Over the past several months I have become increasingly aware of my oblivious spending and consuming habits and my sincere need to get a grip. Cushioned by my husband’s fairly well compensated corporate job, I’ve shopped my way through the past couple of decades with hardly a thought for the environment and my personal impact on the planet. Well those days are over. We are no longer getting the corporate paycheck, we are starting a new business and every time I hear that our ski seasons are getting shorter, and the sugar maples are retreating to Canada, I get a guilty twinge. It’s time for my Marcia Brady Eco Make-over.

Here are a couple of cringe inducing habits that I pledge to break in the new year:

Rewarding The Littles for behaving in the grocery store by taking them to the dollar store. The cheap plastic crap they buy last about an hour before breaking, and spend eternity in the landfill. Over the past five years I bet I’ve spent $600. Not a fortune, but sheesh.

Using paper towels for everything. And I mean everything. I ‘ve been known to pull them off the roll in an arc that looks like the ribbons those Chinese gymnasts use.  About six months ago I switched to the 100% post consumer recycled content ones from Seventh Generation but I am trying to slowly wean my family off the whole concept of paper towels.  I have plenty of dish towels.  Peter seems especially reluctant to give up the paper but since he’s been banned from doing the laundry since 1989 (bras+bleach=ban) I’m not sure why he cares.

Lunches with individual everything.  For years I was content to send in the money and have them get school lunch every day.  I figured it was far more efficient to pay the school for the food they were going to throw out rather than going through the whole shop, schlep, pack and toss routine.  Then I was invited to have lunch with one of my kids in the Kimball School cafeteria.  And they were eating BATMAN PIZZA POCKETS.  The hell kind of lunch is that?  So I started packing.  I got some reusable sandwich boxes but that was really just to keep the sammies unsquished, not for any concern for the daily garbage tally.  Every day I have been stuffing Little Debbies and juice boxes and baggies into their boxes and bags.  In 2009 we are going wax paper and Sigg.  At least until the Sigg bottles disappear.

I am stopping this list now; not because I can’t or won’t or shouldn’t do more, but this time I’d like to have a shot at keeping a resolution list intact past January 10th, my previous personal record, for  completely unrealistic resolutions like not having wine with dinner during the week, or exercising daily or other such nonsense.