New Year's Resolutions 2012: Green Ideas To Help Yourself And The Planet (PHOTOS)

Have you made your New Year's resolutions yet? Goals related to health, personal finance or relationships may top some lists, but it's also important not to neglect your consumption habits or the environment.

Below, we've started a list of some useful tips for you to help make 2012 a greener year, and are asking you to add your own New Year's resolutions as well.

Do your part to use less and waste less, and set an example for those around you. According to the EPA, Americans created 2.9 pounds of municipal solid waste (MSW) per person, per day. The country as a whole recovered 65 millions tons of MSW through recycling in 2010.

Recycling more, using less plastic and driving less are easy ways to help reduce your impact on the environment. Can you think of any other, less obvious ways to go green in the new year?

If you're looking for more green household advice, check out these tips for changing your car's oil and purchasing more efficient light bulbs.

To contribute your idea, submit a slide below, or tweet us using the hashtag #GreenResolution.

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Comments

[mcsgreen]

02:12 PM on 01/06/2012

I have a couple resolution­­s.
I bought a travel mug last year to reduce my use of paper/plas­­tic/styro­f­oam cups when I buy coffee, but I forget to bring it in the car about 50% of the time. This year I'll make a better effort to leave myself reminders.
I'll try to be more conscious of the things I do daily that have an impact on the environmen­­t like turning water off while brushing my teeth or soaping up in the shower, etc.

[Justine Lassoff]

10:27 AM on 01/05/2012

Vote for and support politicians who will enact legislation that will improve the environment, encourage new technologies that will stop pollution. Stop buying plastic water bottles. Support brands that are making a difference.
Check out our eco-resolution tips at www.facebook.com/ecocloset

[Marilyn Chiarello]

01:07 PM on 01/03/2012

Eat a whole food plant-based diet. Even if it's only one day a week, this simple action will have more of an effect on the environment than any other single actions.

And once you enjoy the benefits of a plant-based diet, and the absence of the violence and suffering that accompany animal foods, your increased compassion, mental clarity and deeper connection to our dear planet will likely result in many more lifestyle changes to support the environment.

[Gebby]

07:36 AM on 12/31/2011

I will vote for those that support clean solar energy. I will bring my own cup to starbucks whe I plan to go. ( i also save ten cents. )

[Noble9]

12:41 PM on 12/30/2011

Unplug your recharger cables when you're not using them. Use power strips to turn off your tv and computer.

[Blizzard2012]

01:39 PM on 12/29/2011

Drive larger SUV to extend our swimming pool season in the Midwest...

[Kenz300]

01:36 PM on 12/29/2011

Turn off faux noise and their anti environment propaganda machine.

Steve Jobs said it best when he told Murdoch that his media companies had a choice to either be constructive or destructive to society. He told him it was too bad he chose to be destructive.

[YunekFlava]

09:12 PM on 12/28/2011

Each one reach one. Imagine the possibilities.

[YunekFlava]

09:09 PM on 12/28/2011

Reduce, reuse, recycle, and renew. I am already at 50%, but i am uping the ante to 75% this year to renew and repurpose 75% of all of my home furnishings and accessories. I have challenged my family and friends as well. To get thenewdeal interested i told them that they would also save some “green“ as well. Hey we are going to make this a family and friend challenge, but i challenge anyone and everyone. You game?

[rodjard]

08:35 PM on 12/28/2011

I resolve to build a large all weather greenhouse using clear plastic
bottles. I have a potential 1.5 acres that I could potentially put under
several of them. That will provide a lot of organic food and make
the bottles usefull.

[Annemarie Dooling]

04:08 PM on 12/29/2011

Wow. That sounds great! Thanks for sharing.

[dpgaff]

05:15 PM on 12/28/2011

My new year resolution would be think twice before believing "green" science. Jesse Ventura... Conspiracy... trutv... carbon tax... Maurice Strong... world government...

[rodjard]

08:40 PM on 12/28/2011

Buils a hothouse. Raise tomatoes in January using
organic fertilizer and no pesticides. Green Science..
What is to not believe.

[dpgaff]

01:15 AM on 12/29/2011

It is when science comes in the form of emotional blackmail that it should be questioned.

[shiny73]

08:39 AM on 01/02/2012

Having a healthy level of skepticism is a good thing, but I do wonder how one could be opposed to using their own shopping bag or using less water when showering or composting. Sometimes it's not just about climate change, but about being more thoughtful and less wasteful of our resources.

[dpgaff]

09:32 AM on 01/02/2012

There is no real purpose to reusable shopping bags. Worms eat right through thin plastic. As long as there is not a lack of rain or water in an area, running the water can be a good thing since it does clean out the pipes, and moving water is cleaner. Exaggerated claims about how long it takes to regrow trees can scare people, but wood is a renewable resource.

[Kenz300]

08:30 AM on 12/28/2011

The best thing to do for the environment is for people to get active, organize, register and vote for people that support the environment. We all need clean air, clean water and safe food to eat.

Republicans in Congress seem to be in the pockets of the oil and coal industries. They seem to forget that rivers once caught fire in the US and that is why we have environmental protection laws. Republicans with their deregulate and let business police themselves rants are only working to privatize profits and socialize the costs of the clean up.

It is time to end the corporate money in politics. Corporations are not people.

[willowtree3]

08:20 AM on 12/28/2011

The first slide said buy less bottled water.
Why buy bottled water at all?
Counter-top water filters, or whole house water filters are better because you (we)
don't contribute the mountains of plastic trash that is piling up everywhere.
Get it together Huff.

[drj516]

05:03 AM on 12/28/2011

As the New Year rapidly approaches, you’ll find articles and videos talking about New Year's resolutions. Unlike this video, many articles will address habits and patterns from the standpoint of “what to do” rather than providing suggestions about “how to do it.” This video gives you a methodology, which, though basic, has merit in keeping you engaged and motivated by keeping track of the behaviors you want to change.
There are some ideas, based on experimental evidence, on how to add strength to our resolutions that might allow you to maintain your resolve this time, lasting longer than the length of time it takes the road crew to clean up after the equestrian entrants in the Rose Parade. The psychological literature about how people make decisions, and their perceptions and behavior after they've made their decisions, suggests same interesting possibilities.
Getting back to how to create workable New Year's resolutions, you might want to read my article on “The Psychology of Resolutions,” which you can find at:

http://jamesbarrickphd.com/ThePsychologyofResolutions.en.html

[roseau]

09:19 PM on 12/27/2011

These suggestions are shooting pretty low.

[rincon2010]

07:59 PM on 12/29/2011

Agreed. This list is the equivalent of using a colander to bail out water of a sinking ship.