New Years Resolutions for Peace on Earth

Merry Christmas.

Blessed Yule.

Happy Solstice.

Happy Hanukkah.

Happy Kwanza.

Or whatever it is you might celebrate.

It’s nearing that time of year where people are looking for New Years resolutions, so I encourage you to consider these, as daily choices do add up and make a difference.

NO PARTICULAR ORDER.

1. Reduce your plastic.

Simple ways to start are by bringing in your own reusable travel mugs, refilling water bottles, bringing your own reusable bags to stores, reusable straws, etc. Many restaurants and fast food joints will allow you to bring in reusable containers to take out your food in, some are also made to be collapsible and take up less room in your bags. Plastic is becoming a growing problem for the environment, as well as linked to health issues from leached chemicals, particularly when heated.

The plastic problem:

• Endangers sea life and is estimated to have fishless oceans full of plastic by 2050
• BPA has negative impacts on health
• A lot of plastic cannot be recycled, or can only be recycled to a certain extent before it ends up in landfill or the oceans.
• Putting plastic in the recycling bin does not guarantee it will be accepted to be recycled, and even that process creates a lot of fumes that are bad for the environment.

Easy swaps (for most people):

• Reusable bags
• Reusable containers
• Reusable straws
• Menstrual cup / period underwear (saves SO much money too)
• Refilling water bottles
• Buy in bulk
• Use Reusable cloths instead of sponges and paper towels
• Buy secondhand
• Quit eating fish, a lot of plastic in the oceans are actually a result of discarded fish nets
• Upcycle what you can

Documentaries / YouTube channels / blogs:

• Plastic Oceans
• Minimalism
• The True Cost
• Ethical Unicorn
• Sustainably Vegan
• Gittemary Johanson
• Trash is for tossers
• Shelbizleee

Eco friendly stores / brands:

• Dr.Bronner's
• TenTree
• Thrive Market
• Package Free
• Life without plastic
• Lush Cosmetics
• Eco Tools

2. Quit fast fashion.

Fast fashion has a terrible impact on our environment as well as the workers, not to mention it is often poor quality or overpriced. Buy secondhand when possible or look into brands that are sweatshop free and/or eco friendly made. BONUS: most thrift stores give to charity.

Facts:

• Many stores cheaply make clothing in order to push out more sales and have many “seasons” of clothing styles.
• Most clothing is not biodegradable and eventually ends up in landfill
• Many workers face modern day slavery in sweatshops, sometimes dangerous conditions.

Documentaries / blogs:

• The True Cost
• Minimalism
• The minimalists
• Minimal Milennials
• Ethical Unicorn

Ethical Fashion stores and brands:

• Thrift stores ♻️
• Plato’s Closet ♻️
• Depop
• Ebay
• American Apparel
• TenTree ♻️
• LetGo ♻️
• Etsy
• Do a clothing swap with friends
• Sole Rebels (shoes) ♻️
• TOMS (shoes)
• Insecta (shoes)🌱♻️

3. For makeup lovers, many products are animal tested or made with animal products.

A lot also have poor packaging and create a lot of waste in landfill. If it’s a passion of yours, that’s wonderful and you should continue with it, but here are some brands that are cruelty free with vegan options, and some have eco friendly practices:

Everyday makeup:

• Lush Cosmetics ♻️
• Kat Von D 🌱
• Jeffree Starr 🌱
• Covergirl
• ColorPop
• Fenty Beauty
• Clean Faced Cosmetics ♻️🌱
• Elate beauty ♻️🌱
• Medusa’s Makeup 🌱
• SFX Makeup:
• Mehron
• PPI Premiere Products 🌱
• Kryolan
• Cinema Secrets
• Lunatik cosmetic labs 🌱
• Cameleon body paint 🌱

4. Try a plant based diet

I know a lot of people will get defensive about this, but daily actions add up a lot and it will make a big difference to the animals, the environment, and your health, my inbox is always open for motivation and recipes. If you’re super hesitant, try veganuary, they have a website and you can commit to the month of January, challenge22 is also a great website full of dieticians, recipes, and motivation.

YouTube channels, and recipe books/pages:

• Cheap Lazy Vegan
• Oh She Glows
• The Edgy Veg
• Forks over Knives
• How Not To Die
• Thug Kitchen
• It doesn’t taste like chicken
• The Happy Pear
• Chocolate Covered Katie
• Cooking With Plants
• The Vegan Zombie

Recommended substitute brands:

• Beyond Meat
• Impossible Foods (controversial but better than but better than buying meat)
• Gardein
• Tofurky
• Earth Island / Follow Your Heart
• So Delicious
• Sol Cuisine
• Yves
• Lightlife
• Tofutti
• Earth Balance
• Some facts on animal agriculture:
• Leading cause of deforestation
• Leading cause of water waste
• Responsible for more carbon emission than all forms of transportation combined
• Many diseases are closely related to high levels of cholesterol
• Animals have complex emotions and feel pain just like us
• An estimated 56 BILLION animals are killed each year for food
• Many slaughterhouse workers suffer from PTSD
• Recommended documentaries / youtubers
• What the Health
• Forks Over Knives
• Cowspiracy
• Earthlings
• Mic The Vegan
• Earthling Ed
• Sorsha
• The Best Speech You Will Ever Hear
• Bite Size Vegan

5. Go Vegan!

If you’ve already applied number four, this isn’t too much of a stretch, opt for vegan products both in and out of the kitchen. This will help save the animals, the environment, and potentially your health as well.