Environmental New Year's Resolutions

New Year's is the time when everyone resolves to eat healthier, watch less television, and (hopefully) be a little greener. Here are some of the best environmentally-friendly New Year's resolutions!

Source: Green Michigan

1. Use reusables

This can apply to multiple things. When you're going shopping, you should bring a reusable bag. This decreases your use of plastic bags which have been a real problem in Earth's oceans. Instead of buying bottled water, use a reusable water bottle and get your water from the tap.

2. Take shorter showers

Taking shorter showers can decrease your use of water which many people have started to take for granted. You will also save energy that is used to heat the water. The average showerhead sprays a gallon of water every 12 seconds, so cutting your shower duration by 5 minutes will save about 25 gallons of water.

3. Bike or walk more

According to the EPA, the average car produces about 4.6 metric tons of pollution every year, so making a commitment to bike or walk to work or school is a small act that makes a big impact. It is also healthier because you are getting more exercise.

4. Recycle

Although it is better to stop using single-use plastics altogether, you can at least recycle so that your plastics don't go to a landfill where they will spend hundreds of years decomposing or contributing to the plastic pollution problem in our oceans.

5. Grow your own food

Growing your own food will not only produce more oxygen from your garden, but it also reduces your use of carbon dioxide, because the truck that brought the produce at your grocery store from a farm will have put hundreds, if not thousands of miles of pollution in the air.

6. Donate to environmental causes

This is one of the easiest ways to contribute to the environment. Some of the organizations that you can donate to are: