If you’re a person who considers themselves to be environmentally conscious, then you’re probably someone who looks for new ways to reduce your environmental footprint. If you’re like me and have adopted a lot of good personal environmental practices like drastically reducing household chemical usage as well as eliminating single-use plastic products, then you’re looking even deeper at your habits. Maybe you’ve found your environmental hot spots. In other words, maybe you’ve discovered some of your personal environmentally unfriendly indulgences. I’ve discovered one of mine. And I hated to give it up. I wondered how I’d do it.
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How I Gave Up My Environmentally Unfriendly Indulgence:
First–I went cold turkey.
I’m embarrassed to admit I used and went through A LOT of cheap, dollar store quality reading glasses (a.k.a. readers or cheaters). These are a necessity for many people of a certain age. If you need these glasses, it’s pretty common to keep stashes of them all over the place: your purse, kitchen drawers, bathroom drawers, your desk, the glove compartment, etc. Sometimes I had 2 on my head at the same time! I was always losing and breaking them. I didn’t want to spend money on a better quality pair because I figured I’d just be out even more money. Unfortunately, it felt like a necessary evil.
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I finally changed my mind when I found myself in a conversation with a co-worker about the issue. They have the same stash and the same problem. Of course, I knew they probably did, but I finally realized what an awful lot of wasted plastic that was. I decided right then that I’d go buy a better quality pair of readers. I’d trust that their greater cost would keep me more conscious about not misplacing them. I’d trust that their greater cost would mean better quality.
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I got lucky and found some nice Foster Grants on sale at Walgreens. Buy one get one free!! You know what was also BOGO? Those chains you attach to your glasses so you don’t lose them. You know, the ones old ladies wear. Yes, I finally broke down and got two of those too. I really don’t like those chains so I probably won’t wear them all the time, but even if I only wear them at work I should reduce the risk of losing my glasses. Between the chains and my new conscientiousness towards my old cheap glasses habit, I think I’ve figured out How To Give Up Environmentally Unfriendly Indulgences. This one anyway.
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What are your environmentally unfriendly indulgences? Have you kicked your habit? How did you do it?
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Lisa is a mother of three lovely young women and is a new grandmother to a baby boy! She has been married to her high school sweetheart for more than thirty years. Lisa is originally from Dearborn Heights, Michigan, but has lived in the Tampa Bay area since 1984. Running a small business for over 25 years and raising a family has made for a busy, busy life with many ups and downs; it’s definitely been an adventure.
Lisa’s always involved in one project or another whether it’s work related or serving her community. She also recently went back to school to finish her bachelor’s degree in American Studies. Lisa tries to make every day a good day—that means learning something new, practicing kindness, and enjoying the present moment.
Glasses are the one thing I will spend money on. I feel like they last long and tend to not break.