Kara Hensley

I ended the last day of the ecochallenge with a bang and was able to do all three of my goals. Eating two meat less meals, using my reusable water bottle, and only bought the stuff I absolutely needed. Hooray! What a great experience this was! It was so eye opening and fun.

I wasn't able to meet any of my challenges today. It was a crazy day and very busy. All of my meals contained meat and while I did use a reusable bottle I also used a disposable cup today. The busier I get the harder it is to consciously think about my decisions. 

I went to target today, which is my absolute favorite store, and was able to contain myself to only buying the things I went there for. In the last ten years I've been making and spending my own money I have never been able to go to target and stick to my list. I've fulfilled my simplicity goal and only bought what I needed to and it feels great. 

I was able to stick to all three of my goals today and even went above and beyond, starting a compost at home. I have no idea what I'm doing but hopefully will learn along the way.  

Today I realized just how hard it is to try to live more eco friendly when on vacation. I was so wasteful with disposable water bottles, coffee cups, silverware, and food packaging. I wasted so much money on frivolous things. I failed all three of my challenges (eating less meat, using a reusable water bottle, and not buying unnecessary things) today. Bummer.  

I wasn't able to solely use a reusable water bottle today because we our staying out of town for the weekend and the tap water where we're staying is awful. I seriously need to invest in a filtered bottle. We went on a hike, and walked the beach (all while picking up trash we found along the way). Trying to stay as eco friendly as possible, even while on vacation! 

I completely cut meat out of all of my meals today and it was great. I loaded up on veggies and fruits and it has made a huge difference in how I feel. I've also been very successful with my reusable water bottle since the beginning of this challenge. 

Last night I bought my five year old a reusable water bottle so that he could join in on my ecochallenge fun too! He was so excited to take it to school with him this morning and it will be saving countless juice/milk/water containers that I would otherwise pack in his lunch. 

Today (and the last three days) I was able to only purchase items that were completely necessary and not fall victim to our overconsumption habits. This is huge for me as I am a habitual spender. I have also been very successful with only using a reusable water bottle. I am completely struggling with removing meat from two meals per day though, it is definitely hard to break old habits. 

For the first time in a long time I was able to completely eliminate plastic water bottles from my day today. I only drank water from a glass or a reusable bottle, depending on whether I was at home or on the go. I was even able to eliminate meat from all of my meals today which also hasn't happened for as long as I can remember. Lastly, due to this challenge I have been evaluating how much trash my household produces and have decided to switch my one year old to washable/reusable diapers; this should help tremendously.