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Christine Eckles's avatar

Christine Eckles

Blank Park Zoo

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 952 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    1.0
    community event
    hosted or attended
  • UP TO
    56
    plastic containers
    not sent to the landfill
  • UP TO
    1.0
    conversation
    with a person
  • UP TO
    30
    minutes
    spent learning
  • UP TO
    30
    disposable cups
    not sent to the landfill
  • UP TO
    55
    plastic bottles
    not sent to the landfill
  • UP TO
    48
    pieces of plastic cutlery
    not sent to the landfill
  • UP TO
    36
    plastic straws
    not sent to the landfill

Christine's actions

Personal Care

Say No to "Flushable Wipes"

Wipes don't break down in sewer systems, but combine with fat to create massive clogs. I will find alternatives to using disposable wipes.

COMPLETED 29
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Advocate for Office Reusables

I will lobby my workplace to have reusable dishes and silverware in order to minimize disposables.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Skip Plastic Bags

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

COMPLETED 21
DAILY ACTIONS

Personal Care

Eco Deodorant

I will switch to a plastic-free deodorant — whether purchased or DIY'd.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Advocate For Better Food Packaging

I will advocate for alternatives to single use packaging at local grocery stores, markets, or work.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Personal Care

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.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Personal Care

Green Beauty

When it's time to buy more, I will replace my beauty products with refillable, sustainable, and/or DIY options.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Use a Reusable Mug

If possible, I will avoid sending 1 disposable cup(s) to the landfill per day by using a reusable mug or bringing my own travel cup.

COMPLETED 19
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Cook a Plastic Free Meal

I will prepare meals at home each day without using any items packaged in single-use plastic.

COMPLETED 14
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Plant a Garden

I will plant a herb or vegetable garden using as little plastic as possible and to save from the plastic used buying herbs and veggies.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Personal Care

Sustainable Suds

I will replace my soaps, shampoos, conditioners, and lotions with a sustainable, unpackaged, or refillable option.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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

Family

Learn about Environmental Justice

Using the action resource links below, my family will spend 2 minutes learning about environmental justice, causes of environmental injustice, and how plastic waste disproportionately impacts already vulnerable communities.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Use Reusable Utensils

I will keep 1 plastic cutlery out of the landfill per day by using my own reusable cutlery.

COMPLETED 12
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Advocate for Plastic-Free Dining

I will talk to the owner or manager of a restaurant I frequent to request that they reduce their use of single-use and disposable plastics.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Switch to Loose Leaf Tea

Because many tea bags and most sleeves and sachets contain plastic, I will switch to using loose leaf tea.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Community

Research Local Waste Sites

I will spend 1 minutes finding out where landfills and/or toxic waste sites are situated in my region and which communities are most impacted by these sites.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Use Reusables at Work

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

COMPLETED 8
DAILY ACTIONS

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

Raise Money For a Nonprofit

I will raise money to support a nonprofit dedicated to plastic pollution reduction.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Tour A Waste Management Facility

I will spend at least 5 minute(s) touring (virtually or in person) a local dump/transfer station, material recovery facility, and/or landfill to learn about our local waste and waste recovery streams.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME 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.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Learn about Plastic Production

Plastic production, not just disposal, pollutes communities and harms people. I will learn about the impacts of plastic production on humans, animals, communities, and the environment.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Lifestyle

Complete a Waste Audit

I will conduct a waste audit - including recyclables and compost - to understand how much waste I create and where I can reduce the most.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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 25
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Fill a Water Bottle

I will use a reusable bottle and stop purchasing bottled water, saving 3 disposable plastic bottle(s) a day.

COMPLETED 28
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?


  • Christine Eckles's avatar
    Christine Eckles 7/24/2022 8:58 AM
    It’s going well. I am trying to be more aware of my habits and checking in every day is helping. 

  • Christine Eckles's avatar
    Christine Eckles 7/22/2022 1:33 PM

  • Christine Eckles's avatar
    Christine Eckles 7/22/2022 1:32 PM
    Check out this website and sign up for their eblasts: https://www.plasticpollutioncoalition.org/ 

  • Christine Eckles's avatar
    Christine Eckles 7/20/2022 7:08 PM
    Checking in to see how everyone is doing with their challenges!  

  • Christine Eckles's avatar
    Christine Eckles 7/17/2022 9:16 AM

  • Christine Eckles's avatar
    Christine Eckles 7/11/2022 1:35 PM
    Terracycle announced their sale today!

    Starting today, all Zero Waste Boxes are buy one, get one 50% off! Mix and match boxes to fit your needs. It’s the perfect opportunity to stock up and save! But hurry the offer is valid for a limited time only - so don’t wait! 


  • Christine Eckles's avatar
    Christine Eckles 7/06/2022 2:48 PM
    I wanted to share a cool company with you all TERRACYCLE!  There is so much plastic that cannot be recycled in our system, but TERRACYCLE has a way to help!  I started using their free collection programs and pay for the Zero Waste Box.  They have some great sales throughout the year, one will be coming this month to celebrate No Plastic July.  I will try to remember to post a picture soon of our box.  In the next post I will share how the Zoo uses TERRACYCLE

  • Christine Eckles's avatar
    Christine Eckles 7/05/2022 8:13 AM
    Hello All!

    Are you looking to meet the challenge to tour a waste facility!  Here is a link to an interactive tour of Metro Waste Authority’s new Metro Recycling Facility.
     
     

  • Christine Eckles's avatar
    Christine Eckles 7/02/2022 3:24 PM
    Today I wanted to use my reusable  cup when getting coffee. The cup needs to be clean and dry. The cup was clean and I thought dry but ended up having a little water in it. The baristas would not take it. I was embarrassed and frustrated since I thought I did the thing right and then made the effort to go inside for the drink and not go through the drive thru. I learned a lesson today and will try to better going forward. 

  • Christine Eckles's avatar
    Christine Eckles 6/30/2022 2:23 PM
    Do you have some questions?  I will post some of the most common questions to help get you going
    How do I earn points? Will I be penalized if I mess up? Let’s get that second Q out of the way first. There is no way to be penalized in the Plastic Free Ecochallenge. Pinky promise.

    Now let’s answer the first question. There are nearly a bazillion ways to earn points in the Plastic Free Ecochallenge. 

    • Right off the bat, when you register, you’ll earn 5 points just for joining a team. Add a profile pic, banner image, and mission statement to your profile, and you’re up another 25 points.

    • Then, start diving into the actions! For every action you mark as “I already do this,” you’ll earn one point. When you select your first action for the month, you’ll earn another 5 points. You can’t start checking off actions until July 1, but you can post to the feed and invite other teammates to start bumping up your tally before then.

    • Once the challenge begins, you’ll earn points for completing actions, posting to the feed, recruiting new teammates, and answering reflection questions. You can even earn points for not completing any of your actions!

    • Every day, you can earn up to 10 points for completing daily actions (5 points for your first completed action, 5 points for completing more than one daily action).

    • Completing a one-time action will earn you 5, 10, or 15 points, depending on the difficulty of that action.

    • Checking in on the current day, rather than backlogging your actions, will earn you an additional 25 points per day. Even if you didn’t complete any of your actions, you can still select “I didn’t meet any of my challenges today; there’s always tomorrow!” and earn these 25 points. Yes. You can still get points for not completing any actions.

    • Posting to the feed will earn you another 5 points per day. (Feed comments do not earn points, but we encourage you to check out the feed and engage with your teammates!)

    This is why we encourage you to choose a variety of actions for the month! If you forget to bring a straw one day but remember to call your local representative and take reusable bags to the grocery store, you can still earn the full 10 points for that day, plus the 25 points for checking in that day.

    Zero penalties.

    (You can learn more about the points system on the Ecochallenge website here.)