Eco-Resolutions

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Last year, I had the pleasure of getting to know Lisa Borden from Borden Communications.

I recently read an article that she wrote about Eco-Resolutions (resolutions that we can make in order to be kinder to our planet) and I was really inspired by some of her ideas.

Please read below so that you too can make a difference (no matter how small)…

What Can I do Today? by Lisa Borden

Are you trying to protect your health and save the planet everyday? You can make a difference. Yes, even little you! “If you think you’re too small to make a difference, try sleeping in a room with a mosquito.” Make these 25 eco-reSOLUTIONS stick – one per day, per week, or simply when you feel like it. Each time you do, try and get a friend, a family member or a colleague to join you. I’ve supplied you with the action and ultimate solution (ok, that’s just my opinion) for each…so you have little excuse not to at least consider them. Feel free to add your own…there are an infinite number. The other great news: you’ll be saving money, time, your health and the planet…what a good deal!

The following are just ideas and inspiration and are in no particular order of importance or priority.

1. Take reusable bags on all shopping trips, not just for groceries – Nicole Ritchie and Jennie Garth love these ones.
2. Take your shoes off at your front door – why bring that outdoor road gunk inside (lead included)?
3. Clean the greenest way possible and get rid of all your household chemicals.
4. Don’t buy unnecessary and un-NEEDED toys for your children…and watch for pvc, lead, phthalates…why are they in our toys in the first place? Read Slow Death by Rubber Duck to learn more.
5. Turn the water off while brushing your teeth…there is NO reason why this can’t start happening today!
6. Make sure your tires are properly inflated – just ask how to check at your next service call if you don’t know how.
7. Don’t chew aspartame (ick!), and certainly don’t give artificial gum to your kids – try Glee Gum.
8. Do not give out conventional invitations when throwing your next party (I do hope you have a lot to celebrate) – try this instead.
9. I’m hoping that you’re excited knowing that this next point was checked off your list ages ago – NO PLASTIC water bottles…disposable or reusable…use a Klean Kanteen or a glass bottle.
10. Try packing a waste-free lunch–Oprah, Martha Stewart and Rachel Ray all agree.
11. Be an Agent of Altruism TM. Nothing will make you feel better than doing a random act of kindness. Check out Boom Boom Cards to get started.
12. Avoid canned foods – the same scary BPA made famous in baby bottles are in those can linings. – Eden Organics cans of beans are BPA free and a healthy choice too!
13. Try a little alternative medicine – consult a naturopath and avoid putting synthetics in your body that are harmful in production, to your body and when you pee it back out and it goes into our water system! Women take note: FemMed has a solution for everything!
14. Source one new and very safe personal care item…maybe mascara, toothpaste or a shampoo…wondering why only one? I know once you get started, you’ll keep going. Try Green Beauty or your local health food store.
15. Donate something – recycle stuff you don’t use and give it to someone who needs it.
16. Inspire your school or organization to run an eco-friendly, intelligent fundraiser.
17. Don’t idle your car, and ask those that you see idling to cut their engines too.
18. Use an eco-friendly ice melter/traction control – where do you think it all goes once you dump it on your walkways and driveways? Aside from our water system, it travels to our interiors (think cars, landscaping, pets and our children), and it gets taken into our schools. Home Depot has multiple options.
19. Spend a few minutes on the Canadian food inspection website and sign up for their alerts via email. This will be the quickest way to convince you to buy as local, as fresh and as organic as you can…melamine? Listeria? Oy.
20. Admit it, there’s something gross about rubbing germs around and getting a chemical to kill them on your hands (where do you think the chemical is going?). Alcohol kills both bad AND good bacteria and synthetic antibacterials (Triclosan as an example) has shown it can lead to super germs…ick!. I tote around Clean George, now available in Canada!
21. Watch Garbage Revolution– you’ll learn the acceptable kind of “trash talk”.
22. Join a few free campaigns that allow your small actions to be part of something bigger! Take a look at TakeOutWithOut. Fill your stomach and not our landfills!
23. Ditch the tea bags (who need the string, staple, bleached bag and wrapper?) and get into brewing loose leaf tea – nourishtea has a wide variety!
24. Make something with a foreign-to-your-kitchen ingredient. Kale Chips? Quinoa? Gogi Berries? It’s good to try new things – you’ll surprise yourself!
25. Give up plastic one step at a time! Get a glass straw that is so durable they offer a lifetime guarantee! And, while you’re in the kitchen, recycle all of those plastic containers, especially the ones without matching lids! Instead invest in glass containers with lids.

Focus on the positive impacts your eco-reSOLUTIONS will have and remember that every decision you make does have an impact, whether negative or positive…so inform yourself and make decisions wisely.

Article Posted with Permission from Lisa Borden