How to Use Remora

Set up or change Daily Notifications:

• • When you first download the app and set up your account, you will be prompted to select a time for your daily notification. If you chose to set these up later or want to change your daily notification time, follow these instructions: 

    • On the home page, click on the three horizontal bars on the top left corner of the screen. Click on “Settings,” “Daily Reminder,” then the downward arrow, adjust the toggle to your desired time for your daily notification, click “Done,” then “Save,” and your new daily notification is set to go!

Invite and follow friends:

• • Open the Remora app, navigate to “My profile” by clicking the profile icon on the far right of the bottom menu. Select the blue button that says “Invite your friends.” Select your friend from your contacts. Send your friends the automatically generated link to the app store. Once they’ve created an account, go back to your profile and press the “follow” icon (plus sign) in the top right corner of the screen to navigate to the “following” screen. This screen will show you who you follow and who follows you. Select the “following” icon again, and use the search bar to locate your friend on the app. Press the blue “follow” button.

Change Privacy settings:

• • You can set your default settings for every post to either public or private, which would automatically show your postings to the leaderboard. Privacy can also be set on a post-to-post basis, so that you can choose which items appear as public or private depending on your preference. This is a good option for items that you want shown on the leaderboard, versus data that you would like to keep private, but that can still contribute to our anonymous database.

Change posting Location: 

• • Choose “Home”, “Work”, or “Other” in your posting options. When sharing, select “Home”, if you are using or refusing plastic items at home. This will record the zip code for your Home Location that you entered when you set up your account (you can change your Home location anytime in Settings).

    • Residential college students can select “Home” when using or refusing plastic in the dorm. Select “Work”, if you are using or refusing plastic items at your place of work. This will record the zip code of your location.

  • If you are refusing or using plastic at a business, select “Other” and enter the business name and location before sharing. This helps us keep track of which businesses people are refusing/using plastic items.

Categories of Uses and Refusals:

• Beverage

  • Water Bottle - This is designed to count a usage or refusal for every 16oz water bottle. For larger bottles, you can track several uses or refusals to get a more accurate data entry. 

  • Cup - Similar to the water bottle, count one per every 16oz. This also includes cups made out of styrofoam, and even cups that are made out of paper but are leak proof. Leak proof cups often have a thin layer of plastic on the inside which prevents the liquid from leaking through, but this plastic prevents the cup from being able to be recycled or composted. 

  • Straw - Usages includes straws labeled as bioplastic, biodegradable, bio-based, and compostable. These products are still plastic and will act like plastic when it goes to the landfill or into the natural environment. Straws completely made without plastics, such as paper or pasta, would count as a refusal. 

  • Lid - Any clear lid for iced or cold drink that has a lid on it is going to count for this section. Hot lids are going to be placed under the coffee lid section. 

  • Tea Bag - A lot of big name brands have plastic that makes up the mesh bag holding the tea. When this mesh bag is placed into hot water it releases several microplastics right into your drink! Consider using loose tea and a tea ball.

  • K-Cup - These are made of plastic, but you can now buy pods that are compatible with many instant coffee machines that are reusable.

  • Stirrer - Wooden and plastic are the common forms of stirrers. Wooden stirrers would be logged as a refusal and plastic stirrers would be logged as a use. Try using a spoon or avoiding them if possible altogether. 

• Food Packaging 

  • Snack wrapper - This applies to any thin foil plastic that is holding a snack: chip bags, granola bars, fruit snacks, etc. These all are going to fit under this category unless it is something like applesauce pouches, which would go under the squeeze pouch or snack cup category. 

  • Takeout container - Styrofoam or plastic containers from restaurants.

  • Squeeze pouch - This would count for larger packets such as, but not limited to, juice pouches and apple sauce. These are pretty flexible and are frequently capable of being deflated and reinflated.

  • Condiment packet - This would count for smaller packets such as, but not limited to, ketchup and mustard. If you are using a large ketchup container that has several servings or uses that would count as a refusal for a condiment packet compared to the small single serve packets that are often found at fast food restaurants. 

  • Snack cup - Some examples would be pudding or yogurt cups, which are sturdier than the plastic squeeze pouches. 

  • Prepared food container - Clamshell containers (containers that are bound together in the middle) or similar, that you can buy at grocery stores, coffee shops, or gas stations. To avoid them, users could use their own container to hold food they prepared themselves or purchase prepared food in paper-based containers instead. 

• Utensils and Flatware 

  • Plate - This includes styrofoam plates, leak-proof paper plates, and disposable plates that may be listed as biodegradable or compostable plastic. Leak-proof paper plates, while mostly made out of paper, have a thin layer of plastic on top which prevents liquids from leaking through - however, this plastic is not capable of being recycled and does not break down like paper does. 

  • Fork/knife/spoon packet - This includes the plastic wrapping and the utensils are often bound in. 

  • Spoon - Firm plastic, but also could be a spoon labeled as bioplastic or compostable plastic. 

  • Bowl - Includes styrofoam bowls, leak-proof paper bowls, and disposable bowls that may be listed as biodegradable or compostable plastic. Leak-proof paper bowls, while mostly made out of paper, have a thin layer of plastic on top which prevents liquids from leaking through - however, this prevents the bowl from being recycled or composted.

  • Knife -  Firm plastic, but also could be a knife labeled as bioplastic or compostable plastic. 

  • Fork -  Firm plastic, but also could be a fork labeled as bioplastic or compostable plastic. 

• Bags 

  • Grocery Bag - These are offered at food or grocery stores. An alternative would be a cloth bag, paper bag, or if you are reusing a plastic bag you already had. 

  • Resealable bag - Any bag that you would usually place food into like snack bags or gallon bags. There are several alternatives to this: beeswax wraps, reusable snack bags, and reusable containers. 

  • Shopping bag - These are offered at retail areas, and are frequently larger than grocery bags. An alternative would be a cloth bag or if you are reusing a plastic bag you already had.

  • Trash Bag - These are larger, often sturdier, bags as compared to grocery or shopping bags. There is no perfect replacement for these bags but paper bags or fabric bins may be useful for some situations. In addition, reducing the amount of waste through reusing and composting can assist in reducing the amount of trash bags needed. 

  • Pet waste bag - These are produced specifically for cleaning up pet waste. A great way to reduce the amount of usage of these at home is by using a poop-scooper.

  • Produce bag - These are the typically clear plastic bags that are at grocery stores or food markets for your produce and other food items. 

• Home

  • Dryer Sheet - Dryer sheets are often made out of polyester which is plastic. When used, plastic fibers are often shed and may get on your clothes, within the machine, or in the environment. . An alternative could be opting for dryer balls, which still dampens the static and make your clothes nice and soft.

  • Laundry + dishwasher pod - These are the pods that you throw in as a replacement to liquid detergent. However, there is a thin film of plastic which keeps the liquid in the pod - this degrades in the heat leaving small particles of plastic all over the cleaned products. 

  • Plastic wrap - This could be the flimsy yet sticky plastic often used as a covering on food materials, as well as parchment paper which is used frequently in cooking and baking. The flimsy wrap can be replaced with bees wrap or reusable containers. The parchment paper has a layer of silicone on it and can be replaced with a reusable silicone baking sheet.

• Hygiene 

  • Disposable wipes - These are wipes that can be used on bodies, counter tops, and even floors. There are many cloth alternatives that could replace these plastic products!

  • Cotton bud - While the cotton itself is not made out of plastic, it is often wrapped around a small plastic stick. There are reusable products that can be used instead. 

  • Menstrual product - These products are completely necessary, so don’t feel bad for using them! But there are also many alternatives that you can look into. 

  • Diaper - These products are completely necessary, so don’t feel bad for using them! But there are also many alternatives that you can look into.

• Safety

  • Gloves - These are unavoidable at times and we understand that. Safety is always most important but if you are gardening, or working on an outside project try cloth or rubber gloves to still protect your hands. 

  • Mask - During the pandemic, this was a necessity and still are today. There are reusable cloth ones that have been made but make the best choice for you and the situation you are in. One suggestion is if you are using a disposable mask, break the ear elastics so if it does end up in the environment, wildlife does not end up getting stuck in them as easily.