Mary Parsons
"I got 5 points for this! :D"
POINTS TOTAL
- 0 TODAY
- 0 THIS WEEK
- 1,096 TOTAL
participant impact
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UP TO1.0documentarywatched
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UP TO62donationsmade
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UP TO150minutesspent learning
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UP TO975minutesspent outdoors
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UP TO1,570minutesnot spent in front of a screen
Mary's actions
Enacting Equity
Watch a Documentary about Racial Injustice
I will watch 1 documentaries about racism and racial injustice.
Balancing Consumption
What is Sustainable Fashion?
I will spend 20 minutes learning about sustainable fashion and adopt at least one sustainable fashion practice.
Nourishing Food
Donate Food
I will find out what food programs are in my area and donate food and/or other items that they request.
Enacting Equity
Get Involved in the Water Justice Movement
I will spend at least 20 minutes using the resources provided to learn about water justice and find out how I can get involved in local initiatives.
Balancing Consumption
Less Screen Time
I will replace 60 minute(s) of screen time each day with other activities.
Cultivating Communities
Pull Together Items to Donate
Each day, I will find one or more items I can donate to a local thrift or resale shop.
Balancing Consumption
Develop a Work-Life Balance
During the work day, I will schedule time for breaks to practice work-life balance.
Regenerating Nature
Spend Time Outside
I will replace 45 minute(s) per day typically spent inside and often with electronics with quality time outside walking, exercising, enjoying the sunrise/sunset, gardening, journaling, observing nature, or practicing gratitude for nature.
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?
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Mary Parsons 10/14/2022 11:16 AMSee baby swing! See baby swing and eat a raspberry. I'm not a very good - grow and consume my own food person, though I like to grow things. We have accidentally been wildly successful with everbearing raspberries under our deck and everyone, including the dog who now knows how to pick his own, enjoys raspberries from July through the frost. Not having to shop for raspberries surely reduces the number of times I forget my reusable grocery bags in my car and plastic packaging.-
Sarah MacGregor 10/17/2022 5:50 PMI feel your pain Mary! I'm also terrible at picking veggies or fruit I grow, it mostly ends up going to the wildlife...I'm glad you at least have some delicious raspberries the whole family can enjoy! It sounds like there may be enough to go around for the rest of the critters in your yard too 😀
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Mary Parsons 10/12/2022 1:39 PMOne of my loves in life is our native garden right outside our front door. My husband thinks it looks messy and he's not wrong, but it's fun to watch the bumblebees and other pollinators. We are on the monarch migration path and we have caterpillars during the summer and they fly over our house in the fall on their way south. I'm sure there are other creatures benefiting from our little spot, but these are my favorite.
Two fun bumblebee facts I've learned - one, people pet them! I'm not that brave, even when it gets cold and they get slow. But they're generally easy going and don't really mind much in life. Second, they don't have a hive, so at the end of the season... that's it. That's the end of their season, too. They have a queen tucked away for spring and it's her job to figure things out and restart the colony for the season.-
Sarah MacGregor 10/17/2022 5:53 PMAgreed, both. It's sort of crazy to think about how much insects do for the environment despite having such short life spans! Maybe there's a lesson for us humans in that 🤔 -
Courtney Schneider 10/17/2022 8:41 AMI recently learned about the lifespan of a bumblebee too! It's kind of crazy how much importance is placed on their backs in such a short amount of time!
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Mary Parsons 10/11/2022 10:10 AMI almost didn't give myself credit yesterday for work-life balance, because I didn't work. But I didn't work. So that counts for something, right? -
REFLECTION QUESTIONBalancing Consumption Develop a Work-Life BalanceHow does practicing a work-life balance create a more sustainable life for you? How might it contribute to sustainability more broadly?
Mary Parsons 10/11/2022 10:09 AMIts noon and I'm going to go have lunch not at my computer! It makes the time I spend at work more productive and more positive. It makes coming back to work and dedicating myself every day easier and a generally better experience. My kids ensure I step away outside of their daycare hours or I can see how it would be easy to just get one more thing done...forever. -
REFLECTION QUESTIONBalancing Consumption What is Sustainable Fashion?How can you express your personality, creativity, and values in ways that don't require fast fashion or buying more clothes and accessories?
Mary Parsons 10/11/2022 10:07 AMI'm ignoring this question, because I don't like it. But what I do want to reflect on is the affordability of "sustainable fashion." It's soooo hard for me to spend money on things that are probably (maybe) more sustainable. Like my kids' clothes that they're going to grow out of in five seconds. It's so expensive!
I've been trying to identify key items for myself that would be used longer term, but it's still expensive. I'm a - Kohls clearance/sale item with a coupon and kohls cash shopper in my ideal life. Comparatively, it makes spending money on real items feel very difficult, even if they're better resourced in so many ways - how they're made, who's making them, where they're made, how the materials are resourced, etc.-
Sarah MacGregor 10/17/2022 6:02 PMMary, I really liked the point you brought up. Sustainable fashion is great, but I agree with you that it's above a lot of people's price point. It makes me wonder if alongside sustainable fashion we should be having a conversation about a different form of sustainability, i.e reusing and re-purpusing the cloths we already have. People used to darn socks or reconstruct old garments into something else, or just patch them. We've become spoiled by a culture that isn't about fixing or repairing, but is instead about throwing away and buying something completely new. When I was living in Britain I noticed that every town seemed to have a shoe repair shop. If your heal fell off or you got a hole in your shoe, you'd just drop it at the shoe repair shop and they'd make it good as new for you. The great thing is it wasn't expensive at all! It definitely cost less then buying a whole new pair.
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REFLECTION QUESTIONCultivating Communities Pull Together Items to DonateHow can you prevent yourself from accumulating more things in the future?
Mary Parsons 10/11/2022 7:42 AMI don't know!! Ha. Please tell me.
Conscious spending. Not taking items just because they're free. haha.
I'm working on rolling out the things my kids are outgrowing, which is what makes this task both easy and a good choice for me. But I have years of "unburying" of stuff to accomplish as I work towards better streamlining our home.-
Mary Parsons 10/11/2022 10:03 AMBut Courtney, now I have a whole collection of reusable bags!! Ha.
I'm a champion at forgetting them in the car when I go into the store, too.
I used to come home from NAFSA with all kinds of junk. It's a good time, but totally unnecessary. I have cups filled with pens to get me through the next decade. Maybe 2. My husband brings home t-shirts from tech events. I'll let it slide if they're exceptionally soft, though. :D -
Courtney Schneider 10/11/2022 8:40 AMWho has the answers to this question?! lol. I'd like to meet them! You mention not taking items just because they are free - this was such a revolutionary belief and lifestyle I gained over the past 5 years. AND IT IS HARD! However, there are 2 ways I have been able to effectively say no each and every time:- The dentist - I know, it sounds strange. From my first dentist visit up until 3 years ago, the dentist always gave you a goodie bag (at least mine always have) with a toothbrush, travel toothpaste, floss, coupons, etc. I started saying "No thank you" when they offered the goodie bag to me. It felt completely unnatural and I felt like my mom was watching down on me saying "What are you thinking passing up on something free?". But you know what, I haven't missed it!
- Bags (plastic or paper) from any in-store shopping. Living in Seattle, this is just common sense (you have to pay 8 cents per bag). But when I visit my family in KY - I have to put forward so much effort to remember to put the bags in the car AND to bring them into the store. I definitely get funny looks when I whip out my reusable bags in small town KY. But you know what, I do not miss them!
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REFLECTION QUESTIONEnacting Equity Get Involved in the Water Justice MovementWho is affected by polluted water or a lack of access to water in your region? How are they affected?
Mary Parsons 10/07/2022 2:34 PMThis has been the weirdest thing since moving here, but apparently yes and apparently it's "normal." In the older parts of Kansas City, the infrastructure results in sewage flooding back into homes when we experience heavy rain and flooding - which we do, every single spring. I had one former coworker released from her lease and move out after her rental home's basement flooded with sewage water for the second time. Good times. Good times. Totally crazy.
Obviously, the city has projects in place to reduce the rate of occurrence and replace aging infrastructure. https://www.kcsmartsewer.us/projects/neighborhood-sewer-rehabilitation-
Courtney Schneider 10/09/2022 10:11 AMWow! I had no idea, Mary. Thanks for sharing
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REFLECTION QUESTIONRegenerating Nature Spend Time OutsideWhat are the implications for a culture that spends most of its time inside and on screens?
Mary Parsons 10/06/2022 7:31 AMI think my kids are my window to what you miss out on when you're spending time with a screen. You're isolated from the people right next to you, the people, creatures, sunshine and joy of being outside. Collectively, as a culture spending time inside and on screens, we would and do see a loss of empathy, critical thinking and creative problem solving. Screens are self-selecting, self-affirming, and impersonal.
It has been easy to fall back on screens as we manage toddler and infant care - just trying to get everyone fed, clean and in bed on time in the evenings. With a little intention and a lot of luck, we managed a glorious evening walk, using the wagon for both of them for the first time.-
Courtney Schneider 10/07/2022 7:36 AMI second Sarah! Very elegantly said and couldn't say it better myself! Your kids are adorable :) -
Sarah MacGregor 10/06/2022 1:53 PMI can't agree with this sentiment more Mary! Love the pic!
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Mary Parsons 9/15/2022 9:24 AMI have really high hopes for the prizes!! :D-
Mary Parsons 10/06/2022 7:18 AMI feel unnecessarily paranoid about point accumulation and what that might mean for winning a squirrel picnic table. I'm the least competitive person in the world when it comes to sports, but not now, not with this when there's potentially so much on the line! ;) Bahaha -
Courtney Schneider 9/21/2022 4:08 PMThis just made my day! -
Courtney Cox 9/19/2022 10:24 PMOk, Noted, because I love this so much too!! 😍
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