The Importance Of Setting Eco-Friendly Goals
Commit to your goal of living lighter on the planet with SMART goals,
as told by ambassador Jenn
In 2017 when I launched Will Save For Travel, my personal finance and travel blog, I started making monthly goals. They used to be one financial, one health related and one “other”.
I got involved with Stop Trashing It 3 years ago when I set a 2019 goal for myself to reduce the amount of single use plastic in my home, and in this post I’m going to show you why I think setting goals has been the key to sticking to my eco-friendly lifestyle.
Why We Should Set Goals
Setting goals helps us focus on what we feel is truly important. Writing down goals reminds us of what we are working toward. You become accountable for your actions, especially when you share your goals with others. In fact, people who share their goals with a friend are more likely to actually accomplish that goal. It’s one of the reasons we think community is so important.
It’s a great reason why you should take our Stop Trashing It Pledge. You simply pledge to give up one (or more!) single use plastic item, and try to keep track of how you are doing.
How To Set Goals
Maybe you’ve heard of the SMART acronym for goal setting. If you haven’t, it’s a way to guide your goal setting. Here’s what you should think about while goal setting:
S- Specific: What do you want to accomplish? Make this as simple and specific as possible
M- Measurable: How will I know when I’ve accomplished it? What steps do I need to take?
A- Attainable: Do I have the resources to accomplish this goal? Is it too easy?
R- Relevant: Is the goal meaningful to me? Does it help me get closer to a bigger goal?
T- Time: When do I want to accomplish this? What can I do today to get closer to my goal?
I would suggest taking some time alone and writing things down that are important to you, and then figure out what your goals should be.
You can see how setting a goal “to be more eco-friendly” can be difficult using this method. It's not very specific, and it's very hard to measure. I’ll share some sample goals below to help you get started.
Sample Goals
No New Clothing For One Year
It’s specific, you can measure it by the clothes you’ve bought, it’s likely attainable but a little challenging, it’s relevant because the fast fashion industry is an eco-nightmare and time bound by one year!
This outfit is thrifted!
No Take Out Coffee Cups This Month (Or Ever!)
Again, specific, measurable, and attainable for most people with a reusable mug, relevant because take out coffee is a 5 BILLION dollar industry which means a lot of trash cups, and can be time bound by any amount of time you want.
Reduce Food Waste Permanently
Specific to food, measurable by looking in your fridge and compost bin, relevant since an estimated 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted globally each year, and time bound forever!
Eat Meatless On Mondays
Specific, measurable, and attainable because vegetarian food is delicious AND nutritious, relevant because meat production is horrible for our environment (and the animals)!
Check out my recipe for Lentil Dal - it’s amazing and vegan!
Buy Items Without Plastic Packaging Whenever Possible
Specific, measurable, (mostly) attainable with research before you buy, and relevant because plastic packaging is a huge problem.
Final Thoughts
Please share your zero-waste and eco-friendly goals with us so we can cheer you on!
Jenn is a blogger at Will Save For Travel and podcast co-host of The Travel Mug Podcast. She can currently be found thrift shopping for furniture for her new (old) home that was built in the 1850s!
Oh, and she's dreaming of her next getaway! Especially to Sensea Nordic Spa!