In 2021 I Became More Environmentally Friendly. Here’s What I Learned.

Ah, March. The perfect time to do my annual wrap-up of last year’s snowballing New Year’s Resolutions. Definitely not late at all. The new year has hardly even begun! Don’t @ me, calendar purists.

Dedicated readers will know that for the past almost decade, I’ve been snowballing my New Year’s Resolutions every year, in the hopes that every year I’ll improve myself a little bit in some way. I want to be nicer, healthier, smarter, more helpful, less harmful, and happier. So my NYRs reflect that. Here’s a running tally of my snowballed goals:

1. Read 1 book a week.
2. Train to run a 5k.
3. Write 100,000 words in a year.
4. Save a specific large sum of money.
5. Do 1 good deed every week.
6. Play music out at a venue once per month.
7. Go on 2 outdoor adventures per month.

So in 2021, I did all of that (mostly successfully, which was a nice change over the raging dumpster fire that was 2020) plus I added one more goal. And that goal was to make my life more environmentally friendly in some way at least once per month. Before we get into what I learned, let me walk you through each of my 12 environmentally friendly changes:

1. We bought a new, energy efficient furnace to reduce wasted energy in the house. Heating and cooling appliances are some of the biggest ways average people waste energy and contribute to pollution and climate change. So our new furnace really cut down on our carbon footprint.
2. I got a National Parks Pass through my company to support the conservation of our public lands.
3. We planted water-sustainable native plants while landscaping the yard to reduce water usage. I haven’t revealed the photos on the house blog yet, but my native plant garden fills me with such smugness because it is both drought-resistant, low-maintenance, supportive of local pollinators and birds and insects, and PRETTY. So much better than non-native, water-wasting ornamentals.
4. I used the laundry line instead of the dryer more often. This is one I struggled with as there are some items that just don’t do as well line-drying.
5. I changed my diet to eat more plants and less meat. I had limited success with this one, but I tried!
6. We installed a bee hive to support endangered pollinators. And now my face is endangered too.
7. I made the Zero Waste Store part of my normal shopping routine to reduce our household plastic usage. Bringing mason jars, canvas bags, and recycled containers there to fill up on my cleaning supplies and other stuff was kind of fun, too.
8. I made it a point to buy local more often. This one was pretty easy, as our neighborhood has a great pet food store (Mouthfuls), a great brewery (Goldspot), a great plant/gift store (the Terrorium), two great bookstores (Book Bar and West Side Books), and a whole shopping district full of small businesses on Tennyson Street.
9. We bought a new, more energy efficient refrigerator. Same rules apply from the new furnace!
10. I went trashwalking to pick up recyclables in my neighborhood on a regular basis. It’s pretty easy to bring a canvas bag with me when I walk the dog. I’d pick up any recyclables I found along the way and put them in our recycling bin when I got home.
11. I slowed my hair-washing schedule to save water and single-use plastic shampoo bottles. Instead of washing my hair every night, I now wash it every third or fourth night. And believe it or not, my hair is better for it.
12. I got a third rain barrel. The more rain barrels, the less we rely on city water to keep the garden irrigated, the less we contribute to drought in the region.

So that’s what I did! And here’s what I learned:

• Being environmentally friendly is often better for my health. Eating too much meat is bad for your health, and the factory farming and beef ranching industries are bad for the environment. So committing to eating less meat overall, and more game meat in particular (thanks to Mr. Fickbonne’s hunting successes), meant that I was doing something good for my health while also saving the environment. YOU’RE WELCOME, WHALES. Plus, washing my hair less has made my hair and scalp healthier! More lustrous! Less dry and itchy! Less greasy! Straight out of central casting for Vidal Sassoon! Why didn’t anyone tell me to spare some water for the polar bears before???
• Environmentally friendly options are often cheaper than their planet-hating alternatives. My two new energy-efficient appliances might have cost a pretty penny out of pocket, but in the long term our energy and heating bills have gone down! Every rain barrel I install makes my summer water bill go down! A lot of the products at the Zero Waste Store are actually cheaper than even the store brand options at the grocery store. Using the laundry line is gentler on our fabrics, and doesn’t add to our energy bill, unlike the dryer. All of which is to say: this was a green goal in more ways than one. BAHAHAHAH I’ll show myself out.
• Environmentally friendly options are sometimes better. The laundry detergent at the Zero Waste Store, for example, is more highly concentrated than Tide or whatever you can buy at Kroger. It works better! And the dog food available at our local mom-and-pop pet store is healthier and higher quality than what we could get at Petco, and it doesn’t cost any more. And need I mention how much better our new appliances are in every way to their energy-guzzling predecessors?
• I am now way more conscious of my plastic waste. Guys… we use so much plastic. And mainstream journalism is only just now spreading the word on how unlikely it is that most of it will ever be recycled. Single-use plastic = bad for the whales! But becoming more aware of this fact made me question my purchasing decisions and make small changes. Buying lettuce in a bunch instead of a plastic tub is easy. Milk in a carton instead of plastic jugs? Easy. And again: the Zero Waste Store is a miracle!
• Environmentally friendly, native plant landscaping is so much less work. I can’t wait to sell my lawnmower. ‘Nuff said.
• It’s good for the children. Nothing fills me with more joy (not to mention smugness) than having my nephew or a friends’ kids over to our little backyard farm and see them delight in the chickens, the bees, the rain barrels, the compost, the vegetables and herbs. I hope that I’m setting a good example for what’s possible even in a city lot. I hope I’m instilling a love of sustainable food sources and the outdoors in their little hearts. Or maybe it’s just fun to chase chickens. I dunno.
• I was already doing a lot better than the average American. I had to stretch to think of environmentally friendly changes in some ways. We already raise chickens, grow a garden, and hunt to lessen our reliance on the factory farming industry. Things like trashwalking, line-drying clothes, reusing, recycling, buying local, walking instead of driving… these were all pretty normal parts of my routine even before I made saving the whales a big fat New Year’s Resolution. But the fact that I still found ways to do better tells me that we all can do better. We just have to try a bit.
• … and that’s not really the average American’s fault. Most people buy things in single-use plastic packaging because that is the only option available to them. And we were all hoodwinked by an extensive public relations campaign to convince us that that plastic could safely, easily, and cheaply be recycled! Most people shop at Walmart or drive miles and miles to do their shopping because they don’t have local small businesses anywhere near them. How is someone who relies on a laundromat or apartment building laundry room supposed to line-dry their clothes? I have an enormous amount of privilege to be able to grow a giant garden full of vegetables every summer, and to buy expensive, healthy ingredients instead of the cheapest ground beef for dinner every night. My new furnace and fridge cost a lot of money up front! My personal environmentally friendly changes are but a drop in the bucket compared to what would happen if Nestle made water conservation a priority, or if more companies like Kraft committed to plastic-free packaging. All of which is to say that the most important environmentally friendly measure we can take is to pressure the large corporations that are responsible for most pollution to change their ways. Call your representatives! Vote with your dollars! VIVA LAS BALLENAS DE LA REVOLUCIÓN!

That’s all folks! Like every year, I’ll be snowballing my resolutions in 2022, complete with a new (and very different) goal. If you have ideas for how I can save the whales (revolutionary or otherwise) even more this year, do share in a comment!