Starting Out - My Challenge

A few days ago I was wandering around the internet and stumbled upon a couple blogs and websites discussing the environment and making greener choices.  That of course had this whole avalanche effect in my brain and got me looking around my apartment.  Do you know how much junk I have?  Why do I own 10 bottles of hand lotion?  (I hope that's an exaggeration, but I don't think it is...and I don't even use lotion).  Why do  own all these things that I obviously don't need?  I guess I'm a total pack rat.  So...somethings got to change.  I hereby declare this my year of change.  But I don't really change well or quickly so to force the issue and to keep me honest I'm giving myself two challenges.  Each week I will make a change that helps the environment or my health (or even better - both).  Some of these changes might be big and some pretty small...I don't know, I'm just going to wing it and see how it goes.  And for my second challenge, I'm going to find one thing in my apartment that I will donate, recycle, or just throw out (I know not so landfill happy, but really some of this is just crap that is no good to anyone).  The second personal challenge is really only to benefit my apartment and closet space and any environmental and/or social benefits are just bonuses.  

So this is the fourth week of this year...(I'm not counting Jan 1-3 since it wasn't a full week and was way before I decided to challenge myself to these "resolutions").  

Week 1:  No more coffee cups at Starbucks.  For Christmas my mom gave me a shiny green travel mug so now I'd better use it and save some paper cups.  I get coffee on my lunch break every day, five days a week.  That's  lot of cups; like 250-300 a year.  Whoops I think I should have made the change a while ago...but better late than never, right?  

recycle:  my old computer has been in my closet since 2003...now I'm getting rid of it.

Week 2:  I was doing so well with my coffee mug, but I realized "wait!  If I'm still getting water with my coffee I'm still waisting another couple hundred cups!  damn!"  So now I bought a nice new stainless steel water bottle from Klean Kanteen.  Yay!  Now I can stop using all my to go cups!  (and please don't do the math for the total number of cups I used per year...I don't even want to think about it!)

donate:  a pair of tennis shoes that I haven't worn in 4-5 years.  Great shape but I bought new ones...several newer ones so someone who will actually use them might as well have them.  But it'll have to sit in a bag for a few weeks so I can take a bunch of donation items all at once...don't want to waste more gas!

Week 3:  Well I think this would be a good week for a healthy change for me.  I think one of these a month is good.  So for the last couple weeks my sister and I have been taking walk/hikes in the hills nearby.  So I think that I should keep this up...every weekend, rain or shine.  This weekend we hiked in the rain...ok it was really more of a mist, but wet anyway.  It's not too intense a hike and it's paved so I use the term hike very loosely, but still 3.7 miles of steep hills kicks my butt...maybe if I keep this up all year, eventually it won't kick as hard.

Donate:  I'm going to add a shirt to the donation bag this week...it's just not my style anymore.

Week 4:  Plastic bags.  So I have about a billion cloth bags...I always forget to bring them.  So from now on, if i don't have them, I only buy what fits in my hands or purse and I have to come back for the rest later or do without it.  I know, not so good to make two trips but the grocery store is directly on my way home from work (I don't have to turn down even one street), so it's not actually more driving and maybe this will teach me to remember my bags...or just keep some in the car.

donate: hummmm I think I have a skirt that i can add to the outfit that I'm donating.

Yay for changes!!!  Maybe if I keep this up, by the end of the year I can permanently change my habits and lifestyle. 

So that's my start.  I think it's a good beginning, let's see if I can keep it up.