I love New Year's resolutions (NYR). I made a whole bunch of them last year and while I didn't religiously adhere to them all, having them did help me keep certain goals in mind. Like I said last year, I think the best resolutions are very specific. Not, "I'll be tidier" but "I will vacuum every Friday". A resolution isn't going to transform your personality. It's a way to help you focus your efforts on a few behaviors that contribute to a lifestyle change you strive for. Plus, it's much easier to evaluate your success when you have specific goals.
This year, I'm not going to make any work related resolutions. I anticipate lots of professional progress this year and I don't think any NYRs are going to impact my work life. I've got to get shit done no matter what. I expect that this year I will graduate, find a post-doc, and publish some papers. The pressure is on, so rules about how much time I can spend reading blogs should be irrelevant.
So, I will make two resolutions in my personal life.
1. I will send a birthday card to every member of my immediate-plus family. For those of you following along at home, that's 28 people. I've been contemplating this one for a long time. I always (try to) call each of my siblings on their birthdays, but I blow off their spouses and kids. I feel bad about that, especially the kids. So this year, I'm going to remember them all. First I need to check that I know them all.
2. I will implement one new green activity each month. I've been feeling rather bad that my life's work is devoted to climate change sort of stuff and yet I lead a not-so-green lifestyle. It's not abominable, but there are some serious oversights and inconsistencies. For example, we use cloth napkins instead of paper, but we don't recycle (curbside pickup here is ... suspicious, so we will have to take our stuff to a recycling center ourselves). I intend to write a blog post about our efforts each month. Oh, and you might think this is super lame, but I'm going to wait to start the first one until EGM gets back because I want it to be something we do together rather than something I'm invested in that he ignores, because then it won't last.
I'm not sure what 12 things I'd like to do, so I welcome suggestions. Recycling is definitely one. I'd like to get a kitchen vermicompost bin. I'm interested in growing vegetables on the deck when it gets warm and I want to make an effort to shop at the farmer's market. What else should I do?
11 comments:
Those are neat resolutions! And I hear you on the work front - I didn't think I needed any more pressure either! Good luck!
I love your NYRs. I will have to file those away for the future. Good luck!
Those are great NYRs.
For the green living maybe try to eliminate paper towel usage? That's been a difficult one for me and Dr. Man.
Good resolutions. I particularly like the first one, because that's something I also wish I was better at.
oooh, good resolutions! If you want some easy ways to go green, here are some ideas:
* bring your own coffee mug if you go to a coffee shop that doesn't use real mugs (or start frequenting coffee shops that do use real mugs)
* bring reusable shopping bags w/ you when you run errands. I leave at least one reusable bag in my trunk @ all times. Conference tote bags (is it just CS, or do other fields go wacky with the conference tote bags?) work rather well for this purpose.
* use rags instead of paper towels, like Amanda suggested
* clean w/o chemicals: you'd be amazed at how well vinegar + water or baking soda + water can clean things.
Best of luck to you!
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The do-something-green-each-month resolution is wonderful. Perhaps you can begin with something simple, such as composting your leftovers, making sure that all lights and electrical appliances is switched off after use/at nights, pledging to walk/bike more often than drive?
I wish you success in your achieving your resolutions!
I like your resolutions! Actually I love postcards and have a large stock, perhaps I should get more serious about sending them out for birthdays too. And I'm very interested in your green ideas!
Great idea on the green front!
Composting is a great idea - I have a "real" bin but I've heard really great things about the worms too. If you're not already vegetarian you could also cut out meat a few days a week (I'm currently trying to stick to vegetarian lunches plus at least one vegetarian dinner per week), switch to organic foods etc.
Check out the APLS carnival for more ideas - I've learned tons from these guys and I'm actually hosting the next carnival!
After forgetting (or remembering too late) my best friends bday (around xmas) I wrote all the important bdays on my calendar so I don't forget any in 2009. I just thought that a way to combine your two resolutions is to do some ecards (save paper and carbon emissions) or something I've taken to do is to reuse cards. Which might sound lame but some cards the front decorative part can be cut from the rest and folded in half for a new card, or it can be unfolded and used like a postcard, or attached to a sheet of paper for a new card.
Great resolutions!
Maybe you could take shorter showers?
Ah hang on, you do that already, right? ;)
I changed alot of habits once the monkey was born.I felt bad about using disposable diapers, so I wanted to offset as much as I could. We already recycle everything but I started to use cloth alternatives for cleaning (no paper towels/napkins) and method cleaners. We have forced air heating which makes it really dry in our house, so instead of getting a humidifier we hang our clothes to dry.
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