Micah Atkins

UWLBRAUN2020

"Make an impactful difference in my carbon footprint. "

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
761 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

42

plastic containers

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

460

gallons of water

have been saved

Micah's actions

Water

5-Minute Showers

I will save up to 20 gallons (75 L) of water each day by taking 5-minute showers.

COMPLETED 23
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Use Reusable Bags

If at all possible, I will not accept any disposable bags when making purchases.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Participant Feed

Micah Atkins 10/20/2020 4:21 PM
So far my ecochallenge is going well. Sometimes I take showers longer than 5 minutes, but I don't shower everyday so the average is still 5 minutes or less. I bring reusable bags to the grocery store, and the only plastic bags I've had to use is wrapping raw meat so it doesn't leak on other things.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Water

Name some of the human activities impacting the health of water systems, both locally (your watershed) and globally (freshwater and oceans). What can you do to improve the health of water systems?
Micah Atkins 10/13/2020 8:14 AM
Economic activities like manufacturing often negatively affect watersheds, locally and globally, just at different scales. Humans use, and need water for a lot of things, from consumption, to bathing, showers and cleaning dishes, to maintaining livestock. All of this uses water, but many of these activities also makes the water unusable for drinking without some form of treatment. It also can pollute the surrounding areas with chemicals that run off into the water, allowing things to spread.

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Micah Atkins 10/06/2020 10:23 AM
I don't always need to take a shower every day, so I think I can allow myself a little bit of leeway with going a minute or two past 5 minutes, and still end up saving more water than a daily 5-minute shower!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste

What do you do if you find yourself in the situation of needing a bag for items but don't have a reusable one with you or aren't allowed to use the one you brought? Carry things out in your hands? In a cart? Accept a disposable one? If you find yourself in this position often, what system could you put in place to try to create a successful habit of not using plastic bags?
Micah Atkins 10/03/2020 5:53 PM
I would probably still use a disposable plastic bag but I would make sure it ends up getting recycled or returned to the store, and use as few bags as possible. If that isn't possible, then I would hold onto the bags and use them for other purposes like as garbage bags.

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