:: Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 5: Final Weekly Review & Overall Project Reflection ::

:: WEEK 5
How is it that it is already week five of our Eco-Chic Lifestyle change? That time has really flown by. Five weeks ago, I started out on a journey to use only reusable bags when shopping at the grocery store or places such as Wal-Mart or Target. This last week was another rather easy week. Once again I hardly went shopping (and here I thought I shopped way too much in the past). How sad really...I can only think of one shopping trip to Wal-Mart and I was just tagging along with a friend. I ended up getting three items and simply carried them out in my hands. My friend, on the other hand, ended up leaving with four plastic bags. I must admit that I felt slightly defeated at the fact that he had used plastic bags. I will have to educate my friend more on why it is so important to not use plastic bags.

 Junk floating in the Tiber River in Rome, Italy. GROSS!!!

Oh wait...there was one other trip to Wal-Mart. My oldest and I went in to get some stuff for my dad's birthday. I remembered to grab one bag to bring in with us. This time I actually went through a check out lane with a person (I prefer the self-check out lane). I still had yet to see what the checkout person would do knowing that I had my own bags. She simply handed me the items I had purchased and I packed them in my reusable bag. Easy peasy!!!!! This showed me that I can pack my own bags when going through the lane with a checkout person.

Seeing as this is the last week we officially report on our progress, I think the only thing I will be focusing on for the next week will be to educate my friends more on why I feel it is so important that to use reusable bags vs. plastic bags.

:: FINAL OVERVIEW
My SMART goal of using reusable bags at least three times a week when shopping at the grocery store or discount stores did not change from the original goal. I seriously thought I shopped more than I apparently do.  My busy schedule has kept me out of the stores for the most part (which is also good for my pocketbook). As a result, I've had to use my reusable bags every time I've gone shopping.

This project has been very beneficial to me. It really opened my eyes to the number of plastic bags one collects over the week. If I counted up all the times I shopped in the last five weeks and figured that there would have been at a minimum two plastic bags for each trip, that would be a total of 30-some plastic bags cluttering up my kitchen drawers. I've read articles where states are charging for people to use plastic bags. I think that's a great that people have to pay for those bags...I only hope it makes them realize that its a much bigger cost on the environment when they use them.

I certainly hope that by not using 30ish plastic bags in the last five weeks the environment changed..be it that the landfills did not gain these awful contaminates that take 10-20 years to decompose or an animal that did not get tangled in one of the plastic bags I choose to throw away in the past. By not using plastic bags, I'm casting my vote with my dollar, as Dr. V would say. I don't want plastic bags to clog up our environment any longer.

I will definitely continue to use reusable bags. Now that I am in a routine of using them, the task has become quite easy. I've even cleaned out the back of my truck and placed them all in one bigger bag, so they are not all over my truck. I now know that I can use them for my meat products, as they are after all...washable. I think the question really should be..."Why would you want to stop making the environment a better place?" Our lifestyle change should have made our environment better not only for ourselves, but also for those around us. This class is definitely opening my eyes to the things I am doing that are making out environment worse and to the things that I can change about my habits that will be our world a better, safer place to live.

One recommendation that I would have for other that want to make a lifestyle change is to have a positive attitude about anything you try int life. Sometimes we succeed, other times we fail. Learn from your mistakes so that in the future you will not make the same mistake over and over. By thinking in positives....the world is yours. ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!!!

: Eye Opener :: Environmental Working Group :

Cosmetics....the first thing that came to mind when reading this was the vast array of make-up that I don't even own.  However, the EWG's Skin Deep Cosmetics website has such a wide variety of products that I was surprised at just how many of the products I actually do use. Everything from the shampoo I currently use to my toothpaste to the lip balm I prefer. While I think many of these items are okay for every day use, there was one item that I never seem to leave home without that probably is not the best for my body or the environment. That one item would be my little bottle of super glue.

Everyone always comments on how good my nails look...well, here's my confession....the reason I wear fake nails is because I am a horrible nail biter. I have been since I was a little kid. The fake nails hid the ugliness that are my nails. I have tried for years to quit being a nail biter, but nothing ever seems to work...but I digress...back to the product at hand. I choose to look at the nail glue I use for adhering fake nails to my fingers, Nailene Ultra Quick Nail Glue. On the hazard score key, this product is listed as a moderate hazard. It has a fair about of data available pertaining to the ingredient safety and the number of studies that are available in the open scientific literature.

The Nailene Ultra Quick Nail glue has three ingredients: Ethyl-2-cranoacrylate, Polymethyl methacrylate, and hydroquinone. The one ingredient that scared me the most is the hydroquinone. Out of a possible 10 on the hazard scale it scores a 10, meaning it has the highest level of risk associated with it. Phrases that were used in the descriptions of it included

• Known human immune, respiratory, nervous system, and organ system toxicant (non-reproductive)
• Strong evidence of human neurotoxicity
• Possible carcinogen
• Classified as a high human health priority
• Mutagenic 
• Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)

AND THAT WAS ONLY ONE OF the three ingredients. I was too scared to see what the other two would say.  Looks like I have two choices after reviewing the information on this nail glue.....either work really hard at not biting my nails...or switching to a different brand of nail glue. The Kiss Maximum Speed Nail glue is rated as a LOW health concern (it also only has one ingredient...ethyl-2-cranoacrylate).

I'm definitely bookmarking this webpage for future research on products that are used in our household. I'll even encourage my friends to check out the cosmetic products that they purchase. I have some friends that would like to know if the products they use are tested on animals. With just a quick glance at some of my daily products, I was surprised to see many of them were tested on animals. ICK....time to do some shopping for new products.