Stephine Mahoney

Students of Sheridan's Sustainability Class

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
321 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

45

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

10

plastic containers

not sent to the landfill

Stephine's actions

Industry

Practice the 5 R's

Recycling

I will Practice the "5 Rs" — refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose, and recycle — to reduce my waste more than I can with just recycling alone.

COMPLETED 4
DAILY ACTIONS

Industry

Calculate the carbon footprint of my household

I will calculate the carbon emissions associated with my household and consider how different lifestyle choices could reduce our carbon footprint and our impact on the environment.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Industry

Learn About & Practice Sustainable Fashion

Multiple Industry Solutions

I will learn about sustainable fashion and begin trying to practice it in my own life.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Industry

Learn about the impact of old refrigerants

I will spend 30 minute(s) learning about the climate impact of refrigerants and what climate-friendly refrigerants are by using the links provided

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Industry

Encourage my company and/or organization to measure and manage their carbon footprint

Organizations have a responsibility to make sustainable business decisions. To understand how to improve sustainable practices, it’s important to start with understanding the current impact. I will share the Tradewater Business Carbon Calculator with my organization.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Industry

Invite a friend to calculate the carbon footprint of their household

Individual actions are important, but people and organizations working together can make a real impact. I will share a carbon calculator with a friend and invite them to calculate the carbon footprint of their household.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Industry

Reduce Single-Use Disposables

Bioplastics

I will avoid buying and using 5 single-use plastics and instead replace them with durable options.

COMPLETED 4
DAILY ACTIONS

Industry

Recycle Everything I Can

Recycling

Contamination prevents what is recyclable from being recycled. I will research and recycle all materials that are accepted by local haulers or drop stations in my community, making sure to not contaminate recyclables with non-recyclables.

COMPLETED 3
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?

REFLECTION QUESTION
Industry

How could you incorporate other "R's" -- reduce, reuse, refuse, repair, repurpose, etc. -- into your lifestyle? How does considering implementing these "R's" make you feel?
Stephine Mahoney 3/27/2022 5:32 PM
One of the "r"'s that I have been focusing on lately is repurpose.

While doing spring cleaning, there were a few items in my house that I really wanted to throw out. It just didn't match my decor and I wanted to get some new pieces to replace it with. One of these things was an old vase that was just looking worn down and dated. Instead I went on Pintrest and started looking for inspiration on how to repurpose the vase and I I found some really cool ideas! I used some spray paint that I had in the garage and an old shipping box to protect my furniture while I was spraying, to repaint the vase. For my fist DIY project, it came out pretty good and I was able to put it in a different part of my house so it really felt like new decor!

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Industry

What single-use items (e.g. straws, coffee cups, vegetable bags, plastic bags) do you regularly use? What could be substituted instead?
Stephine Mahoney 3/06/2022 6:07 PM
Unfortunately, I am guilty of using all of the items listed above. Here are some of the substitutes I can incorporated into my life

o Plastic Straws: Reusable metal straws
o Coffee Cups: Tumblers
o Vegetable bags: Reusable storage bags
o Plastic Bags: Reusable tote bags

I have already substituted tote bags and tumblers into my everyday life. I will work on getting a reusable straw and vegetable storage bags for food.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Industry

What are some more "R's" you could add to your daily practice to reduce your waste?
Stephine Mahoney 3/06/2022 6:01 PM
I think one of the things I can do to reduce, and reuse is to stop using disposable silverware, especially when I am ordering take out from home. I can easily use my own silverware instead of the plastic silverware that the restaurants send. I also try my best to keep the containers that the food comes in and use those for food storage. This cuts down on how much plastic storage containers I have to buy.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Industry

Why are old refrigerant gases so harmful to our environment?
Stephine Mahoney 2/27/2022 9:35 AM
I read that many refrigerants, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) damage the ozone layer, while others are extremely potent greenhouse gases. One kilogram of the refrigerant R410a has the same greenhouse impact as two tonnes of carbon dioxide, which is the equivalent of running your car for six months.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Industry

What else can you do to hold your organization accountable to implement sustainable practices?
Stephine Mahoney 2/27/2022 9:31 AM
I recently proposed that we start minimizing all paper files and becoming more digitalized. I must admit I do need to do some more research on how this compares to the amount of energy the computer servers use to store this information. They are running 24/7 so I would love to see how sustainable this actually turns out to be.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Industry

How can you express your personality, creativity, and values in ways that don't require fast fashion or buying more clothes and accessories?
Stephine Mahoney 2/27/2022 9:29 AM
I started looking into companies like Fashinnova and Shein and how their fast fashion is ending up in landfills and hurting our climate.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Industry

What kinds of discussions did you have, or are you hoping to have with friends about climate change?
Stephine Mahoney 2/27/2022 9:28 AM
I started with the people in my household and told them if we change a few small habits now we can gradually get closer to reducing our carbon footprint.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Industry

After you determined your carbon footprint, did you see what different choices you can make in order to reduce it?
Stephine Mahoney 2/27/2022 9:26 AM
I am noticing how much food we waste and I am trying to reduce that!

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