New Year's Resolutions Can Keep You Green (Part Two)

Here are some more resolutions!

5. Keep yourself informed and be proactive

Make it a weekly habit to at least scan articles on the environment and important environmental issues affecting your city, province/state and country. Examples of key topics to keep an eye on are daily green tips, local legislation regarding laws that impact the environment (such as the recent plastic bag/bottle law in Toronto). Also keep yourself up to date on projects that impact the environment that are being proposed to your government, for example anything to do with clean coal or nuclear energy (the latest of which is something called A Better Energy Plan, you may have seen advertisements in the Globe & Mail) or the recent Metrolinx proposal for the TTC extension. Research each topic and make sure you discuss it with others as well as contribute to public forums which can determine whether the proposal succeeds or not.

6. Turn It Off! Unplug Yourself Daily (Or Weekly)

Alright, new readers may not be familiar with my blogpost on unplugging your electrical appliances and finding sustainable ways to entertain yourself. Basically, in order to make this a New Year's resolution, make a conscious effort to unplug yourself daily or weekly for a certain amount of time. This may sound really simple but you can make a conscious effort to away from the biggest electrical entertainment devices by going outside. For example, limit your electrical consumption for certain activities to a couple hours a week. It's understandable when you want to level up your character on WoW or in COD5 on XBox Live but to be honest...there's more to life than video games, the Internet and TV. I've suggested many unplugged activities but here are some more:

- Knitting/crocheting or any other arts and crafts
- Volunteering for charity or other organizations
- Card or board games (old school gaming is definitely my favorite kind), suggestions are Cribbage or Texas Hold 'Em (gambling not necessary or recommended for fun of course)
- Participating in sports leagues or other clubs
- Go back to school for...anything you choose! Learn a new instrument or a new skill, however the unplugged rule is iffy here. Choosing to learn a skill with technology may go against the unplugged concept, when the activity is done in a group that is conscious of the environmental effects, it is possible to forgo the unplugged rule. Use your judgment!

That's all for now...I wish all my readers a green and happy 2009!