My SMART goal is to use reusable containers including a water bottle and Tupperware every day. This week I incorporated Tupperware into my daily routine. These containers were perfect for packing my lunch every day for school.
I was successful in using my reusable water bottle and also using my Tupperware. However, I did have a challenge this week. My mom sent groceries to my house which was very exciting. Unfortunately, with these groceries she sent 2 liter bottles of sparkling water. Since these bottle are not reusable I would not purchase them on my own but she did not know of my new lifestyle change. Now I need to decide if I will drink the water and not waste it, but break my SMART goal. Or not use the water. I'm thinking since it is purchased already it would be a waste not to use it, especially because clean water is a commodity in some countries. To avoid this problem in the future I will need to let me mom know of my new goals and how she can help.
I felt terrible telling my mom that these bottles were not Eco-friendly and therefore broke my new lifestyle change. However, she understood and actually agreed that these large bottles are wasteful. She supports my goal and will stop buying these products.
This week I realized that in order to be successful in my goal I must make my friends and family aware of my changes so they can help and encourage me. My friends and family don't have to make these changes their selves but I need to make sure they are aware so they don't provide gifts (such as groceries) that don't fit into my goal. I also learned that a few of these individuals are willing to change with me which makes my goal much easier to achieve.
Next week, my goal is to go back to a perfect week with no plastic bottle usage! I will also continue informing my loved ones of my new goal so they can help support me instead of accidentally hindering.
Alyssa! Great job on handling this dilemma with a practical approach. Seems to me that you learned that some things are uncontrollable and may seem like they hinder achieving our goals, but the important thing is the lesson you learned. It sounds like you learned to communicate with those around you, so the problem can be fixed and you can continue to reach your goal. In my opinion you didn't violate your smart goal because you didn't buy the product and you fixed it for the future.
ReplyDeleteWay to go on the tupperware! I'm also a tupperware junkie, and because I bring my food with me in tupperware I save a lot of money. For example, buying lunch at a restaurant plus a tip can average $15 easily. If you have a tupperware lunch it is easily a third of that cost. I also just heard from a friend that's doing research on this topic that you can save around 1,000 to 3,000 per year by using tupperware food!
I like how that some of your friends and family are willing to do the lifestyle change with you. This is going to help out the environment even more. I too also use tupperware. I am at school all day Monday and Wednesday so I don't have time to go home for lunch and don't want to spend money for a lunch at the food court so I pack a lunch and use tupperware to pack my lunch in. Plus it saves a lot of money.
ReplyDeleteAlyssa, I wouldn't feel bad about using the water your mother sent, as it wasn't your choice to buy it, and it would be wasteful not to use it. Good for you though talking to your mom about it, this sounds like it turned out to be a learning experience for everyone involved. However, if something like this should happen again, you might be able to donate products that are in plastic non-reusable containers to a food shelter. Then you wouldn't be breaking your smart goal and you'd be able to help others who don't have the ability to provide for themselves.
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