Sustainable Resolutions

Happy New Year

It’s December 31^st a minute for midnight and we all raise a glass. Toast to the new year ahead, a new chance, a chance to change. A chance to try, to improve. A New Year’s Resolution. Each year we make them, you might not write them down or really think about it, but everybody has that little something in the back of their minds. That one thing they’d like to do, that one thing they like to try.

A lot of these can be considered as beneficial for the environment; but what are the most commonly made new year’s resolutions?

Reducing fossil fuelled private transport

In order to reduce the amount of fossil fuel used for private  transport one could change the car for either a bicycle or one’s own feet if the distance to be travelled allows for this. In case the distance or time needed for the journey otherwise becomes too long or the weather conditions aren’t optimal one should trade the car for public transport; take the bus, the tram, the subway or the train. This might not be do-able for everyone, if one lives in a very rural area. But for most of us in the Netherlands public transport is easily accessible.

Improving your household

There are a lot of different ways to improve the quality of one’s household. The first one being the efficiency; check the current heat loss of your house and improve the insulation is necessary. Lower the temperature at night, an ideal temperature for sleeping is 16 degrees Celsius; which is far less than most of the indoor temperatures in homes at night. Turn of the lights in rooms where there is no activity.

Become Toxic Free

Take the time to revise the products you use on a daily basis; what are they actually made of? What are the ingredients and are they by any change (most likely yes) toxic? This doesn’t only relate to the foods one consumes, but also the clothes one wears, the (beauty)  products one uses.

Food

Also on the topic of food there are a lot of different possible changes to be made. One of the most heard resolutions is to reduce the amount of meat one eats. Not everyone can or wants to become 100% vegetarian, but there’s no doubt about it that reducing the amount of meat consumed is the best way to reduce your carbon footprint. Pick one or two days a week where one goes vegetarian.

Another strategy is to focus on seasonal  and locally grown foods, by doing so food kilometres can be reduced. If one decides to only eat what one’s neighbour produces, import of foods can be reduced.

Recycling

As a Dutch inhabitant one has most likely three different bins/ containers at home. A green one for organic waste, a grey one for in-organic waste and a blue one for paper. But it doesn’t stop at this. Plastics is actually one of the highest types of waste one has; think about packaging materials, shampoo bottles, etc. Don’t forget about glass and tins either.

So let’s raise a re-usable glass with locally grown wine instead of champagne and pick one of these sustainable New Year’s Resolutions!

[1] http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/10-green-new-years-resolutions-making-2011-su/blog/32213/

[2] http://www.sustainablebusinesstoolkit.com/sustainable-green-new-year-resolutions/