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!

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 1: My SMART Goal

Here is the link for the above photo. I thought it was a cool picture of water bottles and I actually found it on someone's blog that is all about being environmentally friendly.


Hi everyone! I chose to do the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change project. I didn't have a hard time coming up with my project at all, since it's actually something I've been meaning to do for awhile and it ties in to my blog really well. For my SMART goal,over the next ten weeks I will reduce the amount of plastic water bottles I use per week to one. By the end of the ten weeks, I will only be using reusable and glass water bottles.  I will be purchasing a glass water bottle so that I can reuse that one. I tend to go through A LOT of plastic water bottles, especially the Smart Water bottles. I feel that this will be a challenge for me, since I find it so convenient to just grab a bottle of water when I'm at the store. This project is eco-friendly since using plastic water bottles is a waste, along with the fact that using glass instead of plastic is much better for you. Along with that, it'll save me some money along the way! I am really looking forward to this project and keeping up with how others are doing throughout the semester. To start, I better get this plastic water bottle off my desk :)

Welcome to Ruthanne's Raindrops!

The above photo was taken by myself when I was in Utah this summer. There was a huge storm rolling in over the mountains...it was pretty awesome!


Well, I'm Ruthanne and I am senior this year! I named my blog Ruthanne's Raindrops in the beginning since I just liked the way it sounded :) After thinking about it though, it really fits me and where I'm at in my life. Since I am a senior I will be starting so many new things this year. I like the idea that rain and water is seen as sort of a cleansing, new, fresh beginning, kinda like how graduating will be. Also, for my Lifestyle Change project I will be using only glass water bottles instead of plastic...which may be a challenge since I do like my plastic water bottles! Along with that, water is such a HUGE part of our planet. It's so important to nearly everything in our environment. It all seems to tie into together for me and I am excited to start blogging!

There are five possible types of posts on my blog. They include:

1. Advocacy Project
2. Eye Openers
3. Reflections
4. Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change
5. Share and Voice

If you notice at the bottom of this post, the categories will be listed as labels. This post is has been labeled with all five kinds of posts. You will also see the number of each kind of post in my Labels Gadget at the top of the page. All post titles from now on will begin with one of the categories above.

The members of my web group are:

1. niki@tropicalenvironmentswithnikij
2. john@totheboundarywaterswithjohn
3. hannah@hannahsecosafari 
4. amyandkristen@enviro-surfingwithamyandkristen

You can also follow my blog by clicking "Follow this Blog" in the gadget column. You can see my complete profile and all the blogs I am following by clicking on "See Complete Profile."

I hope you enjoy my blog and I look forward to learning more about the environment this semester!