Wednesday, January 9, 2008

And a happy new year to you and you and you

It's already the 2nd week of January 2008, and if you're like me, you're still thinking about your resolutions. I keep bugging my little ones to think about how they want to better themselves, but I haven't firmly commited to writing anything down. I think I'm still mulling over last year's resolutions, which have been firmly posted on the kitchen magnet board for 372 days now. Did we each achieve our goals? Did we try to change ourselves too much? Did we set the bar too low?

Well, enough is enough. Tomorrow is the day we're going to define our resolutions, and the first one is going to be "getting more green." I mean why not? We've already made good (not great) progress over the last 9 months, but I feel that we can do better - much better. First of all, it seems that not all of us are following this program. (Hello, husband?!) I honestly believe that this is something the entire family needs to commit to or it won't work - not at all.

For us to get greener, we have to believe in what we're doing and how it touches almost everything we do. Oh, and also that it's really not that tough. No more plastic water bottles for the gym. No more crazy conventionally-grown fruit from out of the country (and county), and no more long showers.

Gosh. Getting rid of those things is easy to do and shouldn't cause any problems. But, I think I'll write these "getting greener" resolutions in a more positive light so they seem readily achievable, and, well, positive!! Maybe, they will look like the following:

#1: Use water jugs/containers at the gym
#2: Buy organic fruits in season and from local farms
#3: Buy only food that we'll need and not waste
#4: Join an organization to help clean the beach
#5: Turn on lights only in rooms that need to be lit
#6: Get to the gym/outside exercise at least 4 times per week, etc.
(Okay, that last one is typically on my annual list of resolutions, but I've made it more specific.)

Don't worry, there will be more to come. The kids will be tasked with thinking of 3 each. And, I think I'm going to institute monthly resolutions, so they don't seem too grand or too unachievable.

And for those of you wondering... I'm not ready to compost yet. But, hey, it's only January.

Good luck and may your year be healthy, happy and more green.