If you have nibbled on far too many Christmas chocolates already this month, one of your New Year’s Resolutions could well be to exercise more to lose those extra pounds. While this is a noble promise, may I suggest making another New Year’s Resolution which will benefit both you and our planet? Go green in 2010!
Remember, like losing weight, living a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle is a process. Change may not happen overnight. You and your family can make small adjustments to your own habits for maximum gain. Here are just a few simple ideas:
Carpool: If there are no school buses to shuttle your children to and from classes, involve your neighbours to help out. Coordinate a weekly or monthly schedule where you can rotate drivers to transport the kids. As an adult, you can set a positive example by experimenting with different ways of getting to the office. You don’t have to park the car permanently; you should, however, look at alternative, cleaner ways of getting to work … can you walk, ride your bicycle or take public transit even one day per week?
Switch to recycled paper products for your home: Recycled napkins, toilet paper and paper towels are all available on the market. With using more recycled paper products, you are saving more of our trees from being chopped down, not too mention many landfills from becoming overfilled with waste paper products.
Unplug your appliances: One of the biggest home energy drains is supplying power to appliances which are not in use – your television, your Cusininart, your coffee maker. The same can be said for your computer – don’t keep this running 24 hours a day when you don’t need it. Shut the machine down and unplug it.
As you can see, green New Year’s Resolutions don’t have to be difficult … keep those promises not only for your sake but also for the sake of our Earth.
