I have mixed feelings about New Year’s Resolutions. Part of me feels like I should work to improve myself on a daily basis. This can be especially challenging while juggling my day-to-day and admittedly, rarely comes to fruition (or if it does it’s on a very small scale!). There is definitely something to picking a specific date (like January 1) to implement positive changes in my life. And so, I am resolving the following in order to reduce my “footprint” on the earth and hopefully improve my family’s health and well being in the process:
- Eat Out Less, Cook More – After seeing my year end roll up from American Express, I’m horrified at how much we ate out (ordered in)! Cooking has never come easy to me, but I do okay with a recipe. I just need the motivation to get started in the kitchen at 5pm (witching hour) when the girls are at their worst!
- Use Rechargeable Batteries – While I’m trying to reduce the number of toys I purchase that require batteries, it seems that I still need dozens of batteries! I think I’ll be more conscious of turning off battery powered items if I know that I have to take the time to recharge the batteries and it makes me feel good to know that I’m reducing the waste.
- Use Reusable tote bags REGULARLY! – I have lots of reusable totes and some are even insulated for cold items, however they never seem to make it from the kitchen pantry back to my car. Sometimes I feel so guilty about using plastic, that I just purchase more reusable totes at the store. Needless to say I have plenty of these bags…just need to get into the habit of using and RE-USING them!
- Eliminate Single Serve Packaging – My girls have lunch at moms morning out/school at least once a week, so instead of single serve items, I’m buying in bulk and using reusable containers.
- Volunteer – It became very clear to me this holiday season that my 4 year old is starting to take for granted what she has. What better way to teach her appreciation than to have her volunteer with me at a local shelter.
- Purchase Rain Barrels – 2008 proved to be a very dry year for my city and definitely took it’s toll on the water supply. This year I plan to capture rain water using barrels to keep my yard green.
- Turn Off My Computer Every Night – Guilty as charged…I leave my computer on almost every night! It goes to sleep but I know it’s still pulling off the grid. Time to turn her off!
- Buy Locally Grown Produce – I’d like to make more trips to the farmer’s market for my produce and rely less on the convenience of my grocery store that ships in it’s produce from as fare away as Chile & China!
- Replace the Carpet – I really hate carpet (it aggravates my husband’s allergies, is coated in chemicals and traps tons of dust and dirt), but our entire upstairs is covered in it and it would be costly to replace considering that our house was built less than 2 years ago. I’d like to make 2009 the year I rip it up and replace it with FSC Certified wood or bamboo or cork…anything but carpet! (Any ideas on how to reuse/recycle the carpet once it’s up?)
- Continue Learning About All Things Green – I’m dedicated to continuing my education on green living, health and wellness. I promise to share what I discover with you all in 2009!
Happy New Year! I wish you all great things in 2009!
Recent Comments