Change is Good!

The best most positive thing about changing my behavior this week was that I actually felt like I was progressing with my habit change. I went to the store and bought some specific recyclable make up removing wipes which only require one cloth to be used per day (saving from the roughly 3 pages of paper towel I was using per day).  These clothes were actually really well priced and no more expensive then the habit I currently had. I already had a washcloth which I started to store with my other toiletry items in the bathroom.  This meant I could never use the excuse of claiming I’d forgotten my wash cloth and simply using the closest paper towels. As far as drying my hands I’ve had the most issues. I am doing relatively well at remembering to use only one cloth when necessary but sometimes I zone out and accidentally grab more than paper towel at once.  This was hard to change simply because of the pure amount of times I wash and dry my hands per day, I could not remember on a consistent basis because it was random timing and I didn’t always remind myself of what I needed to think about changing behavior wise when I used the towels.  With the makeup and face cleaning it was easier to remember to change my behavior because there was a certain time of day where I consistently did and thought about these things.

The article I found discusses the importance of paper recycling. According to Larry West, author of “The Benefits of Paper Recycling: Why Recycle Paper?” “recycling one ton of paper can save 17 trees, 7000 gallons of water, 380 gallons of oil, 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space and 4000 kilowatts of energy.”  This article is interesting because it shows that my sustainability challenge is important in more ways than I knew. I thought it was important because saving paper and trees is a positive contribution to society. I didn’t even think about all the ingredients that go into paper besides the trees themselves.

http://environment.about.com/od/recycling/a/The-Benefits-Of-Paper-Recycling-Why-Recycle-Paper.htm