Ready to celebrate the New Year? I sure am! 2016 was a rough one on a lot of fronts - politically, health wise, and even in terms of trash production. Boy have I learned a lot!
Going into 2017 I have several resolutions that I am excited to hold myself to! If you're looking for a resolution, these ones might be just up your alley too!
1. Maintain a Micro-Bead Free Home
Micro-beads are tiny little plastic balls put into many bathroom and cosmetic products. You can often identify them because of the tough texture of the product such as a facial scrub but they can also be too small to even notice. These micro-beads are plastic and so tiny that they are not easily strained out of the water system. Fish and ocean life unintentionally eat and breathe these micro-beads filling their bodies with plastic. I recently was given quite a few products that ended up having micro-beads in them. I now use this website search to check if any gifted products have micro-beads and make my own cosmetics that are plastic free!
2. Maintain a Palm Oil Free Home
The deforestation of the rain forest from palm oil is a serious issue and since many of their practices involve burning large areas of land, it creates a ton of green house gases placing Indonesia as the third highest green house gas emitting country in the world. Palm oil is in every thing from foods to make-up products and can be very tricky to avoid if you're not careful. I recently made some soap with a friend that used palm oil and once I use that up, I am determined to maintain a palm oil free house!
3. Cook one new Vegetarian or Vegan Recipe a Week
I am not a vegetarian or vegan and may never be. However, I can see the ways in which our over-consumption of meat and especially beef is harming our environment. Cows produce large amounts of methane and continuing to eat beef daily and drink dairy products isn't going to help reduce that impact on the planet. I am hoping that buy experimenting with fun, new recipes I won't think of giving up meat and dairy as a chore but rather something that leads to more delicious recipes!
4. Refuse Freebies that Involve Trash
It is still hard for me to refuse items when they are free even if they contradict my lifestyle choices. This includes gifts from family members, samples at stores, handouts on the street. You would think I would be better at this! But the idea of a "free" items can easily draw me end and only leave me with more junk and a trashy item that makes me feel guilty. No more!
5. Spread the Word about Zero Waste
This year I am going to take my zero waste journey to the public! I already have seven different classes planned in the area and hope to do many more! I am also committing to keeping an active presence on all of my social media pages. Let's see this movement take off!
What New Year Resolutions are you taking to further your zero waste lifestyle and help the environment? Maybe I'll take one on for next year!