What Is Your New Year Eco Resolution?

by | Dec 27, 2015 | Eco Mindset, Live Lighter

So many of us focus our new year resolutions on health areas such as losing weight, getting fitter or quitting smoking, and while these are great goals to have, it make sense to include an eco resolution or two as well.

Why?

Because we can’t be truly healthy if our environment isn’t healthy. It’s a bit of a chicken verses egg kind of thing.

On my podcast this week I wrap up my 2015 – where I did well eco-wise and where I didn’t go so well and why. Plus, I share my green goals for 2016 and encourage you to set some too!

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Before I set my new year resolutions I always look back on what I did well over the year. Looking back helps you to take pride and feel good about what you have done well, rather than feeling bad about the areas that slipped and where you fell down. I think this is really important, as confidence helps momentum and optimism.

OK – so I’m going to share my wrap up of 2015 and my 2016 new year eco resolutions with you….

In a nutshell, some areas we nailed in include:

  • Cloth nappies – my youngest toilet training in the second half of the year closed the curtain on just under six years of continuous cloth nappy use in our household
  • Minimal food waste (and waste in general) – thanks to discipline with my meal planning and cooking a wholefoods diet (if you want to improve in this area pick up your FREE Meal Planner here) as well as composting and keeping chickens (who devour any scraps).

 

Where I want to focus more (read… do better) in 2016 include:

  • Planting a decent autumn/winter veggie crop and buying a new flock of chickens since we had some casualties this year.
  • Walking more and driving less. In August this year I was diagnosed with a heel spur on my right foot and it has made walking in any capacity excruciatingly painful…. Which has resulted in me driving everywhere around town these past few months. I now wear orthotics, have been doing my rehabilitation exercises and my foot is very slowly improving…. So I’m committed to keep looking after my foot so once the peak of summer is over I can walk around town with my kids on their scooters again next year, rather than driving them to school and activities.
  • And a very BIG eco goal for us this year is to install solar panels on our home. We were all set to go a couple of years ago when a solar panel installing company started servicing our small town. We even had them measured, quoted and just about to give the okay to start when we had an unexpected event occur that depleted our savings. That awful situation has thankfully now passed and my husband and I are determined to get our panels this year.

 

I share these with you because sometimes life gets the better of us and we get off track on our eco journeys. What used to be habit, like me walking the kids into town, has fallen by the wayside because of an injury.  And yes, we had a major financial set back that caused a lot of stress as well as delaying the installation of the solar panels we wanted years ago.

Life does happen and shit can happen too, but keep your eye on the big picture and get back on track as soon as you’re able.

So tell me, what’s one thing you’ve done really well sustainability-wise in or around your home this year and what area or areas would you like to focus on in 2016? Feel free to share below!

 

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Laura
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