New Year's Resolutions have a bad reputation for lacking in true resolve.
But they do show what's on people's minds - and occasionally they can be the life-changing new leaf their owners had long-intended to turn over.
That's why the results of a GfK Roper phone-poll (commissioned by advocacy group Tiller LLC) on New Year's resolutions are so astonishing: a full 49% of respondents said they intend to make a green resolution for 2008.
Given a list of environmentally responsible lifestyle changes, reducing household energy usage was cited as the most likely to be undertaken in 2008, cited by 75% of respondents. It was followed by recycling more (74%) and reducing the use of harmful household chemicals (66%). Carrying fabric bags to the supermarket (42%) and reducing one's "carbon footprint" (43%) were the least frequently cited.
If 2007 is anything to go by, 2008 is going to be an iconic year in bright green progress. For massive change, the rate of adaptation seen in 2007 will need to increase, but the Tiller poll's indications of people's willingness to embrace green progress this year is welcome news indeed.
I'd like to share my resolutions, which are simple and sustainable. The resolutions above are nothing short of awesome - but if you want something else, maybe you'll find something here for you.
Be vegetarian
Walk
Free stuff.
Be vegetarian
OK, so I'm already vegetarian - but this is no cop-out. This is not a resolution to become vegetarian, it's a declaration of my intention to BE vegetarian in 2008. What's the difference? Becoming vegetarian is a resolution trap, because as soon as you slip up you'll think it's all over. If you're being vegetarian, you're making a conscious green choice at every meal. There's no need to make it sacred, because someone will undoubtedly sneak chicken stock or oyster sauce in somewhere. If you're being vegetarian, you're impervious to this kind of thing interrupting your regular vegetarian agenda.
The agenda is very much the same as everything else in the bright green movement - energy efficiency, water conservation, improving food availability, improving distribution, soil care and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. That's in addition to a plethora of health, well-being and ethical rationales.
If you've "gone vegetarian" before - and it hasn't worked out - 2008 is definitely the year to try again. My city of Auckland has come a long way in catering for vegetarians since the year 2000 and I expect it to continue in the same direction until most of the city shares the diet. I've had no trouble being vegetarian in any city I've travelled to this year, and from what I've read this is a global trend.
Walk
This is easy for me to say because Auckland is currently experiencing one of those summers that's nothing but blue skies, warm beaches, cool breezes and outdoor music. But despite commuting by foot this year I've still taken my petrol-powered car across town more times than necessary. In 2008 I plan not only to walk nearly everywhere, but also clean up my old bicycle and pick up where I left off with that. My friends that cycle tell me they arrive places feeling pumped-up and ready to rock, and I want some of that.
It almost doesn't need to be said that reducing your car-based transport is massively beneficial for the environment, and that, you know, exercise is really good for you.
Free stuff
"Free" here is in the sense of the verb, to free stuff. This is a direct outcome of my 2007 resolution to "free my self" - by which I meant in a very literal sense to volunteer. But I didn't call it "volunteer", because I'd done that before. I wanted to become free by giving myself away for free.
It worked a treat and I found myself able to choose amazing people and organisations to spend time with. Once I was free, what really matters to me became very clear. If you haven't spent a good deal of time volunteering, I suggest 2008 is the time to start.
This year I want to set stuff free, which is easier than it sounds. I'm contributing to Wikipedia, publishing more helpful personal web pages and licensing my Flickr photos with the most generous Creative Commons license available.
This is the kind of group activity that causes massive change. Information can be an unlimited resource when we free it - a move that costs little and benefits many. What's exciting about freeing stuff is that you don't know how your stuff could be used. Flickr user _Pixelmaniac_ had no idea that I'd use the above picture of fireworks this way, but freed it anyway. Thanks, _Pixelmaniac_!
Got a resolution that others can pick up? If you set it free in the comments below and leave your email address, I'll email you about it in December 2008.
