Patricia Wheelis (SSC)

Fallen leaves, logs, and brush provide shelter and food for wildlife. I will leave natural features in my yard or community space to help strengthen biodiversity and soil resilience.

I will spend 30 minutes learning about the Right to Repair movement and how repair policies influence electronic waste and device longevity.

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

Not sure where to start? Across this sprint, the actions most participants are focusing on fall into three areas: minutes spent learning, pounds of CO2 saved, and plastic items reduced. Browse all five categories, but if you're feeling overwhelmed, look for 🔷 actions tied to these three impacts as your starting point.

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

Reusables only help if we use them! I will set up a system that helps me remember my reusable bags, bottles, containers, or utensils — whether that means keeping them by the door, in my car, or in my bag.

I will refuse single-use items (e.g., napkins, utensils, condiment packets, lids) from restaurants and establishments when I don’t need them.

I will shorten my showers to 5 minutes to save water and reduce energy use - each time saving up to 20 gallons (75 L) of water!

I will pack waste-free or low-waste snacks (e.g., fruit, homemade snacks, bulk snacks in reusable containers) when I'm on-the-go, instead of buying individually packaged items.

To better understand how I can waste less, I’ll track how much waste I produce in a day (or week), paying attention to packaging, food containers, food waste, and single-use items. I’ll reflect on what surprised me most and what I could do differently in the feed.

I will create an "Eat First" area in my fridge to prioritize food that needs to be used right away for my household of 4. Doing so will prevent 0.34 pounds of food per household member from entering the landfill.

I will choose a secondhand (e.g., thrifted, resold) or refurbished item the next time I shop, instead of buying a new one, to keep valuable resources in use longer.

The sprint may be ending, but your habits don't have to. Pick 1-2 actions from the past two weeks you want to keep doing, and share your plan in the feed to help it stick.

Leave No Trace means enjoying nature responsibly by minimizing our impact and leaving the environment as we found it, or better. I will spend 15 minutes learning about the seven core principles to minimize my impact while enjoying the outdoors.

I will spend 30 minutes learning about nonprofits in my area that tackle sustainability and waste challenges that I could get involved with.

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.

I will spend 30 minutes learning about the energy and resource impacts of AI and automation tools and identify 1–2 ways to use them more intentionally.

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 5 products with plastic and packaging waste.

I will schedule a recurring reminder to declutter my digital files, emails, or cloud storage to make it a habit of reducing my digital footprint.

I will spend 30 minutes learning how data storage works, including where my files are stored (e.g., local device vs cloud) and how that impacts energy use.

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

Too much artificial light can confuse and harm animals, especially those active at night. I will reduce lighting at night or switch to wildlife-friendly fixtures to support healthy habitats.