Coalition of North American Zoos and Aquariums

Plastic Free Ecochallenge 2022

July 1 - July 31, 2022

Maria Watson

"So excited to be part of PFJ for a third year in a row! I am very passionate about cleaning our environment, protecting wildlife, and making an impact by learning how to reduce my plastic intake!"

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
1,510 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

2.0

community events

hosted or attended
UP TO

2.0

advocacy actions

completed
UP TO

1.0

waste audit

conducted
UP TO

24

plastic containers

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

10

conversations

with people
UP TO

75

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

1.0

documentary

watched
UP TO

488

pieces of litter

picked up

Maria's actions

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.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Keep My Community Clean

I will pick up 20 piece(s) of litter each day.

COMPLETED 29
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 18
DAILY 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

Share My Actions

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

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

Family

Swap the Snacks

I will swap out 1 prepackaged snacks a day for fresh fruits or veggies.

COMPLETED 23
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Host a Watch Party

I will host a watch party with friends and/or colleagues to watch and discuss a movie about plastics.

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

Discover Together

I will spend 30 minutes educating my family on the basics of living a reduced/no-plastic lifestyle.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Minimize Packaging

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

COMPLETED 28
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.

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?

Maria Watson 7/31/2022 8:31 AM
I also wanted to add on here some of my favorite people to follow online: mostly Instagram!

But these sites and individuals are just such amazing humans who love our earth just as much as we do & share all about it which is just so cool!!!
Some are scientists, eco friendly peeps just like us, or business owners —- all of them are pretty amazing!

@ayanaeliza
@plasticfreemermaid
@going.zero.waste
@intertidalkendy
@mariahreading
@impactforgood
@kokotheshp
@plasticfreepursuit
@rlmatsch59

Share with us if you follow so really cool people that you think we should follow too!

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Maria Watson 7/31/2022 8:13 AM
Ok social media… I SEE YOU LISTENING TO ME!!!!
Betsy and I were talking about vitamins on one of her posts and this popped up this morning.
I actually use this brand and reuse the big containers they come in or I can recyle them… but this is cool that they have a glass container that can be refilled… my only concern or question is about the material the refillable bags are made out of! Is it just for show to be more eco-conscious OR is it legit better? I will be looking into this AND emailing the company to see what the packaging is made out of if I cannot find it!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food

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?
Maria Watson 7/31/2022 8:09 AM
This can happen a lot, which can make us sad especially if the people that don’t understand are very close to us. But in order to invoke change we have to give them the educational resources and be sounding board for them to ask questions to! We cannot judge or friends, colleagues, or family because that will deter them from trying or caring. We have to be there for them to help them understand and that is ok! That is us doing our part too! We have to be role models and can explain to them all the things that we have learned along the way. Heck… I am still learning and I love that. I don’t think I will ever get over it, but one of the things that blew my mind 3 years ago for my first PFJ was that contacts are plastic!!! WELL DUH! HELLO, wake up maria! Lol I knew this but never thought about it and that was the difference. Now I know that I can save all of mine and send them in to be recycled….!

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- Lanie Menk 7/31/2022 1:45 PM
  ....I also never thought about contacts. *cue existential crisis
  
  Haha but in all seriousness thanks a bunch for all the encouragement this month! This fact about recycling contacts is now one I'll be sharing with contact-wearing friends and family ;)
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food

What was your strategy in talking with your favorite restaurant's management? Did you find it to be effective?
Maria Watson 7/31/2022 8:03 AM
Definitely was affective both in person and through email! Start with complementing them for the work they already do and then suggest what you would like to see based on how you care about the environment. It is a little intimidating at first, but its just a conversation and you never know where it will end up. What if you are the first person to talk to them about this? What if you are the 20th and it’s what pushes them to decide to become more environmentally conscious! Either way it is a win!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Community

How 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?
Maria Watson 7/31/2022 8:00 AM
I love it so much! Wish I had more time this July to make sure it happened in person too —- but I had a few girlfriends and I watching that Mission Blue documentary last night with me and it was so fun to see what we 1) got excited about 2) got us talking about what more we could do & 3) just got us more excited about being involved more to be the change we want to see!

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Maria Watson 7/31/2022 7:51 AM
GOOD MORNING SEA TURTLE INC TEAM!!!

Today is the FINAL day of Plastic Free July 2022!!!

You all have been absolutely crushing it! To all the teammates that have been SO vocal, thank you for making the feed such a fun place to be! To all of our teammates who aren’t as vocal… we still see you & YOU are making an impact… I see you!!!

As it stands we are currently in 10th place out of 310 teams…. That is incredible!

Collectively as a team we have:
-Picked up over 2,000 pieces of trash
-Said NO to over 300 plastic straws
-Said NO to over 800 disposable utensils
-Had over 200 conversations with others about plastics

AND THE BEST PART? This is what is counted on here…. Which means we have all been doing more than this because not all of it is collected…so how cool!

I have learned so much from you all this month & I am so thankful for that!

Also do not forget to put in todays last daily actions, one time actions, answering reflections questions, and talking on our feed!

The top 3 people from our organization through our STI team will get an eco-friendly prize once the challenge is completed. The top 3 from outside our organization will also get an eco-friendly prize!! We will let you know the winners after all the tallying is up from the ecochallenge’s side!

Regardless of who gets a prize… I am proud of you all and I AM so excited to see you all continue this plastic free journey!

Love,
Maria

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Maria Watson 7/30/2022 7:09 PM
Did y’all know about ocean dumping in the 70s and earlier?
Taking radioactive and other types of waste out to the ocean and dumping it in barrels to the bottom!
I feel like I’ve never known about this!!
https://www.epa.gov/ocean-dumping/learn-about-ocean-dumping

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- Claudia Zimmermann 7/31/2022 5:41 AM
  I did not know. Awful!
  
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- Maria Watson 7/30/2022 7:13 PM
  So crazy to hear it & see it in this documentary!
  
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- Betsy Hosick 7/30/2022 7:11 PM
  Wow! I think I did know on some level. I sure knew that ships dumped their waste into the ocean, including all the waste that passenger liners created.
  
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Maria Watson 7/30/2022 6:53 PM
Ugh. Only 20 min in watching Mission Blue! SO impactful!!
“No ocean - no us”

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- Maria Watson 7/30/2022 7:10 PM
  Ugh! You’ll love it!
  
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- Amy Daley 7/30/2022 7:06 PM
  Thanks for posting - I just turned it on.
  
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Maria Watson 7/30/2022 6:39 PM
finally watching Mission Blue with Dr. Sylvia Earle💙💙💙

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Maria Watson 7/30/2022 6:18 PM
Hands down my favorite rice brand - not only for the rice quality but also because it is simply cardboard! If only it didn’t have this little plastic window to prove to people what rice looks like… then we’d be set lol!

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