Saving Pennies And The Planet

For the past two weeks, I have attempted to break down the barriers of laziness that lead to the consumption of plastic bottles. What I’ve realized is that these barriers aren’t formed because of problems of not using plastic bottles, but rather by the simple conveniences of bottled water.

To be honest, I have slipped up once or twice and fallen victim to the evils of the Disani bottled water. While I can’t say that I am proud of these mistakes, they have done a great deal in helping me recognize the unexpected barriers that exist with my behavior change.

Surprisingly, one of the reasons I am often reluctant to drag my Nalgene around to the dining halls is because of my uneasiness over inconveniencing others. If you’ve never seen a nalgene, it is a 32 ounce canteen like bottle and the worst enemy of the person behind you in line for a drink. When approaching the water fountain to fill my bottle at Upper or Lower, I find myself glancing over my shoulder as to make sure that I won’t hold up anybody behind me. Sadly, if the line is long and I am in a hurry, I have the tendency to drift towards the bottle water refrigerator. While I have only fallen victim to this temptation once or twice over the past month, it is still a barrier that exists.

Another simple barrier that exists with my Nalgene is that is hard to clean. Because I live in a dorm, I don’t have easy access to a dish washer and thus I am left to clean my water bottle out by hand which feels time consuming during my very busy days at this time in the semester. However, as I will soon explain, I have determined at way to break down this barrier with a incentive of my own.

Now that I have effectively addressed the barriers to my SBC, it is time to look on the bright side! And that bright side comes with some personal benefits and rewards of its own. I like to focus on the economic incentives that my behavior change have offered. Between the elimination of bottled drinks from campus dining services and frequent trips to WaWa, I estimate that I have been saving between $5-$10 dollars a week! Over the course of this project, I will save up enough money to buy a few more Nalgene bottles!

This brings me to a conclusion to move forward with. While there are some barriers that exist to using only a reusable water bottle, I have been satisfied by the feeling I get by knowing that I am doing something sustainable. Additionally, the money I am saving is increased incentive to keep useless bottled drinks out of my life!

I’m being healthy, saving money, and saving the planet (well, kinda)! So to the Lafayette motto… Cur Non? Why not continue this pattern!