A Healthy Planet Makes for Healthy People – Eco-Resolutions for the New Year

Submitted by Climate Change Action Dufferin-Caledon

A lot of us make new year’s resolutions. We use the fresh start of a new calendar year as a motivator to try and improve ourselves in some way. We might decide we want to start going to the gym, or lose some weight or any other number of self-improvement ideas. This year, why not try adopting a bigger picture of health to include the health of the earth and everything on it while we’re at it?  Since making sure our planet is healthy is also in our own best interest, it’s a win-win idea! Here are ten simple “eco-resolutions” you might consider adopting for 2020:

• Walk and bike more. As we mentioned in a previous newsletter, people-powered transportation lowers your carbon footprint and is good exercise.
• Take up gardening and grow some of your own food. There are lots of health benefits to eating fresh fruits and veggies but there are also lots of health benefits to gardening too. Gardening is good for relaxation and exercise, even if you can only do it in pots on a balcony. Gardens also beautify your home and provide badly needed habitat for beneficial insects and wildlife. Growing your own food also cuts down on greenhouse gas emissions as you won’t have to drive to the store to get food that has been trucked in from somewhere else.
• Get an eco-friendly toothbrush. Disposable plastic toothbrushes contribute to the global plastic waste problem. Compostable toothbrushes are now available. These are made with wooden or bamboo handles. Many of them still have nylon bristles but you can also get some that have bristles made with animal hair as well.
• Choose products with sustainable packaging over products in plastic packaging. Non-shiny paper/cardboard, glass, and metal packaging (e.g. lids on glass jars) are recyclable. Paper and cardboard are compostable as well. A lot of plastic packaging is not recyclable, for example: packing peanuts, plastic film overwraps on boxes and the clear “windows” in cardboard packaging. Very little of Canada’s “recyclable plastic” is actually recycled. Most of it is incinerated or put it into landfill instead. Avoiding plastic packaging when you can is a good idea.
• Buy some reusable travel mugs and keep one in your car. Enjoy your “Timmys” or Starbucks without generating coffee cup waste. Starbucks even gives you a small discount if you bring your own cup.
• Keep an “eating out” bag in your car. You can put reusable containers, cutlery and stainless steel or silicone drinking straws in this bag. If you feel like eating out, you can bring your fast food or leftovers home without takeout containers and you won’t need disposable cutlery and straws.
• Learn a new skill to repair something. It’s surprisingly easy to darn holes in socks, sew a ripped seam or put in a new zipper. Repairing something rather than replacing it saves you money, reduces waste and reduces your carbon footprint.
• Get creative and “upcycle” something you were going to throw away. Sometimes things that can no longer perform their original function can be used creatively for another purpose. An example is to turn an old pair of leaky rubber boots into a plant container for the garden or an old t-shirt into a produce bag for grocery shopping.
• Wear warm clothes rather than turning up the heat. Save on your utility bills and reduce your carbon footprint by using less fuel to heat your home.
• Get out and go for a walk in the woods. Reconnecting with nature is good exercise and studies have shown that being around plants and in natural areas has health benefits for people. Going into natural areas can lower your blood pressure and reduce your body’s production of stress hormones.

To Learn More: To learn more about Climate Change Action Dufferin-Caledon, please visit our Facebook page and click “like” to follow us!