New Year, New Planet

Whether New Year resolutions are your jam or not, the beginning of a calendar year is a great time to reset and look at what we want to focus on while we do another lap around the sun.

This year, I am not making any resolutions, but instead getting clear on what I want to focus on, particularly what I can continue to do to be kinder to the planet:

Borrow / Rent - I love convenience and efficiency. There are few things that make me happier. However, with many things becoming so cheap to buy, and subsequently more convenient, we end up purchasing a lot of items that we only use once - and in many cases ultimately send to landfill. This year when I ‘need’ something my first port of call will be to look at borrowing items from friends/family/neighbours or renting them. The ‘sharing eonomny’ is better for your wallet and way better for the planet.

Pre Loved - I love the smell and feel of a brand new item; untouched, straight out of the box, perfect. But that feeling is fleeting, and all I have really done is create more of a demand for something that there (in most cases) is already an abundance of. Sure, there are some items that you want to buy brand new (underwear, toothbrush to name a couple), but for a lot of purchases, second hand is a great solution There are so many items in perfect working order that can be given a second life, and again, will save you a lot of coin.

Reduce Consumption - I’m not against consumption, our economies need it. We need it. I am against over consumption. I’ve been on the minimilist bandwagon for a while now, but there is always room to reassess the things I have in my life. We don’t actually need that much stuff, yet we manage to accumulate it. My main focus is impulse buys. It is very easy to refrain from buying things while travelling as there physically isn’t anywhere to put it, so this one will be a key focus for when I return home.

Reusables - Many cafes and restaurants are swapping out their plastics for more eco-friendly alternatives, however these alternatives are still single use - meaning resources and energy are used to make these items, only for them to be used once and then thrown away. My ‘reusable kit’ has grown to now include: reusable cup, stainless steel drink bottle, bamboo cutlery, napkin, canvas tote bag and handkerchief. It haven’t had a 100% success rate of remembering to bring it with me, but practice makes perfect.

Flexible Diet - Eating less red meat is one of the best things we can do to help avoid dangerous climate change. Beef requires 28 times more land to produce than pork or chicken, 11 times more water and results in five times more climate-warming emissions. I’m not a vegetarian, however I have already cut back on a lot of red meat and this year I am introducing more plant based meals into my diet. When travelling I mainly default to vegetarian anyway, so I am stockpiling a library of plant based recipes to try out for when I get home.

Habits - About 40% of our lives are run on autopilot by repeating our behaviour. “Habits are the invisible architecture of everyday life”, and as Gretchen Rubin also so eloquently put it, “if you can change your habits, you can change your life”. Without establishing good habits, I’ll be lucky to even make a dent in the above. A lifesaver in habit change for me is my phone, I put in daily reminders using the task app until they become routine. I will continue to make tweaks and adjustments to my daily life to create and maintain eco-friendly habits.

Raise Awareness - I launched this blog at the end of 2018 with the sole purpose of sharing ideas of how we live can live in better harmony with the planet. Everyone is on their own environmental journey, and not every idea is going to resonate or be practical, but I truly believe that every little change to help the Earth makes a difference. Watch this space.

Wishing you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2019!