Vida

I know I've mentioned my 5 year journal here before, but now that I'm in my second year and everyday I get to look back at what I did that day last year I can't tell you how much I love it.  And I imagine I will love it more and more as the years go on.  I'm already dreaming of year 5!   It takes a maximum of 5 minutes to jot down a few notes from the day and then you move on. I have this one .  (I'm pretty sure it was more than $12 when my grandma got it for me so that looks like a steal.) But this one looks amazing!  

YOU DID IT! 7 days without a plastic water bottle!  I'm proud :) Now, wash that bottle and try to use it more often! ( via ) And if a dosomething.org campaign catches your eye, let me know, I'm in!

1 More Day!  Thanks for helping the environment with me a little bit this week and helping out to do something good! Today, we have a very informative infographic to summarize. ( via ) Thank you for joining me to make a difference!

Hey Guys!  Happy Sunday! It's already day 5 of the week water bottle challenge!  Did you find it easier or harder to remember your water bottle over the weekend? Reusing 1 water bottle will prevent the purchase and consumption of more than 240 plastic bottles every year. ( source ) Do you remember when water bottles were not popularized yet?  I feel like I do.  I was definitely young, but these are a recent development.  Meaning...we don't actually need them. ( via )

Day 4 - Fact 4 How are you doing?  Has remembering your water bottle become easier?  It'll be a habit before you know it! Yes, recycling a water bottle is a better option than throwing it away.  And reusing it a few times before you recycle it is even better.  But right now we're reducing , the best option! So let's chat about recycling, which is good.  T he energy it takes to recycle plastic bottles is mind-boggling. It's no simple task to melt down all those bottles, and the plastic is usually degraded in the process and often can't be used for food-grade products again.  But not great.  ( source and view a video of a recycling plant ). Reduce Reduce Reduce And now for the much anticipated reader picture....my sister :)  When I told Karen about the challenge she responded "easy"  She always drinks out of her reusable bottle.  So I told her to send me a photo.  Here you go! Thank you, Karen!

Day 3 - Fact 3 Plastic water bottles can take between 400 and 1,000 years to decompose. ( source ) Let's just ignore the 1,000 years for a second because that's too much. If you are lucky you will live as long a 1/4 of the life of a quickly decomposing water bottle.  That's only one water bottle. ( via ) Guess what?  If you use your own bottle, you don't have to worry!

Here we are, day 2! I'm always wont to save a buck or two.  How about saving a ton?   Our first bottled water fact is on dolla dolla bills. (via) The recommended eight glasses of water a day, at U.S. tap rate equals about $.49 per year, that same amount of bottled water is about $1,400.   ( source ) We are lucky enough to currently have tap water you can drink, unless you're in Flint, Michigan, than please don't.  You know they still haven't fixed the issue in Flint.  I bet anyone there will tell you how much they wish they could drink from the tap.   I remember while living in Mexico we had a big jug of water we would take to the corner store, give them the empty container and take home a full one.  It was heavy!  Seriously, it was probably 30 pounds, at least.  I am always grateful to drink from the tap.

Today is World Water Day!  What a perfect day to start our water bottle challenge! Did you know it takes 3 times the amount of water in the bottle to make the bottle? And an average of 663 million people worldwide who do not have access to clean water. ( via ) Take a second and appreciate clean water. Read more about World Water Day or consider making a donation to charity: water .

One of my friends working in a non-profit once told me they couldn't imagine volunteering in addition to their regular work day because she gives so much of herself every day.  And I get that.  (I'm sure many people who work at for-profit organizations can feel that way too.)  Sometimes it's nice to do something you personally feel strongly about too.  It actually makes you feel better in general. A couple weeks ago I was at a conference in Atlanta.  I sat down in the general session ballroom at the beginning of the second day.  The night before I worked in my hotel room while crying because I felt so overwhelmed (it made it difficult to read the emails I was answering).  So I was maybe not in the best space to feel interested in anything but sleep.  (Although the run in the morning did help!) Then the CEO from DoSomething.org kicked off the presentations.  When she was done I wanted to move to New York and work for them.  Needless to say it was a good speech. While

Oh, hey! Sorry I've been MIA.  Do you ever feel like you're still tired from a work event you organized 3 weeks later?  Well, that's how I feel right now.  I took a PTO day last Friday to try and piece myself back together...and I think I still need another. I feel like my job right now is to learn everything and master nothing.  With that said, if you ever need a basic video to introduce Illustrator, may I introduce: How to Vectorize .  It's been amazing this week. That is all ;)