Time to recommit yourself to a better body, mind, soul, etc. the New Year is upon us!  To help you reach all of these goals and help the planet I have composed a list of ten - yes 10! easy New Years Resolutions. Do not fret - some of these activities you will only participate in 1 day out of the year.  I challenge everyone who reads this to finish the list by the end of 2009 and then write us at Celsias and tell us about the adventures that ensued.  Think of it as a yearlong scavenger hunt if you want to have more fun.  As I see it people never keep their New Years Resolutions but everybody finishes a scavenger hunt.  So on your mark. Get set. Go...

1)      Swap or Freecycle instead of buying at least one item that you "need" this year. Looking for a new coffee table, a beautiful scarf, or the latest best seller? Search no further than your local Freecycle or swap groups. Popping up all over the world these group prevent perfectly good items from ending up in the trash due to a move, change of heart, or simply boredom. Check out Australia based www.ourswaps.com or www.freecycle.org, which was started in the US but has since become a global operation.

 2)      Volunteer for an environmental cause at least 2 days this year. Only two days - that can be two Saturdays or 1 weekend or whatever you want.  Volunteering vacations even count.  This last year I participated in Heal the Bay's Annual Coastal Cleanup, which was fun and eye opening.  I will never look at a Styrofoam cup the same way again. Check the Celsias Action board as many people post volunteer events.  I recommend Heal the Bay's site and EarthCorps volunteer calendar.  Also this great website called CharityGuide.org has an entire section dedicated to environmental protection. Volunteering to help the environment is a great way to meet other conservation minded people.

3)       Host one get together this year that is vegetarian.  Please don't title the event "My Boring Tree Hugging Vegetarian Evening." Make it a party you usually host like a Sunday brunch, or weekly card game.  Anything that involves food - just switch the cuisine to vegetarian and don't mention it to the guests.  Guaranteed they won't even realize it. To read up on why a vegetarian diet helps the planet read John Robbins' article from Celsias "Our Food, Our World...".

4)      Remove yourself from all junk mail lists.  This one is so satisfying especially if you save a stack of mail from 1 day before you get off all those annoying lists and then save a stack from then afterward.  Be patient it will take a few months for the mail to slow down.  Go to the website www.junkbusters.com (international) for more information and to get off credit card mailing lists in the US call 888-567-8688. Both of these resources work so use them! 

5)      Buy one type of organic fruit all year - like bananas. If they don't have your chosen type of fruit when you go to the grocery you can't buy it and you should probably mention to the store manager that they ought to reorder. It's best to make it the fruit that you eat the most so as to spare yourself the greatest number of noxious chemicals.  Save the organic stickers and see how much of that particular fruit you consume in one year. Who knows maybe you will make a gorgeous piece of art out of those stickers.  Be creative.  P.S. I suggest only one fruit because of the bad economy otherwise buy them all organic.

6)      Collect your friend's unwanted electronics and create your own recycling drive. Think of it this way if you don't do it no one else will. Collect their cell phones and take them to a local best buy and just drop them in the free cell phone-recycling kiosk.  Send your computers to my friends at www.crc.org who will turn them into working computers for the underprivileged. Go to www.earth911.com for tons of electronic recycling ideas.  Hey throw a party and tell people to bring one piece of old electronic equipment.  Maybe you could even make the cuisine vegetarian. *Hint*nudge*

7)      Go to a local park and pick up 10 pieces of trash.  This one is so easy but very effective.  So often we go to parks and are so taken with the green under our feet that we do not notice the tiny pieces of paper, plastic, or glass littering the ground. Don't even get me started on the cigarette butts - they have a special place in hell.  By picking up ten pieces of trash you will beautify your public park and keep the space cleaner and safer for others.  You will also be setting a good example for those around you.

8)      Switch disposable grocery and lunch bags with reusable cloth bags.  Most importantly make sure the bags are regularly accessible by keeping them in your car, at work, and at home.  I can't tell you how many times I've ended up at the grocery only to realize that I do not have any bags - so frustrating. By the end of the year your goal is to have zero grocery sacks that aren't some kind of reusable material in your house.  This bag resolution is so important and a Celsias action as well.  4 to 5 trillion plastic sacks are manufactured annually for our consumption and the plastic used is petroleum based! 

9)      Give a tree as a gift.  Face it you will have to buy at least one gift this year. You will sit at your desk or on the couch stressing out about what "this person" could possibly want.  Luckily everyone can use a tree, even if they live in an apartment.  Go to your local nursery or visit www.arbordayfoundaton.org for climate specific mail order trees.  Every time the person looks at the tree they will think of you. Ah how sweet.  Better yet you will be improving their air and creating a habitat for native animals.  Even if those animals are house cats.

10)   Reuse something that you would normally throw away.  Wash out jelly jars and make them drinking glasses.  Turn an old flower pot into a bird house.  Give your kids all your old magazines and tell them to spend the day making art. Turn old plastic containers into flower pots. Again get creative.  Send us pictures!

Are you done with your list?  Good. Tell us about it. Remember as you go forward into the New Year: The earth will survive without us we are the ones that have to adapt.  Start slowly with this list and hopefully we will all end up happier and healthier at the finish line together.  All the best for a safe and stellar start to 2009. 

Related Reading:
The 2008 Word of the Year: Change

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