An Alarm to Wake My Focus Up

If I’ve learned anything about how to maintain my sustainable behavior, it’s that I need to be consistently reminded about it (read the title of my Step 2 post: “Consistent Reminder, Consistent Change”).  I’ve caught myself a few times the past few weeks maybe not about to wrap up my leftovers from eating out or taking more than I should at the dining hall because the SBC wasn’t at the forefront of my mind after a potentially long day.  I think setting some reminder, like an alarm, would definitely help.  Setting it so I have to attend to it right before dinner would put my focus where it needs to be for meals.  My teammates are also clued in to my goals for the rest of the semester so that is definitely help as well.  Even before the SBC, a couple of my teammates would joke about me never being in the “Clean Plate Club”, so they are full aware of what I want to accomplish.

I definitely think that this is a behavior I would continue beyond EVST 100 for a few different reasons.  First, it’s not really a big sacrifice to my comfort; it just requires some more thoughts come mealtime.  Furthermore, even before this project, there have been times I’ve thought about cutting down on my waste since to me, it’s saddening throwing out food when there people in our own country that would be so grateful for it.  In a more economic sense though, I can see this behavior really helping me manage my money when I graduate.  I will be working in New York City next year, so my expenses will no doubt be high.  If I keep this sustainable behavior, that will mean I am making an effort to eat out less and spending less money at the grocery store since I’ll plan out my meals more carefully.  It’s a win-win for the environment and my wallet!

In terms of giving myself some reward, I have a few ideas.  For one, the extra money I would be saving is definitely a nice benefit.  However, that isn’t as applicable for the present as it is 9 months to a year from now.  I think something good would be to treat myself to a nice dinner out after 7-10 days of sticking to the SBC.  However in the spirit of the SBC I would make sure to get a meal whose leftovers could be wrapped up and eaten later though.