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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's avatar
    Sam Matthews 4/17/2019 4:05 PM
    Beautiful day for a walk in pdx!
  • 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's avatar
    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
  • 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's avatar
    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
  • 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's avatar
    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
  • 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's avatar
    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
  • 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's avatar
    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
  • 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's avatar
    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
  • 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's avatar
    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.
  • 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's avatar
    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 :)
  • 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's avatar
    Sam Matthews 4/15/2019 11:06 PM
    showing them the cost benefits as well as the global impact