Small Changes, Big Impact: How ArcStone is Taking on the Plastic-Free Challenge
Climate change is a growing threat to the inhabitants of our planet and its effects often feel overwhelming. Just last month, we watched as fires swallowed whole communities of California. The eerie, dangerous, and disheartening reality of our climate isn’t slowing down, and it’s so easy to feel helpless––as though our individual actions can’t possibly have a meaningful effect. However, just as we saw during the fires, communities can make a difference, and communities are made up of individuals, each doing their part.
Our community––made up of Hennepin, Ramsey, and Washington counties––has come together for the month of February to focus on one area of environmental health together: plastics. Residents of each participating county have signed up to make specific commitments in their own lives to reduce the use of plastics, participating in the Plastic-Free Challenge. The goals of this initiative are to broaden the community’s understanding of the negative impact plastics have on the environment, help form sustainable practices, and ultimately make our corner of the earth a little bit healthier.
These goals fall directly in line with the core values at ArcStone, so we signed ourselves up for the challenge. With 10 participating members, we are a small but mighty team currently holding 12th place out of 238 teams! Meeting goals, reflecting on the experience, and inviting team members are all ways to rack up individual points, which contribute to your team’s overall score. Participants of each team choose their own focus areas and commitments, some challenges being daily actions, while others are a one-time action. Participants choose the actions that are most relevant to them, and check into their dashboard each day to report whether or not they met their goals. There are hundreds of actions to choose from, including:
- Use reusable bags
- Watch a documentary on plastic waste
- Choose a plastic-free deodorant
- Make the change to cloth diapers
- Skip the straw
- Use a reusable mug or cup
One of the pages on the site is titled “Impacts” and breaks down the real-time impact of participants’ actions so far. This page provides an immensely powerful perspective on how much our individual actions matter and what whole communities can accomplish when banded together. Right now, we are halfway through the month-long challenge. The stats currently show:
- 1,646 participants
- Up to 6,000 lbs of co2 have been saved
- Up to 1,070 plastic water bottles not sent to the landfill
- Up to 683 pieces of litter picked up
- Up to 210 lbs of waste recycled
- Up to 17,435 minutes spent learning about plastic waste
That’s a BIG impact! If this is what one community can accomplish in two weeks, imagine what that same community can do in a year––or better yet, what communities around the whole world can do.
It all starts with making small changes and sticking to them, which is why the Plastic-Free Challenge approach seems to work so well. By making the goals small, like “Ditch the plastic wrap,” we feel like we have an attainable and identifiable task. If the challenge was simply to “Stop using plastic,” it would be too broad, it would feel unattainable, and little would likely change.
It’s also a reminder that small changes do make a difference. In our world today, it’s simply unrealistic for most people to completely remove plastic from their entire lives forever––although that’s the dream, isn’t it! This challenge shows us that even small changes have a positive impact. Additionally, it shows us that as we begin to make those small changes, it becomes easier to spread those same practices and habits across other facets of our lives. By breaking down a big goal into manageable pieces, creating sustainable habits, and sticking with it, we can make a big difference in our community and our planet.
Want to join the movement? Get on the list for next year!
If you don’t live or work in the 3 participating counties, check out the parent website and see what events are happening in your neck of the woods! Visit their page here.