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Nicole Newman
POINTS TOTAL
- 0 TODAY
- 0 THIS WEEK
- 2,211 TOTAL
participant impact
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UP TO20minutesspent outdoors
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UP TO110meatless or vegan mealsconsumed
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UP TO2,130minutesspent exercising
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UP TO100whole food mealsconsumed
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UP TO75plastic bottlesnot sent to the landfill
Nicole's actions
Create Your Own Action
LEFTOVERS
I will make a stronger effort to eat leftovers, because I either don't end up saving enough food or I forget that I have them to eat later and then they go bad. This will help reduce my food waste!
Health
Cut Out Harmful Self-Care Products
I will check labels on my shampoo, lotions and/or beauty products. I'll replace products that use known carcinogens such as formaldehyde, cocamide diethanolamine, DMDM hydantoin or benzene.
Waste
Recycle Everything I Can
I will recycle all materials that are accepted by local haulers or drop stations in my community.
Energy
Disable Screen Savers
I will disable screen savers and will put the computer to sleep instead, saving up to 28% % more energy.
Waste
Reduce Food Packaging
I will only purchase bulk food items and avoid all single-package items.
Waste
Use Reusable Bags
I will not accept any disposable bags when making purchases.
Waste
Avoid Disposables
I will not use any disposable plates, cups, or cutlery.
Waste
Use a Reusable Water Bottle
I will keep 1 disposable plastic bottle(s) from entering the waste stream by using a reusable water bottle.
Waste
Needs vs. Wants
I will adopt a "Needs Vs. Wants" approach and only buy things I need.
Energy
Turn it off
I will keep lights, electronics, and appliances turned off when not using them.
Waste
Use Reusable Containers
I will only use reusable containers for my lunches at work or school.
Food
Meal Planning
I will reduce food waste and save money by planning a weekly menu, and only buying the ingredients I need.
Waste
Buy Nothing But Food
I will not purchase anything but food during the challenge.
Health
Exercise Daily
I will exercise daily for 30 minute(s) per day for two weeks.
Food
Eat Meatless Meals
I will enjoy 2 meatless meal(s) per day.
Health
Avoid Artificial Sweeteners
I will cut out or reduce all artificial sweeteners in my diet, especially acesulfame potassium, aspartame, sucralose and saccharin - all which can decrease human health and pollute our waterways.
Food
Whole Foods Diet
I will enjoy 2 meal(s) per day free of processed foods.
Food
Reduce Dining Hall Waste
I will carefully fill my plate in the dining hall and take only what I can eat. I'll also inquire about ways to improve composting and use of recyclable foodware.
Waste
Reduce Unwanted Mail
I will reduce the amount of unwanted mail I receive (catalogs, phone books, etc.).
Health
Support Pollution Reduction
I will learn about water and air quality issues in my area, how they are impacting human and environmental health, and how I can help.
Nature
Go for a Hike
I will take a 20-minute hike in nature.
Nature
Explore Campus Nature
I will spend time getting acquainted with the nature on or near my campus.
Energy
Switch to Cold Water
I will switch to washing my clothes in cold water, saving up to 1,600 lbs of C02 over the course of the next year.
Water
Wash Only Full Loads of Laundry
I will conserve water by only doing full loads of laundry.
Nature
Attend or Join an Outdoor Club
I will go to an outdoor club or similar group's meeting or event.
Water
Ditch Microbeads
I will use a reusable bottle and stop purchasing bottled water, saving disposable plastic bottle(s) a day.
Food
Shop at Farmers Market
I will purchase produce and meat from a local farmers market or food co-op, or join a CSA.
Water
Research My Water Supply
I will learn more about my own local watershed and where my water comes from and identify any conservation or water quality issues.
Health
Audit Toxic Plastics
I will avoid buying toxic plastics, including polycarbonate, polystyrene and polyvinyl.
Energy
Ditch The Halogen Desk Lamp
I will replace my halogen desk lamp with an LED bulb.
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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Nicole Newman 3/20/2018 10:54 AMI have been focusing on sugar in my diet, like artificial sweeteners, and it has been surprising when I look and see how much sugar is in the things I eat. It's definitely made me a lot more aware of what I'm eating just by realizing the sugar content alone is usually way higher than I expect. -
Nicole Newman 2/26/2018 4:29 PMSo this isn't really related to my challenge specifically, but I heard an ad today on the radio about a new printer where they thought of a way to make the ink come in a form to last for about 2 years and they call it "cartridge-free". I thought this was cool! -
Nicole Newman 2/22/2018 10:29 AMOne thing about recycling that I've learned is that I'm not super sure about what is recyclable and what's not. At my home, the city automatically recycles your trash for you, so I am not used to discerning what is recyclable and what is not. I'm learning though!-
Harry Watkins 2/25/2018 1:57 PMHi Nicole,
I'll bring a summary sheet to class with information on recycling from Waste Management. Should help! Thanks.
Harry
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Nicole Newman 2/13/2018 10:56 AMI normally don't pay attention to what temperature of what I wash my clothes in, but I washed them in cold intentionally. I will continue to do this, because I was surprised to learn it could be saving up to 1,600 lbs of C02 over the course of the next year. -
Nicole Newman 2/06/2018 10:37 PMI went for a hike, and it was great. I'm a huge fan of sunsets, and I got to see the sun set so that was an added bonus that I loved. -
Nicole Newman 2/06/2018 10:34 PMI looked into air quality issues, and I was surprised about how much information was available. There are tons of websites, including airnow.gov and sdapcd.org (San Diego Air Pollution Control District). When I checked near our zipcode of 92106, our air quality was rated "Good" in the 0 - 50 range, by the SDAPCD. It was very interesting! -
Nicole Newman 1/30/2018 2:56 PMI've been focusing on either using reusable bags or no bags whenever I go places, and I've been doing pretty well. But, today I went to the grocery store and unfortunately forgot my bags and I had too many food items to carry by myself, so I had to buy a bag. It was a minor setback, but I was bummed I broke my streak of being bag-less.-
Harry Watkins 2/04/2018 3:23 PMHi Nicole. Do you keep your bags in your car? I've simply made myself go back out to the car to get my bags. After a while, bringing them in has become automatic. (Of course, if you walk to the store, then it is buy a new bag time!) :-) -
Myra Tumlos 1/31/2018 6:19 AMThat happens to me all the time! Except whenever I don't bring a bag, I choose to walk out shamelessly with my arms full of grocery store items as a way of constantly reminding myself that this is a lifestyle I am committed to!
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Nicole Newman 1/30/2018 2:51 PMThis weekend I focused a lot on making sure to turn off electronics, etc. not being used. For example, the place where I was staying this weekend for my trip I made sure when we left, that things like the TV and lights were turned off. It was something that was pretty easy to remember to do and also made sure those things weren't on for hours when they didn't need to be.-
Rima Antous 1/30/2018 8:09 PMThat's great. I've also been working on making sure to keep lights and electronics off when they are not being used.
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Nicole Newman 1/30/2018 2:50 PMMy challenge has been going well and I also had some difficulties. For example, I went on a trip this weekend with a couple people and on the positive side, we bought our food in bulk and pre-planned our meals and were able to avoid a lot of single-packaged foods and a lot of waste. However, we also didn't have an option to recycle the things that we could have recycled, so that was a bummer. -
Nicole Newman 1/24/2018 1:55 PMI've been especially trying to be more aware about buying single-packaged food items, which is harder than I thought. For example, I bought a box of bars from the grocery store, but each item was individually packaged, so it kind of defeated the purpose of buying in bulk.