Ashley Palomo

Illinois Green Alliance

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
185 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

5.0

pieces of litter

picked up
UP TO

2.0

pounds

waste composted
UP TO

19

conversations

with people

Ashley's actions

Food

Compost Food Waste

I will avoid sending up to .69 lbs (.31 kg) of food waste to the landfill each day by composting my food or learning how to.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Action Track: Building Resilience

Connect While Social Distancing

I will connect with at least 3 person/people a day through phone call or video chat to support mine and other’s mental and emotional health during this challenging time.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

People

Keep My Community Clean

I will pick up 5 piece(s) of litter each day while following the CDC’s current guidelines for prevention of disease transfer.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

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?

Ashley Palomo 4/29/2020 9:24 AM

Hello everyone! I finished my final paper this past Sunday! The title was called: Plastic Overload within the United States. A few things that I had wrote about were the history of plastics, how plastics are affecting the health of people, animals, and the earth, and media influence. One unfortunate finding was that after the 2010 Deep Water Horizon Oil spill was that more than 900 dolphins were found dead or stranded. Those that swum through the oil were underweight, anemic, or had lung and liver disease (Dell'Amore, 2016). Honestly, animals are the biggest reason why I stopped using plastic items because they are so innocent and they did not ask for this. Hopefully one day I can purchase an electric vehicle so I will not need to purchase gas.

Dell'Amore, Christine. “Gulf Oil Spill ‘Not Over’: Dolphins, Turtles Dying in Record Numbers.” National Geographic, 19 June 2016, www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/4/140408-gulf-oil-spill-animals-anniversary-science-deepwater-horizon-science/.

Read More
Ashley Palomo 4/25/2020 10:11 AM

I haven't been the best at signing in, but I have been trying my best to communicate with my friends and family over video chat to stay sane. The other day, I joined a discussions with UIC about The Story of Plastic documentary. This helped me just in time for my final paper I have been working on for my Economics class. My thesis of my paper is "For the sake of animals, people, and the planet, it is critical that alternative(s) options of single-use plastics at commercial and household levels be found."

Read More
- Liz Wimmer 4/27/2020 9:49 AM
  
  Sounds like you've been doing an awesome job connecting with others, which is totally needed right now! Good luck on your thesis - definitely share any interesting findings!
  
  Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Action Track: Building Resilience Connect While Social Distancing

How does connecting with others help your own mental and emotional health? How can it help support others?

Ashley Palomo 4/13/2020 10:21 PM

Calling my friends or family keeps me happy. Just hearing their voices or seeing their faces via video chat makes everything seem like everything is normal, especially during this time. For example, my 86 grandma lives alone and she cannot go anywhere. Calling her children helps her feel better and makes her feel like she's not alone. Seeing her through the window brings a smile to both of our faces and our hearts.

Read More
- Liz Wimmer 4/15/2020 7:46 AM
  
  Talking to friends and family - even if over the phone or computer is one of my favorite parts of the day, too :)
  
  Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Compost Food Waste

New to composting? Be sure to check out the action resource links to learn tips and more about it. As you transition from throwing food away to composting, what do you notice about how much you are tossing? How will you use your compost once it is ready?

Ashley Palomo 4/12/2020 1:20 AM

I am still new to composting. I bought a small bin to put my food scraps in. So far, I have put in egg shells and fruit peels. I'm not sure what I will do with it when the bin gets full though. I notice that I do throw away a lot of food scraps into the garbage bin since I don't use plastic anymore. If I learned how to compost, that would be one less person throwing trash away in a household of 3 people. I need to purchase a bigger bin and research more about composting to move forward.

Read More