, making sure to kindly let people know why I'm asking for alternative packaging.

COMPLETED 2
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Keep My Community Clean

I will pick up 3 piece(s) of litter each day.

COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Use Reusables at Work

I will use reusable dishes and silverware when eating at work.

COMPLETED 10
DAILY ACTIONS

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.

COMPLETED 14
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Fill a Water Bottle

I will use a reusable bottle and stop purchasing bottled water, saving 1 disposable plastic bottle(s) a day.

COMPLETED 18
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Minimize Packaging

I will purchase food items with the least amount of packaging.

COMPLETED 5
DAILY ACTIONS

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).

COMPLETED 12
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Skip Plastic Bags

When possible, I will not use disposable bags when shopping, including produce bags.

COMPLETED 5
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
    Community Keep My Community Clean
    How does the act of picking up litter connect you more to your community?

    Rory Kliewer's avatar
    Rory Kliewer 7/28/2022 3:48 PM
    I think it's important to demonstrate and reflect the things you would like to see in your community, and picking up litter is a great example of that. On my way to work on Thursday, I found a gull about to stick his head in a plastic bag. People watched, but didn't engage. I was late to work, but I was able to scare the gull off and clean the bag up. Just showing people how easy it is to take that step, especially in your own community, is important.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Food Choose Reusable Food Storage
    How can you think outside the box (or bag!) when it comes to disposables?

    Rory Kliewer's avatar
    Rory Kliewer 7/14/2022 10:13 PM
    My family is a big fan of reusing old containers. I think this is a fairly common practice, but it's especially prolific in our family. Some butter containers have been in use for as long as I have been alive. While many of these containers are still made from plastic, reusing them for things like food storage extends their life, minimizing the plastic going straight from the kitchen to the garbage. There are all sorts of ways to reuse containers from the grocery store, whether that is for food storage or something else, and I often find myself examining packaging at the store to determine which packaging would be the most suitable for reusing once the original product is gone.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Food Minimize Packaging
    With the added mindfulness of reducing your packaging, what have you noticed about the amount and type of single use plastics used for packaging when you shop in the grocery store?

    Rory Kliewer's avatar
    Rory Kliewer 7/14/2022 10:09 PM
    Single use plastics make sense in context of sterile environments like grocery stores and doctors' offices, but we have taken it too far and need to put more work into finding alternatives, whether that means less individual packaging or changing the materials used for individual packaging. Often items sold in grocery stores come in single-use plastics when they could be sold in bulk, which is an opportunity to minimize the amount of packaging in a product and allow people to bring their own reusable containers as an alternative to plastics.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Food Use Reusables at Work
    It is often true that we only have control over our own actions and not the collective community. How can you lead by example when it comes to switching disposables for reusable dishes in your community?

    Rory Kliewer's avatar
    Rory Kliewer 7/14/2022 10:07 PM
    Even though we can only control our own actions, by setting an example for using reusable dishes (especially in public) other people will consider the options available to them and why their decisions about those options (to use single-use plastic or not) are important. The more individuals use reusable dishes, the more demand there will be for those commodities in a community, which can cause more businesses to offer options which welcome reusable dishes and even encourage them. Each individual effort can teach others and collectively impact the community.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Food Skip Plastic Bags
    How difficult was this challenge for you? What made it easy or difficult?

    Rory Kliewer's avatar
    Rory Kliewer 7/11/2022 4:29 PM
    I like to carry a tote bag with me instead of a purse, which means that I can use it for my personal items as well as anything I buy while I'm out. It makes it a lot easier to remember my reusable bag and say no to single-use options. And who wants to carry around more bags than they need?
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Food Go Strawless
    Have you noticed a shift in your community as more messaging about reusable straws becomes mainstream? Cite some examples.

    Rory Kliewer's avatar
    Rory Kliewer 7/11/2022 4:28 PM
    With more messaging about reusable straws, they have also become much easier to find. This has made them more accessible, but it also makes people more interested as the styles and materials of reusable straws diversifies, so that straws are not only functional but seen as a social positive and could even be an accessory (ex. I really want a glass straw from Frontier Trading Post that has a little sea star carved on it).