RaeAnn Allen
"Beat Dan."
POINTS TOTAL
- 0 TODAY
- 0 THIS WEEK
- 741 TOTAL
participant impact
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UP TO7.0zero-waste mealsconsumed
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UP TO21plastic bottlesnot sent to the landfill
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UP TO540gallons of waterhave been saved
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UP TO1.0petitionsigned
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UP TO2.0documentarieswatched
RaeAnn's actions
A Call to Sustainability
Watch a Documentary
I will watch a movie about a sustainability issue I would like to know more about.
A Call to Sustainability
Explore My Area
I will explore at least one new hiking trail or nature walk in my area.
Ecological Principles
Research Renewable Energy Options
I will find out if my local utilities offer an option for supporting renewable energy investment.
Ecological Principles
Recycle Everything I Can
I will recycle all materials that are accepted by local haulers or drop stations in my community this week.
A Call to Sustainability
Sign a Petition
I will sign petitions in support of an environmental or social initiative in my state.
Water
Use Reusable Bottles
I will use a reusable bottle and stop purchasing bottled water, saving 3 disposable plastic bottle(s) each day this week.
Food
Zero-Waste Cooking
I will cook 1 meal(s) with zero waste each day this week.
Food
Watch a Documentary
I will watch a documentary film about food with family and friends and talk about what we learned.
Food
Weekly Meal Planning
I will reduce food waste and save money by planning a weekly menu, only buying the ingredients I need.
Water
Fix Leaky Faucets
I will fix faucets or report leaky faucets to facilities that have been wasting up to 9 gallons (34 L) of water per faucet every day.
Consumption and Economy
Buy Only What I Need
I will not buy anything except items required for health and safety.
Consumption and Economy
Support Local Businesses
I will buy from local businesses instead of shopping online.
Visions of Sustainability
Eco-friendly Gardening
I will plant native species, landscape with water-efficient plants, and use eco-friendly fertilizers.
Visions of Sustainability
Collect Rain Water
I will create a rain garden or bioswale, or use rain barrels to collect water for outdoor watering needs.
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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RaeAnn Allen 4/28/2020 11:43 AMWhile I did do some online shopping as mentioned in my earlier post, I did not actually purchase anything! So I suppose it was more like local browsing. This week, I curtailed my online shopping and did not purchase anything that was unnecessary. It felt nice, I also got my mom on board and this whole week there were no packages coming to the house. So in ways we cut down on waste, like cardboard boxes and box stuffing. We also shopped only local and so were not burning major fossil fuels to have things shipped to our house from far away. Overall, my mom and I did lots of good saving this week, and we are both feeling pretty good about it! -
RaeAnn Allen 4/27/2020 6:46 PMThis week I made a commitment to only buy from local shops. Since the beginning of quarantine my online shopping has grown exponentially, it has been a little bit crazy. Most of that shopping has been from major chains and online corporate giants such as amazon. While I still have been doing a bit of shopping, this last week I browsed some smaller shops in my area that were all local. As far as the groceries we get go, my mom already makes it a point to buy locally and so there was no real change necessary there. I had not spent much time looking at where we shop, that is just always how we have done it. Looking at it now thought, I realize we only go to major shopping chains when our little local stores don't have what we need! -
RaeAnn Allen 4/21/2020 11:20 AMThis week I decided that cutting down on my plastic water bottle use would be a good challenge. My family and I have been working on building a chicken coop and our natural tendency is to just bring plastic water bottles up for everyone so that we don't cover anything important in dirt, paint, cement etc. This week I decided to bring a reusable bottle up while we worked and suggested that all my family did too. I personally probably saved 21 water bottles but between myself and my entire family we probably saved an entire case of water bottles. Now, we just have to be more careful about not covering our reusable water bottles in gunk! -
RaeAnn Allen 4/21/2020 12:42 AMWhat perfect timing, this was actually on my to-do list already! Both of the faucets in our upstairs bathroom leak, and sadly, have been leaking for quite some time now. My dad is busy with lots of projects around the house, and so it my mom, so between the two of them and their jobs, the sinks have been left slightly leaking for months now. So this week, I decided to move the leaky sinks up on my to-do list as part of this weeks challenges. It's safe to say I was pretty impressed with my own handy-work abilities! I was able to fix both of those sinks in a couple of hours with minimal trial and error. Now, I also get to feel good about how much water I am saving. Maybe next week I will work on making sure those sinks finally drain properly again! -
RaeAnn Allen 4/14/2020 12:40 PMFor all of quarantine my family has been really good about planning out weekly menus. We all agreed that it would be important for us to have some variety while we are all stuck at home, and to take turns managing the workload that there is with cooking for seven. So for each week, everyone signs up for a day to cook a meal. At the beginning of the weeks everyone rights down the exact amount of ingredients they will need so my mom can do one shopping trip for us all. This week was no different, we all planned out our meals and got only what was necessary for them. So far it has been a very successful system, and I think everyone is enjoying the variety that each person brings to the table! -
RaeAnn Allen 4/14/2020 12:35 PMAfter watching the documentary this weekend, my family and I decided to take on the challenge of creating meals with zero waste. So while I did not personally prepare all seven means, I got my family on board to help me out, so all meals this week and the rest of this week are to be prepared with zero waste. When cooking for seven people it is hard to judge what will be enough food without also cooking too much food. Even when my youngest sister cooked too much food for us all, we made sure to save it and eat the leftovers, not just through them away. It was a great whole-family effort this week, and I appreciated everyone jumping on board! -
RaeAnn Allen 4/14/2020 12:32 PMI had my family sit down and watch the Cowspiracy documentary that I watched a couple weeks ago because I was so fascinated by how little I knew about animal agricultures harmful effects on the Earth. My mom, dad, two sisters and I all sat down to watch it over the weekend and they were all as shocked as I was. My mom was surprised by how much water went into raising livestock, such as cows. She grew up on a farm and observed how they were always constantly drinking water. My sisters (one in college, one in high school) were appalled at how much livestock polluted gases into the atmosphere, and that they were probably the biggest cause of global warming. My dad, well he just maintained his point that he never liked cows! -
RaeAnn Allen 4/03/2020 6:39 PMThis whole week I have helped my family step up our recycling. We were already pretty thoughtful about it in the first place, however we definitely had room to improve. We decided as a family to change specific drawers in our house for different recyclable products, like glass and paper, or plastic. Now when we go to recycle, things are not all mixed together and we are able to sort all of our recycling much easier. My littlest sister is still getting the hang of it, seeing as she is the most resistant to change in this house! Overall, I think things are going well, and I hope that my family sticks to this process, even after I eventually move out again! -
RaeAnn Allen 4/03/2020 5:52 PMI actually have a leg up on this, my mom has been at our local public utility for over 25 years and I used to work there. Amazingly enough, I have never sat down and talked to my mom about renewable energy options that the PUD offers. They have this cool 2 for 1 program that I did not realize I witnessed many times while I worked there. If a customer brings in a used compact fluorescent lightbulb (not very energy efficient) the utility will properly dispose of it for you, and give you two LED lightbulbs! Super cool! As well, my mom informed me that they have programs for solar panel installation and maintenance, they the utility runs using the energy channeled from their own solar panel field, and that in certain areas, you can get yourself set up to have naturally running water generate power. They run classes and have informational websites all about how you can be more energy efficient, and lots of cool resources! -
RaeAnn Allen 3/31/2020 3:01 PMToday browsing through Change.org I found a couple of super cool petitions going in Washington. The one that I chose to sign is a petition aimed at Jay Inslee and two other higher ups in our government to ban styrofoam and single use plastics in the state, which I think is awesome! The less pollutants in the water the better. My family and I already try to actively avoid using single use plastics, take out containers, plastic water bottles etc. This petition talked about starting a program to slowly phase out plastic usage and I think that is something most of us can get on board with doing. That's all a change we can relatively easily without too much of a lifestyle change, so I am on board!