Niji Ohno

A healthy world needs both our daily actions and support from larger systems. I will spend 8 minutes learning about how I can use my investments and savings to advance environmental sustainability.

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

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.

I will volunteer 1 hours in my community.

Using my voice can help create a more sustainable and just world. I will contact 1 local, regional, or national decision makers to advocate for public policy that protects forests and improves their ability to sequester carbon and nourish biodiversity.

The impacts of our waste are far reaching. I will create zero waste for an entire day and share my reflections and learnings on the feed.

Each day, I will learn about responsible ways to dispose of items and de-clutter, clean, donate, repurpose or recycle unneeded items in my home to make sure that what I get rid of doesn't go into the landfill.

I will gather a group of friends, family, neighbors or colleagues to make 1 phone calls to public officials or companies to advocate for planet-friendly policies.

I will respect and protect biotic communities by practicing the seven principles of Leave No Trace whenever I am outside.

I will organize or participate in a trash pickup at a local river, beach, or natural body of water.

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.

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 cut my car trip mileage by only taking necessary trips, and I will only use muscle-powered transportation for all other trips.

Beauty and personal products can create a lot of waste. I will spend 5 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.

Renewable energy options are becoming more widespread and accessible. Not only are they good for the planet, they can help save money as well. I will sign up for my utility company's clean/renewable energy option. If my utility does not offer one, I will contact them to advocate for this option in the future.

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.

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).

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.