In our two person household we only have garbage pick up once per month in a smaller bin. The last several months the bin has been only about half full so I find myself looking around for garbage to put in on the day before pick up. I don't find much as most of our waste goes into the recycling stream/bin or into our compost bins. We do have boxes in the garage for specialty recycling but that is an easy tradeoff when you believe in recycling. We are not alone as we saw long lines of people with specialty recycling ( not curbside) at a recent recycling event at PCC Rock Creek. I was happy to see so many similar minded people! We have so many happy worms from all the food, paper and organic waste we place in our compost bins. Compost Happens!

I try not to use skin care products because there are rally no regulations on them as I know of. I did not get a chance to reach this week

I thought this was a great challenge because it really made me think about the number of things I was consuming, and I tried especially hard to keep that in mind as I shopped and went out to try and reduce how much I bought as much as possible. I found myself consuming a lot few packaged goods and excess things as I focused on this goal. I definitely want to try and keep this up as I go forward as well.

Volunteering helps me feel more connected to my surrounding community, and the different individuals within it. It also gives me purpose and motivation to help those surrounding me in the betterment of our community as a whole.

I feel like there is a domino affect with every product that we have and use, even on a day to day basis. Everything that we use, purchace, consume; are most likely being created by low-income BIPOC communities who are working in harsh conditions for mere penny's a day. I always try to buy local, traditional trades with some of my fellow Indigenous artists , and always supporting small BIPOC businesses, because I know that my money is going towards something good, not just towards the capitalistic world.