Do the Reuse Challenge

What’s the Do the Reuse Challenge?

It’s a commitment to give up disposable paper cups, water bottles or food containers. People across the nation accepted the challenge and saw the big impact small changes like this can make, and after the "official" 30 day challenge was over, we realized it would be silly to stop the Do the Reuse Challenge, and decided not to. Anyone and everyone is still invited to take on a reuse challenge and track the impact it makes for themselves and their families on their own. The more people who do the reuse the bigger the impact will be, for all of us.

Why did we doing it?

We believe taking care of our Earth is important. Once we learned the impact of disposables and what a small change like reusing can make, we wanted to do our part (and make it easier for others to do theirs).

• Seven million barrels of oil are used to produce the disposable bottles Americans go through in one year.¹
• In the United States, 50 billion disposable water bottles are consumed per year. 137 thousand per day. 1585 per second.²
• It costs about $165 a year to make drip coffee at home versus $636 to buy drip coffee at your local café.³
• Unless we change our habits, 23 billion paper coffee cups will be thrown out in 2010.⁴
• “Eating out quickly racks up costs and calories. Even seemingly healthful restaurant meals―a salad or a turkey sandwich―can be nutritional pitfalls when supersized portions and mystery ingredients factor in.”⁵
• Nine dollars will generally cover a decent lunch out. If you buy rather than pack a lunch five days a week, you shell out about $2,350 a year.⁶

Can I do the reuse?

You bet. Don't worry that the official 30 day challenge has ended - you can do your own 30 day challenge and track the impact reusing makes for yourself and your family. Reusing makes an impact no matter when you start.

¹ Bottled Water and Energy: "Getting to 17 Million Barrels," Pacific Institute, December 2007.
² "A Fountain On Every Corner", New York Times. Find A Fountain, May 23, 2008
³ http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-12131-LA-Coffee-Examiner~y2009m6d2-Saving-money-on-coffee-1-brewing-at-home
⁴ http://www.sustainabilityissexy.com/facts.html Aug 09
⁵ http://www.cookinglight.com/eating-smart/smart-choices/nutrition-showdown-leftovers-vs-restaurant-lunches-00400000056427/print-index.html
⁶ http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/103379/Top-10-Money-Drains#7