New Year’s Resolutions

By: Melinda Toussaint

Around this time of year many of us sit down and make a deal with ourselves to loose weight, save money, or to quit smoking but a month into the next year most of us have broken down. This year I urge you to add living green to your list of New Year's resolutions.

But living green is a very broad idea so I suggest choosing ways that are actually attainable for you. To recap our group's blogs from this semester here are ten ways to fulfill your green resolutions:

1. Use reusable shopping bags. Buy a couple and keep them in your purse or your car so you never forget them.



2. Keep your shower under two minutes. "Every two minutes you save on your shower can conserve ten gallons of water," according to The Green Book by Elizabeth Rodgers and Thomas M. Kostigen.



3. Buy a Brita water filter to eliminate buying bottled water. Bottled water not only takes up fridge space but it puts more plastic into the environment.



4. Switch to organic health and beauty products that will be better for your skin and the environment. Buy makeup, body wash, facial cleansers that were organically made which have become easily recognizable at your local drug store.



5. Look into shopping for organically made clothing. It may be hard to find a variety in organic clothing but the more you support the cause the more products will come. Visit www.factorygreen.com for a start.



6. Make a composting jar to recycle all your homes scraps. Everything from egg shells to coffee grounds is recyclable. And when it's full sprinkle it over your garden to help it grow. Soil can get a lot of nutrients from the scraps you put in your composting jar.



7. Reduce your dependency on electricity and gas. Make notes if necessary to remember to turn all lights, televisions, and especially your computer off at night or when not in use. A computer on standby wastes a lot of energy so turn it off and wait the extra minutes it takes to turn on in the morning. If you do this enough you'll notice on your electricity bill.



8. Recycle everything possible. Don't just stick to plastic and aluminum. Buy a couple more recyclable containers to separate your recyclables into plastic/aluminum, paper, and electronics. This will make it really simple for you to recycle everything from your bills to batteries.



9. Eliminate all unnecessary consumption. When you are shopping ask yourself 'Do I really need this?' 'Can I live without this?' Most of the time the answer should be that you don't need it. This will save you money and the environment in the long run. Cutting out cost for clothing, accessories, and food that you don't need creates a lower demand for that product and eventually the company won't have to produce as much.



10. Visit www.treehugger.com or www.thegreenguide.com to keep updated on new green ideas and keep you inspired to stay true to your green resolutions.

Don't set yourself up for failure by setting goals that you can't meet. Keep it simple and abide by your goals you've chosen everyday. These next couple decades are crucial to saving the environment so everyone has to do their part. Make 2009 a very green year and make this the year that your resolution sticks! If you get this down, who knows? Maybe loosing weight or quitting smoking aren't that far behind.