Are you up for Aladdin's "Do The Reuse Challenge"?

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Aladdin. All opinions are 100% mine.

In today's society, we always op for the easy way out. We want things to be simple, we want things to be fast. Many people embrace the 'disposable' lifestyle (myself included) because it's just so easy. When we want something, we just go out and buy it. Thirsty? Buy yourself a bottle of water. Hungry? Grab a sandwhich at the coffee shop. While you are at it, get some coffee too. What do we do with all the food containers once we are done? Throw it out. Easy, rite? Well, it's easy, but it's not always right. Did you know that in the United States, 137,000 disposable water bottles are comsumed per day? Yup, that means 1,585 disposable water bottles are used each second and that comes to a whopping 50 billion a year! That takes about 7 million barrels of oil, just to produce those bottles in a year. Not only that, but just by eating out, we are spending a whole lot of money compared to preparing food at home. Did you know that it only cost $165 a year to make coffe at home as opposed to $636 if you buy drip coffee at your local cafe? Not only do we spend more, we throw away a lot more paper cups too. Unless we change our habits, 23 billion paper coffee cups will be thrown out in 2010!

Pretty shocking facts, right? Well, guess what? You can now play your part in saving the environment (as well as save some money in the process) by participating in the Aladdin "Do The Reuse Challenge". What's that, you might ask? Well, it's a 30 day commitment to give up disposable paper cups, water bottles or food containers. Why the challenge? A couple of months ago, Aladdin made a commitment to give up disposables. In the process, they found out the perks in doing so. A hot cup of coffee in their favorite mug, fresh home made lunches and getting to sip water anytime they wanted, instead of having to go buy a bottle. The Aladdin products that they make made it easier to reuse, because they really liked using them. Not only that, they saved a whole lot of money in the process too!

Nine different families from across America were selected to participate in this and they will be blogging about their experience on their websites. Who are those families? Guess what? No, they are not celebrities or anything. They are just regular people like you and me. They were asked if they wanted to accept the challenge and they said YES! However, this challenge is not just for those 9 families. It's open to everybody, so yes, you can participate too!

Wow, sounds exciting. But hmmm, I don't have any reusable water bottles or a favorite coffee mug, you might think. Don't worry, Aladdin has that figured out too. Just by accepting one of the Do The Reuse Challenges, you'll be able to get discounts and free shipping on selected Aladdin products. How cool is that? You can get more information about Aladdin and it's products just by 'liking' Aladdin on Facebook. I am definately going to accept The Challenge. Out of the three, I will start with "Do The Reuse Challenge: Food Containers". Kevin is spending so much money just by buying lunch at his workplace. Did you know that a burger, fries and a drink cost him up to almost $10 a day? I am going to wake up early and pack him lunch everyday. A huge healthy sandwich with some vegetables and fruits as snacks will just cost us about $3, at the most. Not only will we be doing our part in keeping all those packaging out of landfills, but Kevin will be eating healthier and we will be saving a whole lot of money! Sounds like a great plan. So, what about you? Will you take on The Challenge?