10 Eco-Friendly Resolutions for 2023

Eco-Friendly Resolutions: It's time to start setting goals and planning for a successful new year. While many people set goals to focus on wellness or their finances, there's something else we could all focus more on to make the new year (and every year in the future) better: sustainability. With scary headlines about climate change, it's easy to feel hopeless, but there are still plenty of goals we can set to make a difference.

That's why we've created 10 eco-friendly New Year's resolutions so easy you'll have no excuse not to stick to them, and because they help you reduce your carbon footprint, decrease your household waste stream, and improve the quality of the Earth.

Here are 10 Eco-Friendly Resolutions to set for 2023 and beyond.

Not to buy bottled water

Water that comes in plastic bottles is not sustainable and has caused major environmental problems. As we mentioned before, the industry has wanted to make consumers believe that plastic bottles are biodegradable and friendly to the environment. However, these bottles are made of materials that can take hundreds of years to decompose and the truth is that they are not always recycled.

According to several studies, there are more bottles that end up in the trash than those that are recycled. Also, "biodegradable" bottles don't break down as easily as they seem, as they just use less plastic than others.

Reduce energy demand

Many of us are plugged in all the time and have all these advanced gadgets and appliances that need a lot of power to run. Find ways to reduce the amount of energy you are using.

That can be as simple as turning off lights during the day or in empty rooms, installing LED light bulbs, and unplugging chargers when not in use to reduce the power of vampires. For more advanced actions, consider upgrading appliances to energy-efficient models or installing solar panels on your roof.

Donate your stuff

Donate everything you no longer want or need. Spend an hour over the weekend going through kitchen cabinets, boiler rooms, and your wardrobe, looking for items you can donate. You'd be surprised how much you have to give. You just have to make sure that you dispose of your jeans, shoes, socks, and pillows properly.

Avoid fast fashion

Big chain stores with unbelievably cheap clothes seem too good to be true, and that's because they are. America's insatiable appetite for cheap clothes we wear for only a season could not be more destructive. In fact, the fashion industry is the second most polluting industry in the world, after the oil industry.

In order to satisfy our demand for the latest fashion, India's farmers ravage their fertile soils and deplete precious groundwater to grow millions of acres of GM cotton for export, instead of food for their starving people. The heavy chemicals needed to keep pests down and increase soil fertility cause health problems at all levels of the ecosystem.

Stop Using Paper Towels

13 billion pounds of paper towels are used each year or 45 pounds per person. If we eliminated just one roll of paper towels each day, we would save 570 million pounds of paper per year. Instead, use dish towels, old T-shirts, old socks, or cloth napkins. Try Unpaper Towel, it's honestly the best!

Create a Sustainable Wardrobe

Many of the fashion "fits" you see online and in stores are really just products of the fast fashion industry. Fast fashion is known for its excessive waste and unethical treatment of garment workers. Clothing is designed for short-term consumption, so many of these items end up in landfills around the world.

Use a bike for short trips

Nothing would protect the environment and decrease our dependence on oil more than taking steps to reduce your transportation footprint. Transportation accounts for more than 15% of total global CO2 emissions.

Wash Your Clothes, Less

Fashion Revolution takes an in-depth look at how we need to change the way we care for our clothes. 25% of the carbon footprint of a garment comes from the way we take care of it. On top of that, 90% of our clothes are thrown away much sooner than necessary, due to our "fast fashion" culture and outdated laundry habits. It's time for a change.

Turn Off Lights

Turning off the lights when you leave a room is a very easy way to reduce the amount of energy you use in your home or office. When you turn off lights that are not being used, you can reduce your greenhouse gas emissions by 0.15 pounds per hour!

Take Public Transportation

Taking public transportation, even if it's not daily, is a great way to seriously reduce your carbon footprint. If you have the option of taking the train or bus instead of driving, do it!

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