All my challenges are fully apart of my life now. I am so grateful for EcoChallenge. 

I used a reusable water bottle today to take to school. It was handy and kept me hydrated while avoiding consuming a plastic water bottle.

This ecochallenge was a lot of fun!! It was a lot easier to stay away from meat than I thought.. However, not having any salmon was a bit of a struggle. I've been really wanting to meal prep and that's the first thing that comes to my mind aside from quinoa and various types of greens. I will continue to vote with my dollar as well as influence others to do the same. I love buying locally made stuff and going to co-op markets. (I think I definitely violated my rules when I ordered from Jet.com online though! The cat litter there is only 1/3 of the cost..) Aside from that I have improved a lot over the last couple weeks though:) It was rewarding spending the extra time outdoors.  

10/28  -- I have been very conservative with the amount of plastic baggy's I use when cleaning the kittens' litter boxes. Instead of using up to 3-4 little baggies a day, I use just one! As we are running low I was able to find ones made with bamboo, vegetable oils, and less plastic; I wish I could use all biodegradable but those are 10 times as expensive:/

10/27  -- I spent a lot of time at home decluttering on my day off. Found even more stuff do donate after going through a couple bins in my closet. It also turned out to be my best friends birthday (which I may have forgot), I asked where she wanted to go and as I mentioned the Vista House, she started describing that exact location. Turns out she's never been there although she's grown up in portland half of her life! What a beautiful evening it was. 

10/26 -- I was able to stay at campus all day, even though I had no idea the earlier classes were cancelled. This was the day I discovered the sustainable / reusable silverware PCC has to offer. Now I don't have to buy spoons / forks downstairs in the cafeteria. The sustainable one is 3 in 1. Fork, knife, and spoon.  

Last day of the challenge! I was excited to 100% today but forgot that we had already gotten seafood for dinner. I'm glad we got to participate in this challenge, i'm excited to see what sticks after as many of these things just feel like new habits. It feels good to know that we all did something together towards a common goal of bettering our planet.

I finish the challenge strong. I remembered to ask for paper bags (not much better) because, unfortunately, I ran out of reusable bags at the store today. I am confident this challenge helped me in my struggle to remember how awful plastic is for our Earth, and therefore for us. This activity taught me to no longer suffer from an A-B Split (at least as far as plastic is concerned, I have a long way to go in my quest for becoming a completely Earth conscious being). 
We have to be the change we want in this experience. I keep seeing this expression, and I believe we need to heed these words and not allow them to be just another catch phrase. 

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.

what a whirl wind this challenge was! it was hard at first, but i think that some of the habits i have put in place will stick with me! the reusable containers and turning off the water as well as going for walks with my dogs will be easy to do, however, the needs vs wants idea will be a daily struggle for me.