Melissa Auchter

I will create an "Eat First" area in my fridge to prioritize food that needs to be used right away for my household of 2. Doing so will prevent 0.34 pounds of food per household member from entering the landfill.

Bees and other pollinators are vital to ecosystems and agriculture. I will spend 2 minutes learning how to support local pollinators and take at least one action—such as planting native flowers or avoiding pesticides—to help sustain resilient ecosystems and harvests.

I will spend 30 minutes unsubscribing from unnecessary email lists and deleting old emails to reduce digital storage.

Groceries are one of the biggest sources of single-use packaging that generates waste. I will redesign one part of my grocery routine (e.g., bulk bins, loose produce, refill options) to replace 1 products with plastic and packaging waste.

I will turn off lights, electronics, and appliances when not in use to save energy.

I will spend 15 minutes learning about nonprofits in my area that tackle sustainability and waste challenges that I could get involved with.

Giving can be an act of change and inspiration. I will give a thoughtful, waste-free or waste-reducing gift — like a reusable bag, bottle, or bar soap — to someone in my life and share why I chose it.

I will spend 30 minutes organizing and deleting unneeded files on my desktop and downloads folder.

Donating gently used goods not only prevents waste but also strengthens social safety nets. I will donate items at least 2 times through a local shop or drop box in the next two weeks instead of throwing them away.