What are your Green Resolutions This Year?

I just did an “ecological footprint” check-in, I hadn’t done that for awhile and it’s always a good wakeup call. I try to live as green as possible but even so my footprint is too big! Compared to the footprint of others in my region, my footprint takes up about half as many acres as the average person, but we’d still need more planets.

While I’ll give myself a little atta girl for being below average (which is good in this case), I still want to make less of an impact on the planet so I’m going to try to get my footprint down this year, let me know what you think.

Food: When I visit old friends or family, they still ask if I am a vegetarian and nowadays I sort of shrug and say not really. I’ve never been a true vegetarian but I did try to eat very little meat. I stopped eating most meat products about 12 years ago but still ate fish and poultry on occasion.

Then I moved to Germany where, after two years, I’m still trying to find the balance between what works for me and what is actually on the table. Meat is a big part of the diet here and I’ve met very few vegetarians and no vegans.

It’s sort of like in My Big Fat Greek Wedding where the bride tells everyone her fiance is a vegetarian, the record stops and the aunt says, no problem I’ll make a lamb. That is my food world in Germany. So my food resolution is to buy less processed foods and get back on the very close to vegetarian track.

Personal Care: Don’t worry, this isn’t that personal! The other eco-thorn I have is the amount of plastics that find their way into my life, mostly through shampoos and soaps. Most of the drinks I buy are in glass bottles or cartons - I avoid plastic bottles whenever possible.

Still, my recycling ends up filled with plastic containers for shampoo, conditioner, soaps and so on. I’ve got laundry tackled by using only soapnuts, which work great and come in a canvas bag. So, my personal care resolution is to make my own shampoos and soaps and keep them in reusable containers. I’ve done it before and loved it - the process, the products and the lighter recycling bin.

So, wish me luck and let me know,
what are your green resolutions this year?