Aria St. James

I will keep lights, electronics, and appliances turned off when not using them.

An estimated 71% of seabirds and 30% of turtles have been found with plastics in their stomachs. When they ingest plastic, marine life has a 50% mortality rate. By asking for no straw when placing a drink order, I will keep 1 plastic straw(s) of out of the ocean each day.

I will reduce the amount of paper mail that I receive by 0.11lbs (0.05kg) a day or 3.3lbs (1.6kg) a month by opting into paperless billing, ending unwanted subscriptions and opting out of junk mail.

I will switch to washing my clothes in cold water, saving up to 133 lbs of CO2 a month and 1,600 lbs of CO2 over the course of the next year.

I will fix faucets or report leaky faucets to facilities that have been wasting up to 9 gallons (34 L) of water a day or 270 (1,020 L) gallons of water a month per faucet.

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

I will upgrade the windows or weatherstripping in my home or office to reduce air leaks and save on energy costs.

I will keep 2 disposable plastic bottle(s) from entering the waste stream by using a reusable water bottle.

I will avoid sending 1 disposable cup(s) to the landfill each day by using a reusable mug.

I will advocate for alternatives to single-use packaging at local grocery stores, markets, at work, or on campus to reduce pollution in the environment and in local communities.

Plastic bags and small plastic pieces like straws are most likely to get swept into our waterways. I will keep 1 plastic straw(s) out of the landfill and ocean each day by refusing straws or using my own glass/metal straw.

Cheap, single-use items and disposable packaging end up blowing around as litter more often in poor and POC-majority neighborhoods. I will find out how I can limit single-use items and do my best to limit the waste I generate.