Portland Trail Blazers

Live Greener Challenge

April 1 - April 30, 2019

Sam Matthews

Green Machine

"As stewards of the planet, we are dedicated towards making changes that are more sustainable and thoughtful."

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
681 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

4.0

disposable cups

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

162

gallons of water

have been saved
UP TO

10

locally sourced meals

consumed
UP TO

32

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

75

miles

not traveled by car
UP TO

90

minutes

spent learning
UP TO

4.0

plastic bottles

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

3.0

plastic containers

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

13

plastic straws

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

124

pounds of CO2

have been saved
UP TO

2.0

pounds of paper

have been saved
UP TO

30

whole food meals

consumed

Sam's actions

Transportation

Drive Less

I will cut my car trip mileage by only taking necessary trips.

COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Reduce Single-Use Disposables

Historically, marginalized and low-income communities live closer to landfills, contributing to a multitude of health problems. I will find out how I can limit single-use items and do my best to limit the waste I generate.

COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Skip the Straw

Plastic bags and small plastic pieces like straws are most likely to get swept into our waterways. I will keep 1 plastic straw(s) out of the landfill and ocean each day by refusing straws or using my own glass/metal straw.

COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS

Energy

Choose Clean/Renewable Energy

I will sign up for my utility company's clean/renewable energy option.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Energy

Switch to Cold Water

I will switch to washing my clothes in cold water, saving up to 1,600 lbs of C02 over the course of the next year.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Choose Two-Sided Printing

I will save up to .21 lbs (.09 kg) of paper each day by switching from one-sided printing to two-sided.

COMPLETED 2
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Use a Reusable Mug

I will avoid sending 1 disposable cup(s) to the landfill each day by using a reusable mug.

COMPLETED 4
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Go Paperless

I will reduce the amount of paper mail that I receive by opting into paperless billing and ending unwanted subscriptions.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

Say No to Plastic Straws

An estimated 71% of seabirds and 30% of turtles have been found with plastics in their stomachs. When they ingest plastic, marine life has a 50% mortality rate. By asking for no straw when placing a drink order, I will keep 2 plastic straw(s) of out of the ocean each day.

COMPLETED 5
DAILY ACTIONS

Water

Fix Leaky Faucets

I will fix faucets or report leaky faucets to facilities that have been wasting up to 9 gallons (34 L) of water per faucet every day.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Use Reusable Bags

I will not accept any disposable bags when making purchases.

COMPLETED 5
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Use a Reusable Water Bottle

I will keep 1 disposable plastic bottle(s) from entering the waste stream by using a reusable water bottle.

COMPLETED 4
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Reduce Animal Products

I will enjoy 2 meatless meal(s) and/or 2 vegan meal(s) each day this week.

COMPLETED 8
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Whole Foods Diet

I will enjoy 3 meal(s) each day free of processed foods.

COMPLETED 10
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Buy From a Farmers Market

I will purchase produce and meat from a local farmers market or food co-op.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Try a New Way to Prep

I will try a new method of food preparation, such as canning, pickling, or baking bread.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Choose Organic Ingredients

I will enjoy 3 meal(s) cooked with organic ingredients each day.

COMPLETED 7
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Plant an Herb Garden

I will plant an herb garden in my home, workplace, or dorm room.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Participant Feed

Reflection, encouragement, and relationship building are all important aspects of getting a new habit to stick.
Share thoughts, encourage others, and reinforce positive new habits on the Feed.

To get started, share “your why.” Why did you join the challenge and choose the actions you did?

Sam Matthews 4/17/2019 4:05 PM

Beautiful day for a walk in pdx!

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Transportation Drive Less

How has your access to various kinds of transportation throughout your life influenced your current attitudes about transportation and your transportation behavior?

Sam Matthews 4/17/2019 4:03 PM

I've always had access to a vehicle and many of my jobs involved driving so I have seen the ways in which fuel plays into the transportation industry. I noticed that because I drive so often, I have this tendency to want to drive even when the location I'm going to is nearby. I've made a big improvement in walking to places lately

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Buy From a Farmers Market

What is one food choice that you make, or could make, that would do more good and less harm?

Sam Matthews 4/17/2019 4:02 PM

I choose to spend more money and get higher quality local eggs. I think this does good because it supports my local farmers

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Reduce Animal Products

What do you think contributes to people in North America eating more meat than in other places, and what does this say about North American values and ways of living? How do we start shifting a meat-focused food culture?

Sam Matthews 4/17/2019 4:01 PM

I think our culture is highly driven by meat. I lived in Texas for 10 years and it was crazy to see the amount of meat that was central to diets of folks there. It definitely needs to be executed at the local level- I've lived in places like Santa Cruz and Berkeley where the culture is very encouraging of eating more of a vegetarian diet. I will say that the produce on the west coast was much better than that in the south so maybe there need to be more people taking on the hardship of farming

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste Go Paperless

Reducing your paper mail can be such a freeing action to take -- by reducing what is coming in, you can reduce what is going into the recycling bin too. How does it make you feel? What is the next step you will take to reduce your waste?

Sam Matthews 4/17/2019 3:59 PM

It does feel good to switch to paperless. We are in the process of switching a lot of our billing to paperless, which is good but we need to figure out a system for recording invoices without the need to print the bill

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste Reduce Single-Use Disposables

Bringing your own bags and containers to the grocery store, and even to restaurants for leftovers, are a couple of ways to reduce your waste. What single-use items (e.g. straws, coffee cups, vegetable bags, plastic bags) do you regularly use? What could be substituted instead?

Sam Matthews 4/17/2019 3:58 PM

I use vegetable bags at the grocery store often and I would like to replace this habit with the purchase of small reusable bags

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste Choose Two-Sided Printing

Choosing two-sided printing can be an easy adjustment on your computer settings. How can you help others make this same switch? Can it be encouraged company wide?

Sam Matthews 4/17/2019 3:57 PM

We can definitely encourage this by showing everyone how to do it on their computers. We have a very small staff, so this could easily be encouraged

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Waste Use Reusable Bags

What do you do if you find yourself in the situation of needing a bag for items but don't have a reuseable one with you? Carry things out in your hands? In a cart? Accept a disposable one? If you find yourself in this position often, what system could you put in place to try to establish this a successful habit?

Sam Matthews 4/15/2019 11:09 PM

This is tough! Even when I pack my bag in my car, sometimes I forgot to take it into the grocery store. Thankfully, Natural Grocers is bagless so they will just put my things into a large cardboard box that I can then recycle. Getting into the habit of bringing reusable bags is key.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Try a New Way to Prep

Canning and pickling food is a great way to have delicious summer fruits and vegetables all year round. Just make sure to follow the canning and pickling guidelines from the USDA. What are some foods that you would like to preserve and enjoy later in the year?

Sam Matthews 4/15/2019 11:07 PM

my friends and i just started canning. I really want to pickle some asparagus as well as carrots :)

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Energy Choose Clean/Renewable Energy

How might you be able to get others involved in advocating for the shift to clean energy?

Sam Matthews 4/15/2019 11:06 PM

showing them the cost benefits as well as the global impact

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