In 2009 I pledge to go (or stay) green by…
December 30, 2008 by Jennifer
In case you missed it, I’ve got the new poll up; In 2009 I pledge to go (or stay) green by…
If you’d like to vote, head to the sidebar, and scroll down. I left it open for new answers, so if I missed something crucial, add your tip. Or you can always leave a longer idea here on this post. I’ll be using your answers to plan some of the upcoming 209 content here at Tree Hugging Family, so your vote or comment does count.
My New Year’s resolutions from last year:
Last year my goals were to get rid of more stuff, be present, and cut down on food packaging. I did well on goal number one; I did get rid of more stuff – recycled it, gave it up, donated it, and so on. Me being present was a hard goal to work on because it hasn’t been the best year. There’s been a lot of upheaval and lameness going on in my world this past year. It’s no big, but it did upset that goal. As for packaging – you don’t want to know.
My goals for 2009:
1) Cut down on food packaging and cook more meals from scratch: I’m re-pledging this goal from last year because I failed miserably in 2008. I think I may have actually bought MORE prepackaged food items. Not junk, I mean, health-wise and organic-wise, I’m good. BUT I could have cooked way more meals from scratch, cut down on packaging, and lowered my resource footprint. It was a busy year, but that’s not the best excuse because life is always unpredictable, and green living needs to blend with that.
2) Recycle the damn toilet paper tubes: I think I mentioned before here that I have tube recycling issues. My son makes me look bad because he’s very good about it. I honestly don’t know what my deal is. I recycle everything; but if I have a random tube in the bathroom, I forget to walk it to the bin. I need to get a new recycling bin in my bathroom. When we last moved, I never put bins in our bathrooms.
3) Get out into nature more: Cedar and I go for walks and small hikes all the time; usually daily. However, our major excursions out into varied landscapes was slim this last year. We usually visit the beach, the woods, waterfall parks, public garden, and more each year. This year, due to tons o’ junk going on, we stuck close to home – good for gas footprint, not so great for instilling a love of nature in kids. This year, I’d like to travel to some different nature-minded areas with Cedar.
Tell me something in the comments; such as…
- Which green goals you rocked last year.
- Which green goals didn’t work out for you in 2008.
- Your 2009 green goals.
Let me know…
[image 1 via stock.xchang / image 2 via free pixels]
Hi Jennifer. I’m really excited about this coming year. My 2009 will be 100% dedicated to Wild Wonders of Europe. Raising awareness of Europe’s incredible natural heritage. Inspiring people to become passionate about its wildlife and wild places. First-time nature lovers and old hands alike. (And I will be exploring the great outdoors myself much much more! Cant inspire people if I dont lead by example!)
http://www.wild-wonders.com says it all! A fantastic project with a heart-warming positive message.
I had to laugh about the tp rolls…I am the same way! But I have been making the effort
My green resolutions? To continue reducing my waste and to make my own yogurt instead of buying containers and containers of yogurt!
Happy New Year!
Well, we rocked at recycling and trying new things w/little packaging. We use hankies only now and no more plastic water bottles! We have come soooo far as a family, sometimes I cannot even believe that my stubborn doubting-Thomas of a husband and don’t-mess-w/my-usual-stuff kid are still w/me! They actually are ‘on board’ now and happy to tackle new adventures. As for goals, I’m w/you on the more meals from scratch thing. HARD. We’re doing better, but my attitude sucks. I’m stuck in a rut of the same tired old meals. Other goals are to eat more organic, get outside (every day is hard since it can be below zero, but a good goal) more, plant and actually care for more veggies in our own beds/garden and make/give away a lot of cloth grocery bags. I made some for gifts at Christmas and was surprised how easy it was! I hope to give them away to lots of friends and family as I make them. I’ve been talking w/a friend about being more bold when it comes to talking to people about our choices, too…that’s not one of my strong points. Maybe one day I’ll actually walk up to a stranger and offer a cloth bag! We’ll see – it’s a whole new year…
I thought of another – eliminating plastic. We’re almost there already but when I stop to think about it I realize that there’s still a lot to get rid of. Kids’ cups, plates, bowls…any ideas?
Our family reached some of the same goals as DramaMama’s: hankies, no more bottled water. . . I’ll add cloth grocery sacks to our list of things accomplished, although my husband and I need to troubleshoot his spotty cloth-sack use.
My younger son achieved a major green goal that I want to shout from the rooftops: he’s potty-trained and sleeping in underwear! Woo hoo!
Ha ha! TP rolls! We got really good at those this year because my son decided to collect them to create party favors for his 5-year birthday party. Here’s how we made it super-easy: we put a shoe-box under the bathroom sink beside the fresh rolls of TP. It’s so easy to remember now! And we’ve decided to keep collecting them and egg boxes to offer to preschool/ kindergarten classes.
I was particularly pleased to have the opportunity to write a regular “going green” column for the newsletter of a moms’ group I’m in.
Aspirations for next year:
1. Promote recycling at my husband’s workplace/ our sons’ preschool/ our church. My first goal is to get a much needed cardboard recycling dumpster. Since he is overseeing a new building project, we can provide recycling right from the start– setting it up in a way that makes it part of the fabric of that campus from the beginning.
2. Get back to more vegetarian eating. We had some set-backs this year that led to both my husband and I being underweight. So we fell off the veggie wagon. It’s time (at least for me) to shift the balance veggie-wise again.
3. I’m good at turning off lights and unplugging stuff, but my husband and the boys aren’t as determined to be diligent. Does anyone have any hints for how to inspire them to remember?
@Christine, glad to know I’m not alone in the TP issue, and making your own yogurt is a great goal (especially if you eat a lot of it). There’s only so much you can do with all those containers.
@DramaMama & Katherine – Holy, you two are like green goal machines. Lots of good ones.
@DramaMama – I totally hear you on the rut deal. It’s so much easier to make the same old stuff, but lately, that’s been getting old for me, sounds the same for you. Also, I’m very glad to hear that your family is getting on board. That’s a huge green accomplishment.
@Katherine – you know, giving the TP rolls to a school for art projects is an excellent idea. I know some places I could donate mine. Thanks for the tip! As for helping your family to remember to unplug stuff, I recommend BIG signs. Not forever, just until it’s habit. My son had this issue with tossing our reusable ice pop handles, so he drew a sign and hung it by the garbage can. After a month of seeing the sign, he was not tossing our molds anymore, and didn’t need the sign. I used to hang stickies up to remember to unplug stuff, but now the stickies are gone, and it’s all habit.
I did well with taking my own bags, cutting down on paper towel use, using homemade cleaners, avoiding printer use and adding paperboard to my recycling pile (city just started cardboard recycling last year).
However, I am also bad about not recycling the TP roll! And I haven’t mailed my used Preserve toothbrushes in yet. They’re sitting in the envelope still. I was doing better with the mostly veggie eating, but have slipped recently. I’ve also slipped from baking my own desserts and bread to buying it more often.
Thanks for the post. I’ve been too busy to think about green resolutions, and I don’t usually make “new year’s resolutions” anyway. But green ones are Ok : )
Peggy – it sounds like you have all my issues. Maybe lots of greenies have the same problems? Hmmm. I did think that you quit with paper towels altogether though. That’s one area I’m good at – not using paper products. I hear you on the cooking though.
I don’t make New Year’s resolutions either, but it was easy to come up with responses to this topic because we already had these goals. Also, sharing some goals my family accomplished last year was a good reminder of how we have grown and should be proud of the steps we’ve taken instead of feeling frustrated about the steps we haven’t taken yet. Being “green” is a process, not something that happens instantaneously.
Jennifer,
I still use about a roll a month. It’s harder to not use them with a cat around (ie, cleaning cat vomit).
Ah yes, the old cat vomit issue! Fun.
This year we’ve made huge strides towards a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle! We’ve begun making our own household cleaners, shampoo, body wash, face wash, lip balms and hand/body creams from natural (no synthetics)/organic/Fair Trade ingredients packaged in reusable containers. For the kids, I’ve sewn reusable sandwich bags (finally got rid of those single use baggies!) and lunch bag sets, reclaimed old clothes and upcycled them into new (and cute!) outfits, purchased used (almost exclusively for clothing & furniture) and repurposed paper scraps and non-recyclables into creative art projects. We also recycle and compost.
This year we’re striving to use less…period. To kick things off we’ll conduct a simple household audit (waste, water and energy) just to identify our consumption trends. Right now we’re looking into building a vertical hydroponic garden to avoid as many prepackage food items possible and will attempt to make (or repurpose) as many of our necessities as possible. We’ve got some lofty goals and may not reach them all this year but we’ll continue on our path to sustainability at home.