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Rozia Francis's avatar

Rozia Francis

L.A. Zoo - Angeleno Plastic Eliminators (APE)

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 1,766 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    1.0
    community event
    hosted or attended
  • UP TO
    1.0
    conversation
    with a person
  • UP TO
    18
    minutes
    spent learning
  • UP TO
    3.0
    plastic bottles
    not sent to the landfill
  • UP TO
    167
    plastic containers
    not sent to the landfill

Rozia's actions

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

Community

Research Local Waste Sites

I will spend 4 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

Personal Care

Practice Sustainable Fashion

I will spend 6 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

Personal Care

A Sustainable Flow

I will make the switch to sustainable, reusable period products.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Personal Care

Eco Deodorant

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

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

Advocate For Better Food Packaging

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

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Family

Use Reusable Baby Wipes

I will make better choices for the environment and my baby's bum by using reusable baby wipes most or all of the time.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Family

Natural Paints

I will paint rooms in my home with low/no VOC or natural paints.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Family

Use Cloth Diapers

I will replace single use diapers with reusable cloth diapers.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Family

Thoughtful Toys

I will only buy cloth, wooden or plant-based natural rubber toys. Or make our own toys from recycled items found in our home!

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

Food

Better Gum

I will give up gum or choose gum made from chicle or other plastic-free gum bases.

COMPLETED 21
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 22
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 21
DAILY ACTIONS

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 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Skip Plastic Bags

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

COMPLETED 21
DAILY ACTIONS

Personal Care

That Was a Close Shave

I will replace my disposable razors with steel razors.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Personal Care

Pearly Whites

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

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Personal Care

Brush with Bamboo

I will replace my plastic toothbrush with a bamboo toothbrush.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Pets

Rubber Glove Pet Hair Removal

I will use a rubber glove to remove pet hair from clothes, carpets and furniture.

COMPLETED 23
DAILY ACTIONS

Lifestyle

Ditch Dryer Sheets

I will use wool dryer balls or another plastic-free alternative to dryer sheets to keep my clothes static-free.

COMPLETED 23
DAILY ACTIONS

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

Lifestyle

Buy Only What I Need

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

COMPLETED 26
DAILY ACTIONS

Family

Swap the Snacks

I will swap out 2 prepackaged snacks a day for fresh fruits or veggies.

COMPLETED 30
DAILY ACTIONS

Family

Glass Bottle Baby

I will replace 6 plastic bottles with glass or stainless steel alternatives.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Family

Learn about Environmental Justice

Using the action resource links below, my family will spend 30 minutes learning about environmental justice, causes of environmental injustice, and how plastic waste disproportionately impacts already vulnerable communities.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Family

Discover Together

I will spend 5 minutes educating my family on the basics of living a reduced/no-plastic lifestyle.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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?


  • Rozia Francis's avatar
    Rozia Francis 7/31/2022 2:37 PM
    I really enjoyed taking part in Plastic Free Ecochallenge. It was great to see the impact my daily decisions made on the environment. Moving forward I will still be able to ask myself the same questions and try to reduce my impact and get the word out to other people. I also wanted to mention that a lot of non-profit organizations have a lot of volunteer opportunities to do environmental cleanups that occur monthly. One of my favorite places to visit is the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, we’re they host a coastal cleanup day and in one day volunteers/staff can remove anywhere from 7-20 bags full of trash. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Personal Care A Sustainable Flow
    Disposable tampons and menstrual pads are often quite expensive. What are the economic and personal benefits of this switch for you?

    Rozia Francis's avatar
    Rozia Francis 7/29/2022 1:57 PM
    The change in information in menstrual care for women is changing each day. The options that are being offered are more sustainable and are more better for health reason. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Personal Care Eco Deodorant
    Do some research on the toxic side affects of aluminum deodorant. After reading the side effects, can you think of instances where you may have experienced the side effects from this form of deodorant?

    Rozia Francis's avatar
    Rozia Francis 7/29/2022 1:52 PM
    The big difference between “underarm care” products is that one is used to tackle odors and the other tackles sweat. To eliminate sweat, most companies use aluminum salt in their products. But, since this product is placed under the arm which is porous, it causes different side effects. From what I looked up, that includes rashes, more sweating, more odor and possibly kidney disease. Dove is the best company I’ve used. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Personal Care Practice Sustainable Fashion
    How can you express your personality, creativity, and values in ways that don't require fast fashion or buying more clothes and accessories?

    Rozia Francis's avatar
    Rozia Francis 7/29/2022 1:40 PM
    I enjoy sewing and this is the best way for me to avoid the fast fashion. A lot of the materials needed to sew clothing can be purchased at the local “fashion district” in Downtown LA and they are more affordable. Also, I grew up in a community where we give away clothing to our family or friends when we no longer can fit them and also donate clothing items. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Personal Care That Was a Close Shave
    What have you noticed about the economic and social impact of switching to steel razors? Was there ever really a need for disposable razors, or do you think it was just a way to sell more things?

    Rozia Francis's avatar
    Rozia Francis 7/29/2022 1:32 PM
    Steel razors are of better quality and as long they are cared for properly they can be reused and helps save money. The disposable razors give you more quantity at a cheaper price which means they increase the need to buy more. And often times, it’s the blade that needs to be replaced not the “body.” 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Personal Care Green Beauty
    How can you advocate for the importance of reducing packaging to the rest of your friends, family and larger community?

    Rozia Francis's avatar
    Rozia Francis 7/28/2022 11:04 PM
    Biodegradable and Sustainable are the best options to reduce plastic packaging. Just to buy a pound of any fruit or vegetable they come packaged in a plastic container. However, a lot of companies have now started to see their impact and are proceeding to change the way their plastic is made. In California, I was able to find at least 7 companies that make biodegradable plastics. So the half life for plastic is set at a maximum of 6 months and they start to breakdown. Ventiv was one of the companies that I looked into, they have sustainable plastic packaging. Since, there are companies that can provide the sustainable package than the consumers can start to make the demand. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Family Use Cloth Diapers
    In what ways is diapering your child with cloth diapers better for your child, better for you, and better for the environment?

    Rozia Francis's avatar
    Rozia Francis 7/28/2022 10:41 PM
    Currently,  the ‘cloth trend’  is going to change the options for women and families in their choices of personal care products. The goal is to reduce the  “one-time use” of items like diapers or menstrual care products, since most of these products contain plastic and other chemicals that take a while to breakdown. Use of cloth would be beneficial since its made from natural plant based material. I looked up some companies on Amazon that have cloth diapers/menstrual items available and most are affordable and reusable. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Family Natural Paints
    How do environmental health, community health, and your family's health intersect?

    Rozia Francis's avatar
    Rozia Francis 7/28/2022 10:28 PM
    “You can’t have one without the other.” Health is like a network. If a family comes from a healthy neighborhood than the community is healthy and the families in the healthy communities will continue to build a healthy environment. In my neighborhood, as a kid, all the children would be outside playing, making toys out of rocks etc, and the fun part was when it was time to go home, we all cleaned up and left the neighborhood cleaner than when we found it. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Family Use Reusable Baby Wipes
    In what ways do you model choices that align with your values to your little one? In what other ways could you model values-aligned choices?

    Rozia Francis's avatar
    Rozia Francis 7/28/2022 10:17 PM
    In general, since it’s the year 2022 we have a lot of access to information that can help us change the way we think about our impact on the environment. We can make better choices to recycle, choose sustainable products, advocate for a more healthier lifestyle and teach the younger generations all the things we learn and give them access to resources to continue making changes. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Food Advocate For Better Food Packaging
    Single use plastics have become normalized in our society to the point that most people don't see them as a problem. What would you say to a friend, colleague, or family member who may not understand why these disposables are an issue?

    Rozia Francis's avatar
    Rozia Francis 7/27/2022 9:29 PM
    Single use plastics always find their way into the environment even though we have good intentions to throw them in the trash. They are a choking hazard for animals in the wild and take a long time to decompose. The best option would be for everyone to taking small steps and start using eco-friendly items or sustainable wrapping for food, lunch box, etc.