Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 5: Final Review and Overall Reflection

Reviewing the previous week:

1. My SMART Goal: I will eliminate all paper products including napkins, paper towels, paper plates, and paper cups from my lifestyle. Also eating at fast food only one time per week.

2. This week I did not uses any paper products or eat fast food. I was at my grandma's and grandpa's house getting ready for deer hunting and taking out their dock for the winter. My grandma loves to cook for everyone so I ate some good meals and did not have to use paper products.

3. I felt good about achieving my SMART goal this week since I did not have success last week. I feel I have raised my awareness about using paper and the effects it has on the environment.

4. I learned that I am constantly aware of when me or someone else uses paper products. I find myself thinking about my SMART goal every time someone uses paper products.

5. I will try to continue with my SMART goal even though the assignment is over. It really wasn't that challenging to change this habit I had so I will stick with it.

Reviewing the entire process:

1. My SMART goal started out with me eliminating the use of paper plates from my lifestyle. By the end of week 5 my SMART goal was to eliminate the use all paper products including plates, napkins, and paper cups. I also added that I would like to reduce my fast food consumption to once per week to reduce my paper product use.

2. Some things that helped me be successful were my increased awareness of how the use of paper products effect the environment. Also I didn't mind washing my dishes by hand right away after I was done eating my meals. Some challenges I faced were when my roommates would go out to eat. I was tempted to go with them but did a good job of resisting the temptation.

3. I learned that changing one small thing can lead to making more smaller changes. As I added something to my SMART goal almost every week. I eliminated the use of paper plates, then I eliminated the use of all paper products, then I started to wash my dishes by hand, then I ate less fast food, and all those things resulted in less garbage.

4. The environment benefits from my behavior change by saving trees and saving the amount of chemicals used in creating paper. I also produced less garbage by my behavior change. To view the paper making process, click here.

5.I will continue with my behavior change. It wasn't very challenging and these small changes can have an impact on the environment. It is also healthier for myself if I continue with my SMART goal.

6. One small change can lead to other small changes and everything adds up. If everyone makes small changes everyone will benefit from it.

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 4: Weekly Update

1. My SMART Goal: I will eliminate all paper products including napkins, paper towels, paper plates, and paper cups from my lifestyle. Also eating at fast food only one time per week.

2. This week I did not do so well on achieving my SMART goal. On Wednesday in Hlth 4000 class, we had fruit salad for snack and I was hungry and the only option I had available for a plate was to use a paper plate. I also ate fast food one time during the week, which consisted of a paper bag, napkins, a paper french fry container, and paper that wrapped my sandwich. I did not do my best in dealing with the challenges this week.

3. I felt a little guilty using the paper plates for snack time during class but even though I used a paper plate I was still using less paper than I used to before I created my SMART goal.

4. Even though I did not meet my SMART goal this week I did learn that my awareness for using paper products has increased. When I went to grab snack in HLTH 4000 and saw the paper plates, I immediately thought of my SMART goal, but was too hungry to not use the paper plates.

5. I am going to keep my SMART goal the same and hopefully I can plan to make better decision when a challenge arises.

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 3: Weekly Update

1. My SMART goal: I will eliminate all paper products including napkins, paper towels, paper plates, and paper cups from my lifestyle. I will also only eat at fast food restaurants once a week to cut down on my use of paper products.

2. This week I cooked and ate all my meals at home. I used my reusable glass plates, bowls, and glasses for my meals. I also used a dish towel for my napkin when I needed it and washed it so I can re-use it this week. Some challenges I faced this week was my roommate brought home fast food twice so I was tempted to get fast food myself, however I resisted the temptation. I also like to drink a pop at work so I am going to bring my own pop instead of buying a fountain pop in a paper cup at work next week.

3. The feelings I felt towards the end of the week were great since I didn't use any paper products to eat my meals.

4. I learned that I can make it through the week cooking for myself and not eating fast food for the entire week. I also learned that doing dishes is not that bad if you just do them right away after you use them instead of letting them pile up.

5. My plans for next week are to continue with my current SMART goal. I am going to make sure I keep planning ahead to make sure I do not have to use paper products for my meals.

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 2: Weekly Update

My smart goal was to eliminate my use of paper plates. In the last week, I have not used a single paper plate. Throughout the entire week I have used our re-usable glass plates. I have also been hand washing my dishes at the end of each day instead of using the dishwasher, which saves on water and electricity.

Planning my meals ahead and not eating when I'm rushed has helped me not use paper plates. Some challenges I had last week was eating fast food. Even though I did not use paper plates, my meals from Burger King and McDonald's come in paper bags, and the food and drink containers are made out of paper.

Since I have been more aware of the products I am eating and using, I feel better about myself when I have washed my dishes by hand and saved on electricity and water. I am also hoping that by not using paper plates it will cut down the amount of garbage we have each week.

This week has taught me that one simple change to your lifestyle can have multiple impacts on the environment. For next week I will be changing my SMART goal to make it a little more challenging. I am going to eliminate all paper products including napkins, paper towels, paper plates, and paper cups from my lifestyle. I will also try to only eat at fast food restaurants once a week to cut down on my use of paper products.

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 1: My SMART Goal

For the next ten weeks, I will completely eliminate the use of paper plates from my lifestyle. I have a bad habit of using paper plates for the convenience factor of not having to do dishes. There are bad effects on the environment from using paper products. First, when creating paper plates many trees are destroyed and that also has an effect on wildlife and other types of plants. Second, during the process of making paper, there are harmful cancer causing chemicals used in the process. Last, unlike regular paper, not all paper plates can be recycled because they are contaminated with food residue.

This habit is important to me because the majority of time I use paper plates it is completely unnecessary. It is more environmentally friendly to re-use my dishes instead of wasting paper plates. I also enjoy being outdoors hunting and fishing and the process of making paper destroys other plant and animals habitat.

Welcome to Colton's Healthy Lakes

My name is Colton Borwege. I am a student at the University of Duluth, majoring in Community Health Education. My blog is about the lakes in Minnesota and what people can do to keep them clean and healthy. I enjoy fishing, boating, and swimming in Minnesota lakes and keeping them healthy is important to me.

There are 5 possible types of posts in my blog. They include:

1. Advocacy Project
2. Eye Openers
3. Reflections
4. Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change
5. Share and Voice

The Members of my web group are:

1. Hannah@hikingwithhannahb
2. Judy@Judy's Cloud Contemplations
3. Sarah@Sarah's EcoEndeavors
4. Dr. V/ Kristen@Enviro-Surfing with Amy and Kristen

You can also follow my blog by clicking "Follow this Blog" in the gadget column. You can see my complete profile and all the blogs I am following by clicking on "See Complete Profile."

Please feel free to explore and post on my blog. Hopefully readers of this blog will come away with a few things they can do to help keep Minnesota lakes clean and healthy.