Scientists concur that next year is the ideal year to address climate change before it is too late. Making some positive adjustments for the New Year is a terrific way to begin the new year on the right foot, especially after everything we had to cope with during the pandemic.
This decade represents our last opportunity to lessen the harm that human activity has caused to the planet by way of greenhouse gas emissions. This is according to numerous environmental studies carried out by the United Nations.
So why not make the most of the New Year and choose a meaningful resolution? We’ve compiled a list of 13 strategies to lessen your carbon footprint for this year and the years to come to help you get started.
Read: 11 Reasons Why Electric Cars are Bad For the Environment
Understanding Green Resolutions
A “green resolution” is usually an individual or group-wide pledge to embrace eco-friendly behaviors, lessen ecological footprints, and promote sustainability. These resolutions frequently take the form of promises or aims to take steps toward environmental conservation and deal with problems like pollution, resource depletion, and climate change.
A wide range of actions and behaviors aimed at promoting a more sustainable way of life or corporate operations can be included in green resolutions. Examples include pledges to use eco-friendly items, reduce waste, lower carbon emissions, and assist with conservation initiatives.
The idea promotes proactive contributions from people and organizations toward a healthier and more environmentally sensitive future.
Importance of Eco-Friendly Resolutions
Adopting environmentally sustainable solutions is essential for several reasons, including the immediate influence on ecosystems, human societies, and the planet’s health.
This is a thorough examination of the significance of making environmentally friendly decisions:
Mitigating Climate Change
Climate change results from greenhouse gas emissions from human activity, such as the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. Climate change mitigation is greatly aided by eco-friendly measures, including cutting carbon footprints, switching to renewable energy sources, and adopting sustainable lifestyles.
Maintaining Biodiversity
Biodiversity is disappearing as a result of human activity, which also includes pollution and habitat damage. To assist in conserving and preserving different ecosystems and the species they support, eco-friendly resolutions strongly emphasize conservation initiatives, sustainable land use, and ethical consumption.
Preservation of Resources
Using eco-friendly methods contributes to the preservation of priceless natural resources. This contributes to the prudent management of limited resources by lowering water usage, cutting waste, and selecting sustainable materials.
Cutting Down on Pollution
The goal of environmentally friendly solutions is to reduce pollution in every form it takes, including soil, water, and air pollution. Cleaner environments result from cutting back on single-use plastics, selecting non-toxic substitutes, and managing garbage responsibly.
13 Awesome Green New Year Resolutions Anyone Can Keep
The significance of New Year’s resolutions is one of the critical components of the festivities around the new year. We can stock the previous year and start over in the new year. Considering the condition of our climate right now, where extreme temperatures, cyclones, wildfires, and floods are all too common.
And where scientists are cautioning us more and more to limit our acts that harm the climate. It’s time for each of us to make a small but meaningful contribution to the betterment of the planet.
Therefore, why not make helpful and ecologically friendly New Year’s resolutions this year? Here is a list of 13 realistic resolutions for the new year. We’ve also included some helpful hints that will enable you to start immediately.
1. Change the Way You Travel
Not driving at all is one of the simplest methods to promote environmental change for the better. The average car generates 404 grams of CO2 each mile, and in 2021, domestic transport emissions increased by 10% to a highly alarming 107.5 million tonnes.
Are you looking for suggestions for enduring New Year’s resolutions? Instead of taking extended automobile trips, how about taking public transportation, cycling, and walking more? As a result, fewer cars are on the road, and fewer emissions are leaking into the atmosphere.
2. Buy Second-hand
All right, we understand. It might only be feasible to abstain from some purchases in 2024. When it comes time to update your living room or wardrobe, make an effort to purchase better than you did in 2023.
How? by delving into the fascinating realm of thrift stores. Do you need a new coat? Examine applications for used apparel. In the market for new furniture? Check out Facebook Marketplace or Gumtree. Taking up the game of tennis? Get a racket from the thrift store nearby!
3. Go Plastic Free
According to the Big Plastic Count, just 12% of the plastic thrown away every week is genuinely recycled. The remainder is sent abroad, buried, or burned. This produces harmful chemicals that harm species and future generations by seeping into the land, oceans, and atmosphere.
Although single-use plastic is available, we must fully understand the single-use planet. So, instead of using annoying plastic for your New Year’s resolution, choose responsibly packed groceries and sign up for our milk round to deliver them straight to your door!
4. Upcycling
We promise that while this seems like a fitness resolution, it’s not. You can store your lycra for another year, so don’t worry! Upcycling is the process of making something usable out of an undesirable product, material, or object.
You can upcycle anything and anything, from repurposing an old welly into a plant pot to painting, staining, and sanding worn-out furniture. You won’t believe how good homemade food tastes until you sit on a chair you made yourself. You will never experience such comfort or fulfillment again!
5. Take Cold Showers
We recognize that this green resolution may make you uneasy—in more ways than one. However, pay attention. Numerous health advantages of cold showers include increased immunity, alertness, and less stress. Because no one stays in a cold shower for very long, they also reduce your energy and water usage, which benefits the environment.
6. Use Sustainable Clothing Brands
Ten percent of the pollution in the world is the result of the fashion industry. Nonetheless, hemp clothes and naturists are no longer the only examples of sustainable fashion. You can now purchase a variety!
This year, try to avoid fast fashion that isn’t sustainable and seek out B Corp companies (like us!) to maintain that A-list appearance without harming the environment. Additionally, you may relax knowing that your money is helping actual people.
7. Buy Only Eco-friendly Products
Eco-friendly items are crucial if you want to live a sustainable lifestyle. Regardless of the impact size, you can utilize sustainable items for your everyday needs and essentials. You can also avoid the emissions produced during logistics and transit by purchasing locally-made goods. Using only environmentally friendly products can significantly contribute to the improvement and greening of our planet.
8. Walk, Cycle, or Use a Public Transport
Cycling and walking are fantastic for the planet’s health in addition to your physical well-being. Walking and riding a bicycle have several advantages, especially in light of the sedentary lifestyle, air pollution, and traffic jams.
The bus and metro systems receive the most attention regarding public transportation, but the train system is also highly recommended because it offers various advantages.
If you travel a short distance, you can walk or utilize a bike; if you commute across town, you can take public transportation if it is offered where you live.
9. Try to Use Reusable Water Bottle
It may surprise you that just 9% of plastic is recycled globally, even though one million plastic bottles are bought daily. These plastic bottles wind up drifting about in our oceans, causing unnecessary landfill space, polluting our world, and endangering species. Why use plastic when using a reusable glass or stainless steel bottle?
In addition, reusable water bottles are far more enjoyable and intimate than single-use plastic ones. Toss aside all that waste and select any color or design you desire. When you visit a café, don’t forget to bring an insulated travel cup or thermos! No worries for the barista!
10. Donate or Recycle your Old Clothes
While it may be tempting to toss old, unwanted, or damaged clothing in the trash, you can recycle the items to give them a second chance at life or, if they are in acceptable condition, donate them to a nearby thrift store so they can find new owners.
11. Reduce the Amount of Food You Waste
Food waste poses a significant threat to the environment. Throwing away food eventually ends up in a landfill, where it releases toxic methane gas. To reduce the quantity of food you waste away, practice greater diligence when cooking, grocery shopping, and consuming leftovers.
Read: Open-Pit Mining & It’s Environmental Impact
12. Use Less Water
Pumping, heating, treating, and moving water requires a lot of energy. Little actions like adding a low-flow shower head, shaving off some time from your shower, and shutting off the faucet while brushing your teeth can save energy.
13. Start Composting
Food waste can be prevented from ending up in landfills, wherever it occupies space and emits toxic methane gas, by composting, improving soil quality.
Conclusion
There is no end to the possibilities for eco-friendly New Year’s resolutions; the most crucial thing is establishing them as regular habits. Depending on your situation, some New Year’s resolutions may take a lot of work to stick to. Consequently, selecting the tasks you can quickly complete daily is critical.
Besides the suggestions for leading an environmentally conscious life, we must tidy our living spaces. In addition to increasing our carbon footprint through more purchases, clutter in our homes lowers our mood and impairs our productivity. It is preferable to live a more organized life and keep what is necessary.
