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January 2, 2008

New Year's Resolutions for a safe, healthy 2008

When I was 12, my new year's resolution was to NOT keep my room clean. The two years before I'd made a resolution to keep it neat and tidy, and since I seemed to have a habit of breaking my resolutions I figured I'd turn the table on it.

I'm a little better at sticking to my resolutions now. Here's what's on my plate for 2008:

• Switch to safer cleaning products. I've been working on this one for months, but haven't been able to dedicate myself to it. Sometimes it seems easier to reach for the name-brand stuff, but it's often environmentally destructive and can be bad for your health. This year I'm keeping an eye on the worst chemicals, and using household products like vinegar, baking soda, and lemon juice whenever possible. I'll be using this as my guide.
• Take a toiletry inventory. Cosmetics and personal care products aren't regulated by the FDA, and companies regularly use ingredients with known or probable links to health problems like cancer and asthma. Not to mention all the plastic waste generated by bottles of body wash and conditioner. With useful resources like Skin Deep around, there's no reason to stay in the dark. When my next bottle of drug-store volumizing shampoo runs out, I'll be switching to something a lot better for me and the environment.
• Watch what I eat. Sure, lots of people will pledge this year to watch their weight, lose ten pounds, or stick strictly to the latest fad diets. Me, I've got other plans for my plate: I'm prioritizing my organic purchases, starting with potatoes. They rank at the bottom of the Dirty Dozen list, but conventionally-farmed potato crops are doused with pesticides that are bad for the environment and bad for us. I'll be buying my potatoes from the farmer's market whenever I can, and grocery-store organic when I can't.

I'm not the only one with reolutions, of course: Micela's cleaning house, the Ethicureans are eating well and paying it forward, The Daily Green advises us to be smarter than the bottled water companies, and Katy's got an enviable five-part plan. What are your New Year's Resolutions?

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