New Year’s Resolutions to Enjoy Life More

Make a Resolution to Feel Good, and Green!

New Year’s resolutions don’t necessarily have to be sacrificial, boring, or difficult. What if you resolved to do something that makes you feel great, and also helps the environment?

It’s true, changing our habits in favor of sustainable actions is challenging. Resolutions can be a daunting and unwelcome start to the new year. But imagine the first month of 2013 being easier and more fun than the last month of 2012. After all, “enjoying life more” is among the Top 5 New Year’s resolutions most people make. Your green resolutions could have a positive effect on your enjoyment of life – if you pick the right one for you.

Think about something unpleasant, something you don’t enjoy. It could be taking out the smelly trash, cleaning the house with potent chemical cleaners that make you dizzy, or maybe picking up all the wrapping paper littered around your house after the holidays! Then consider what actions would make you feel better in these situations. For example, not having to take out the trash would be pretty nice. Never smelling those harsh chemicals again would make cleaning more pleasant. And never having to pick up wrapping paper strewn about the house could mean a blessing on your back.

So how do you accomplish achieving a more enjoyable life in these instances? You can’t simply stop taking out the trash; however, you can eliminate or greatly reduce the amount of trash created in your household. Maybe you’ll become a zero-trash household, like some families have achieved, or perhaps you’ll only have to take out the trash once per month instead of every week. Either way, you’ll be smelling less garbage! Right now, if we used a full-sized trash bag, we’d take out the trash only 2 or 3 times a month. Everything is a process of making life more enjoyable, and greener.

Switching to sustainable cleaning products will give you a year without a chemical-induced headache and make your home smell like lavender and oranges. You might go one step further and save up money for a weekend getaway by making your own toothpaste, deodorant, and all-purpose cleaners from baking soda and other commonly found household ingredients.

If picking up wrapping paper and shredded packaging bothers you, especially if you’re like us and have pets that love tearing it into itty bitty pieces, resolving to only use fabric wrapping paper or boxes that can be reused might save your back next year. It can be fun to try using Japanese-style gift wrapping methods, something that’s now become popular among teens who enjoy anime.

Resolving to save the planet may not stick past January, but making a resolution to create a more enjoyable life – now that’s sustainable!



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