Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change: Week 5

To review once again, my SMART goal is to reduce the amount of plastic water bottles I use to one per week, and by the end of ten weeks, be only using a glass water bottle. I still have not purchased any plastic, non-reusable water bottles! But I have yet to find a glass water bottle I like. I focused this week on making sure I always had a water bottle of some sort with me so I wasn't tempted to purchase a cheap, plastic bottle I would just throw away. The challenge I faced was the fact that my favorite bottle I have been using is cheap and is leaking. In fact, I noticed this morning it had leaked all over the front seat of my car. Minor issue but I was pretty annoyed since it did get some papers wet. I think it's time for a new bottle! This week I learned that I need to invest in a new water bottle, obviously. So what are the plans for next week? I plan on continuing with my goal as it is, but purchase a new water bottle, one that preferably doesn't leak!

http://www.thegreenfinance.org/enso-bottles-a-plastic-solution/

As I said above, my SMART goal is to reduce the amount of plastic water bottles I use to one per week, and by the end of ten weeks, be only using a glass water bottle. I didn't change my goal throughout the last few weeks. I found that I could be successful by planning ahead and having a water bottle on hand so I wouldn't purchase a plastic one that I would just throw away. I benefited from this project in a few ways. First, I saved some money! I used to buy plastic water bottles pretty often so it was good to save a little money. Also, I liked feeling like I was making a difference, even if it was a small one. I felt good about using a reusable water bottle on a daily basis, along with the fact that those cheap, plastic ones can store bacteria and be dangerous to your health. My goal has been beneficial to the environment since I quit buying plastic water bottles since they will most likely end up in a landfill anyways. I also learned that if you have a good reason behind setting a goal, it makes it all the more worth while and maybe even easier to accomplish. I set this goal because I really did want to change my behavior of buying plastic water bottles all the time. I plan on continuing with this behavior of using only reusable bottles and hopefully I'll be able to find the perfect, glass water bottle someday!


I think anyone can accomplish any goal they set their minds to, as long as they truly want to change. If someone wanted to make a lifestyle change, I would recommend they look over the SMART goal requirements, because I really do think those can help set a very good goal. Good luck to all those who have goals to achieve...if you put your mind to it, you can do anything!

Eye Opener: Environmental Working Group

The Eye Opener this week was about finding out more information regarding a cosmetic item that you use. I chose to look up my foundation since I use it nearly every day and I have been using the same brand for years. I never really think much about the makeup that I use, but I know that I could use more organic, skin friendly makeup. I went to http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/product/101853/Maybelline_Dream_Matte_Mousse_Foundation_1_Tan/ and found out more about my foundation and what is in it. The overall hazard is in the moderate range and the cancer rating was pretty low. I did learn that allergies and immunotoxicity were above moderate. I don't have any allergies and have never had a problem with this foundation so I didn't really read too much into that rating. It was interesting to learn more about what's in my makeup but I'm not sure where to go from there. I realize that the stuff in it isn't very good for you but since I haven't had any bad experience with it, I'm not sure how I feel. I think I might look into trying some different, more organic makeup the next time I go shopping. The only thing about that is that it tends to be way more expensive than the makeup I use. I'll just have to look into it more and find out what will work best for me and be environmentally friendly!

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change: Week 4

Week 4 into my lifestyle change and it's going well!  My SMART goal is to reduce the amount of plastic water bottles I use to one per week, and by the end of ten weeks, be only using a glass water bottle. This week went good...I FINALLY made it to the store to get a glass water bottle, and was pretty disappointed with the results. I went to TJ Max, which is where Dr. V. had purchased hers. If anyone else has noticed, its a pretty glass bottle with leaves, so I figured I'd be able to find the same. No such luck. All I could find was a small, Voss water bottle. It wasn't expensive at all, so I grabbed it. I felt pretty good about it but only because it was glass. I didn't care much for how small it was since I kept having to refill it over and over again. Plus, it wasn't very pretty :) So now it is rolling around on the floor of my car while I continue to use a plastic, much larger, pink :), water bottle.

                                          Photo credited to http://greenupgrader.com/11314/water-bottle-company-wants-to-do-more-than-take-back-the-tap/

So what's my next step? I've decided to continue my search for a better, more convenient glass water bottle. I may not have mentioned it before, but I am really picky when it comes to what plastic water bottle I use. Some just have that weird, plastic taste to them that I can't stand. This is a part, along with being environmentally friendly and healthier, that I want a glass water bottle. I still am staying away with the plastic, one time use water bottles. I haven't purchased one in quite some time and feel great about it. Even though I do miss my Smart water!

I have decided to continue with my SMART goal. The part I'm doing good with is not purchasing any more plastic water bottles that I just toss after one use. I just spent a while looking on Amazon for glass water bottles to order, and I am thinking that may be the route to go. If anyone has other suggestions of where to purchase them, let me know!

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change: Week 3

I can't believe it's already week 3 of my SMART goal! Time goes by so fast. My SMART goal is to reduce the amount of plastic water bottles I use to one per week, and by the end of ten weeks, be only using a glass water bottle. This week has been good! I felt I had success with my goal, since I didn't purchase one plastic water bottle. A challenge that I did face today was that I had no reusable water bottles with me, was running errands all day, and really wanted to grab a bottle to go. I suppose I could have since I am still allowing myself one plastic bottle a week, but I decided to go without and felt good about it! Something that I learned this week is to be prepared so I'm not tempted to purchase a plastic water bottle. Also, I NEED to get to the store to buy my glass bottle! I've been putting it off because I've been busy, but I need to make it a priority. I hope to accomplish that by next week! I am planning on continuing with my SMART goal. I hope to continue using no water bottle, and if so, only one per week. Hopefully, I'll make it to the store to get that glass water bottle and start using that!

Eye Opener: CSPI

I chose to take the Score Your Diet quiz. I wasn't too nervous since I eat pretty healthy I think, but after taking it I realized some changes should be made! The food that I scored the highest in were fruits and veggies, which is a good thing. I scored the highest in these because I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables per week. The foods that I scored the lowest in were candy, chicken, beef, and pork, to name a few. It's a good thing I scored low in the sweets section since that stuff is never good for you. But I could eat more chicken since that's so high in protein. I think I scored the lowest in those foods since I really am not a big meat eater. The category that I need the most work in is the Environmental section. I could put more effort into eating locally grown meat, fruit, and vegetables. I think the main reason I don't do that is because I think its not as convenient, but I think if I put in the effort it would be worth it. I plan on trying to eat more locally grown items since it's a great way to help out people in the community, it's environmentally friendly, and it would help me be healthier too! Overall, taking this quiz made me think more about how my diet does affect other things besides myself. I can make more of an effort to eat differently in order to be to be more healthy, be more conscious of animal welfare, and to help the environment.

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change: Week Two

Alright well....here's an update on my SMART goal! To be perfectly honest, it's not going to be the most positive post, since I haven't done so well this past week. My SMART goal is to reduce the amount of plastic water bottles I use to one per week, and by the end of ten weeks, be only using a glass water bottle. No more plastic ones! This past week was a little tricky, since I already had plastic water bottles at home that I had purchased. So I wanted to use them and not just toss them out, but that contradicts my goal. Regardless, I ended up using them. On the other hand, I haven't purchased any more plastic water bottles since the start of my goal, so that's progress! I haven't really experienced any other challenges yet. It is difficult though, since it's so simple to just grab a water bottle in the store and not think about it. I felt pretty good about not purchasing any more water bottles, but felt guilty after using the ones I had. Especially since I remembered my goal AFTER I used the bottle. This week I learned that I should recycle the plastic water bottles I have at home and that I need to get to the store to purchase a glass one. I have reusable plastic water bottle at home, but would really like to end up using only glass in the end. My plan for is to purchase a glass water bottle within the next week here, so I can start using it! I plan on sticking with my goal, since I do like it and I think that it will be achievable in the end. Wish me luck!

Eye Opener: Ecological Footprint

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not overly environmentally friendly...something that I'm working on changing! So I wasn't too excited to take the quizzes and find out exactly how NOT eco-friendly I've been. Needless to say, I wasn't surprised at my results. I took the Ecological Footprint quiz, which I actually thought was pretty cool. It showed that if everyone lived like me, we'd need 4.9 planet earths to support our lifestyles. That's not good!

I liked how the quiz broke everything down, so I could see what I needed to focus more on. I think that I could really start purchasing more locally grown food, which would be healthier and more eco-friendly. Also, I could cut back on how often I drive my car. The bus is available to use and is free, so it would be cheaper to use that instead of driving my car everywhere. There's a lot of learn through taking these quizzes...it helped me see that I need to start being more "green" and how to go about it!