Marielle Mangahas

Wildlife and biodiversity play an important role on our planet and are being threatened each year. I will spend 30 minutes each day learning about the current status of local or global wildlife and how I can align my actions to support their livelihood.

Beauty and personal products can create a lot of waste. I will spend 30 minutes learning about the beauty and body products I use to see if they are refillable or recyclable. If not, I will reach out to the manufacturer to advocate for those options.

Bees are vital to ecosystems. To help save the bees, I will learn which local flowers provide nectar and plant them in my backyard or in a pot on my balcony.

Carbon emissions from air travel is harmful to planetary and human health. Instead of traveling by plane, I will find an alternative way to accomplish the goals of an upcoming trip (i.e. telepresence, vacation locally).

Trees provide food and habitat for local wildlife species, shade our streets and homes, and help keep our air and water clean by capturing pollutants. Buying products that help protect forests makes a difference. I will only purchase wood, furniture, and paper products from ecologically certified sources such as Forest Stewardship Council.

Trees capture carbon and produce oxygen that is essential to life on earth. I will support this important piece of nature by organizing or joining a community group to plant 1 native trees in my community, public parks, office location, campus or backyard.

When traveling, I will seek souvenirs that support local communities and do not cause harm to the environment or wildlife.

Why buy something I will only use once or a few times if someone nearby has it for me to borrow, and why not share something I have that someone may only need a few times a year? To reduce my consumption and waste, I will create or support the sharing economy with friends, family, colleagues or neighbors.

I will continue to contribute to Emerson's environmental sustainability goals beyond April by learning more about the Global Green Teams Network, joining a team near me, or maybe even creating a new team.

I will sign up to the Sustainability Aficionados distribution list to receive global news on sustainability at Emerson, including world news and Greening OF, BY, and WITH news.

The more stuff we consume, the more greenhouse gasses we put into the atmosphere. I will adopt a "Needs Vs. Wants" approach this month and only buy things I need.

I will carry all of my unrecyclable, non-compostable trash with me this month, to raise my awareness of how much I send to the landfill. I will post on the feed my reflections, conversations, and actions I will take moving forward.

An estimated 71% of seabirds and 30% of turtles have been found with plastics in their stomachs. When marine wildlife ingest plastic, they have 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.

Millions of tons of plastic is produced each year worldwide. Each day, I will conduct a plastics audit of what I buy and use throughout the challenge (kitchen, bathroom, personal care products, etc.), to see how single-use plastic shows up in my life. I will find plastic-free alternatives to these products and advocate for alternatives to single-use packaging at local grocery stores, product manufacturers, at work, or on campus.

At times it may not feel like it's up to us to keep our community clean and healthy, but we all have a role to play. Each day I am outside, I will pick up any litter I see.