5 Eco Friendly New Year’s Resolutions
Many people make resolutions to lose weight in the New Year, but do you know anyone that made resolutions to better the planet rather than themselves? Creating a healthier planet can lead to a healthier life. Here are 5 goals you can attain this year that help the planet and can benefit your heath!
Eat Less Meat
Overall, eating meat contributes to more greenhouse gasses, deforestation, water consumption, and health problems. By eating more vegetables, you can improve your personal health and the health of the environment. This can be as simple as focusing on one meal a day (or week), all meals for an entire day such as Meatless Mondays, or trying out a new diet such as vegan or vegetarian. Last year, I focused on Meatless Monday which worked great for me, but depending on your schedule, eating one meatless meal a week might be better for you. Either way, the point is to challenge yourself and think about how your actions, something as simple as a meal, can impact your personal health and the health of the planet.
Return to Old Hobbies
Starting in 2020, many people began to gravitate towards watching more TV, reading the news, or scanning social media. These are all great things; however, technology can become distracting, cause anxiety, and may lead to lazy habits. It can cause issues with our mental health, take away from hobbies that keep us active, and impacts the environment by using a lot of electricity. When was the last time you read a story book, played a sport, or got creative? For example, I didn’t realize it, but I hadn’t read a creative novel in several years until a few weeks ago. While reading, I instantly felt more accomplished and energized instead of reaching for the remote and deciding to eat a snack. Unplugging from technology and focusing your energy on something productive takes your attention away from negativity and puts you in a more positive mindset. This will generally lead to healthier decisions and encourage you to pursue activities that use less electricity.
Go Outside More
Spending time outside for at least 20 minutes a day has shown to decrease signs of depression. Experiencing the outdoors can lead to improved mood, gratitude for our earth, and a desire to preserve it. Simply going on a walk and embracing the simplicity of your neighborhood or traveling to a grandiose National Park to go camping is a great way to escape the mundanity of our regular lives. This leads to an appreciation of the greater world more than the typical rut we get stuck in. Personally, when I care about something, I tend to take better care of it. So, let’s be more active, get outside more, and engage with the earth that we are trying to take care of!
Volunteer
You can volunteer for many things and help the world be more sustainable. You can work at special events, donate to charity, or find a local organization to join. VolunteerMatch is a great place to find opportunities to help out in your local area. Jobs range from writing letters to government officials, planting trees, cleaning up trails, helping at animal shelters, and more! Volunteering is a great way to spend your time, keeps you active, adds value to your life, and betters the world. What a great way to start 2022!
Compost Food Scraps
Composting is a great way to manage organic waste and put it to good use. Most food waste is full of nutrients that are meant to be recycled into the environment, but goes to the landfill and is never seen again. With composting, we can harness the power of nature, and create fertilizer that can help our herbs and vegetables grow healthier. There are several compost bins for different scales of composting and it is very affordable! If you live in a small apartment and just want to compost food scraps, this compost bin and similar options are a great compact way to manage food waste. If you own land and want to compost on a larger scale, this compost bin is made for outdoors and is a lot larger. Composting excellent for getting excited about growing your own sustainable food and adding vegetables into your diet.
Overall, having goals to better our earth will result in improving your own personal health! By directing your energy towards something positive such as volunteering and going outside, or taking small steps to create new habits like eating less meat or composting can improve your health mentally and physically. Let’s set goals this year that not only better ourselves, but help others too. Until the next update, let’s keep making a difference!
