Besides helping the environment, what was rewarding about it?

Dani: Getting other people involved was probably my favorite part, and not just in the Sustainability Initiatives office! I was able to convince my roommates, my parents, and even a few complete strangers to take on the challenge with me. Seeing them be successful in the challenge was very rewarding to me.

Michelle: Coming into work and sharing my accomplishments with Danielle. It’s rewarding committing to a more sustainable lifestyle and to share that experience with someone is encouraging. I think more people would be willing to take that step towards using less plastic if they had someone to support and encourage them. I’m going to get my roommates on board with practicing more sustainable habits.

Do you think you’ll continue being plastic free, or was one month enough?

Dani: Most likely not at the capacity that I was, but I will try to maintain a plastic reduced lifestyle. A lot of the changes that I made during July—like using a safety razor, my bamboo toothbrush, solid shampoos, and carrying reusable utensils with me—I’ll probably keep up, but I won’t continue to enforce a moratorium on things I know I can recycle later.

Michelle: I think it was a push in the right direction. At first it really was a matter of having the “I only have this many more days” mindset however, by the end of the month, I was more interested in maintaining some of the new habits I had implemented because of the challenge. Realistically I don’t think I’ll be completely plastic free, but I’ll continue to reduce my single-use plastic significantly.