The Vitamix helped us accomplish a 2015 goal

In 2014, I became slightly addicted to the Peanut Butter Chocolate smoothie from Smoothie King. On my way to work, I would stop and buy a smoothie for breakfast. The staff knew me so well, they'd ring it up as soon as I walked through the door, Peanut Butter Crunch-no milk, no sugar. They also learned to ask whether I wanted 1 or 2 (1 for Nick on the days we worked together). At $4 each, it was getting to be an expensive habit but one that I justified because it meant that I was actually eating breakfast versus running out the door without eating like I'd been doing. I figured it's no different from those who have to have their Starbucks coffee every morning. 

Nick took notice of my habit and my complaints/concerns over the use of styrofoam cups and plastic straws at Smoothie King and he solved the problem by getting me a Vitamix blender for Christmas 2014. It's been a year and with the exceptions of when we travel (and sometimes we do travel with the Vitamix), every morning we have both made a chocolate peanut butter protein smoothie for breakfast. The fact that I stopped consuming 4-5 styrofoam cups and straws/week is a big win. 

Here's the breakdown of the cost and environmental benefits:

Vitamix $375-- Yes, it seems like a lot for a blender but as you'll see it has paid itself off and then some. I honestly can't live without it now. I use it for so much more than smoothies too. 

Smoothie King Smoothies

$4 each * 3x/week (and this is a very conservative estimate)= $12/week 

$12/week * 36 weeks (number of work weeks in a regular semester)= $432 for the working year

Just in my breakfast smoothies that I would buy before work, the Vitamix has paid itself off after this year. 

Further, because we have the Vitamix, now ALL of us have protein smoothies in the morning. Nick and I have a 16-20oz one and the kids each get about 8oz with their oatmeal breakfast. Not to mention all of the specialty smoothies that I've made for them as after school or weekend snacks. Each kid smoothie at Smoothie King cost $3 so we're getting a lot more bang for our investment in the Vitamix. 

Oh, and I know that I'm not taking into account the cost of the ingredients in these calculations but that's because 1) the ingredients are stuff that I was already buying on a regular basis and 2) the quality of the home smoothie doesn't compare to the SK kind. Making smoothies at home means I can customize to our needs and wants. I now make 100% organic chocolate peanut butter smoothies AND I get to add chia seeds, oats, hemp seeds and protein powder (each of these additions cost 99 cents at Smoothie King so my $4 smoothies would be $8 if I made it like I do at home). I know I don't spend that much on ingredients...and even if I did, I feel much better about knowing exactly what is in my smoothie AND the environmental benefits are worth it to me. 

Environmental Benefits

The best thing about this is that we are no longer using the styrofoam cups and straws every morning. I bought stainless steel straws and we were gifted insulated smoothie cups for Christmas last year that we've used every day since. 

Counting only MY consumption (not Nick's or the kids), I avoided 108 styrofoam cups and straws going to the trash this past year (and this is only based on my "work" smoothies). Considering that styrofoam and plastic NEVER biodegrade, any decrease in consumption is great. This has been one of the most effective changes we've made as a family. 

We still have a long way to go with straws and even styrofoam cups. We still consume some but mostly because of our travel schedule this past year. We try to carry water everywhere so we avoid having to get to go drinks somewhere and hence using a plastic cup/straw but we're not perfect. But overall, I'm so happy that Nick bit the bullet and bought the Vitamix and that we accomplished this major goal of ours.