It's been a crazy December, and the month is only half over! I'm sure you're feeling the holiday crunch too -- the shopping, planning, socializing and decorating all go into high gear this time of year. In just a few weeks, a new year will be upon us. Coming January 1, 2012, I'm going to be kicking off a new 31-Day Fresh Start Series, with tips and tasks for each day of the month to help start the new year off on a more peaceful, less hectic note that can carry through the entire year. Until then, here are a few tips to get you in the mindset of simplifying and living lighter.- Eat less. Less food consumed means less resources used and less pollution created. Plan your meals before you shop and learn more about shopping effectively. Eat less meat because worldwide, beef production contributes more to climate change than the entire transportation sector. Pork and chicken are also big contributors to pollution and carbon emissions, compared to plants. Eat locally because transporting food from where it's grown or raised to where it's processed and packaged and then to your supermarket has a high environmental cost. Eating locally not only greatly reduces transportation cost but it supports local farmers and gives you fresher food.
- Drive less. Work from home or telecommute as much as possible. Learn about improving gas mileage and hypermiling. Combine errands to make fewer trips. Walk or bike more, or use public transit.
- Travel less. Airplane flights are a huge contributor to climate change. Travel less by doing teleconferences and taking vacations close to home.
- Buy less. See if you can borrow an item, check out a book from a library, make what you have last longer, find innovative ways to repurpose what you already have or make an item yourself, or just do without.
- Buy used. This avoids buying a new item and all the resources that go into creating and transporting it. It extends the life of something already bought and saves it from the landfill. Look in thrift shops, consignment shops, used bookstores, eBay, Craigslist, garage sales and Freecycle.
- Declutter your home and learn to be content with what you already have, then get rid of more. Clear your floors and other flat surfaces -- the visibility will be freeing if you're used to seeing stuff everywhere.
- Live in a smaller home. A smaller home takes fewer resources to create, and requires less power, water and heat to run.
- Use less power. Reduce energy consumption. Cool and heat your home less. Turn off lights, unplug appliances, and hang dry clothes more often. Reduce vampire power.
- Use less water. Shorten your showers. Wash only full loads of clothes and dishes. Use gray water or captured rainwater for watering plants.
- Go paperless. File things digitally rather than in folders. Get bills and other documents sent electronically or online rather than via mail. Stop catalogs from being mailed to you. Read newspapers and magazines online or on an ereader rather than buying paper copies.
- List 4 essential things in your life. Do the essentials first each day, and clear away distractions to really focus on what you're doing.
