Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 3: Weekly Update

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.

Eye Opener: CSPI

I completed the Eating Green Activity and was surprised by my "Uh-Oh" results.  This was the lowest category rating for this quiz.  My highest health score was for fruit. I consume fruit nearly daily and this has a positive impact on my health according to this quiz.  On the other hand, I scored lowest for my milk/ yogurt category in the Health category.  I was surprised by this result because I have always thought of calcium as a positive Health Category. However, there is a significant amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in cheese which has a negative impact on our health and would fall into the milk/yogurt category.   All of my Environmental scores were negative.  I was concerned by these results so I did a little experimenting on the quiz.  Even if you state that you consume 1 serving of any given category you still receive a negative number on the Environmental score.  Are we really not allowed to eat anything without harming our environment?  This is a scary thought.  I was also concerned that all of my Animal Welfare categories were negative numbers; this was true even after my number exploration.  

What would they like us to consume so we don't receive a negative score in all of the categories?  I try to consume fresh produce and low fat meat but my score was still negative in the Health Category.  This quiz would be much more effective if they would suggest personal ways to change your diet directly after the quiz in order to improve your Health and decrease your Environment and Animal Welfare impact.  One positive aspect of this quiz, however, is that they broke down the categories on how they graded them.  This made the results a little clearer but I was still frustrated. 

In order to improve my results I will consume more environmentally friendly foods.  This can be done by purchasing more organic and locally grown products.  In order to increase my Heath score I will increase positive categories such as fruit, vegetables, fat-free dairy, extra-lean beef, and fish.  I will also attempt to reduce my animal products in order to increase my Animal Welfare score.