YES YOU CAN! The Top 10 Absolutely Greenest, Doable Resolutions!

1) I Resolve To Reduce The Amount Of Waste That I Generate In My Household. 

How To Make It Stick: Stop making recreational trips to the store for things that you really don't need -- shop in your garage, attic and basement instead to rediscover items that will finally come in handy. When it's absolutely necessary to make a pit stop at the store, commit to purchasing items in bulk (which tend to have a lower unit price than smaller versions). Split the cost with friends and family members for a more affordable investment that ensures you end up wasting nothing. Buy products with minimal packaging rather than individual pre-portioned versions such as juice boxes, pre-measured coffee pods, and most "convenience" items. Make your own "snack packs" in refillable containers if you have trouble knowing when to say "when". Become loyal to brands that use 100% recycled content (such as Naked Juice & Earthbound Farms, which both use 100% recycled plastic in their beverage and clamshell containers, Seventh Generation & Green Forest, which use 100% recycled content in their toilet paper and Webster Industries' 100% recycled content plastic Renew brand garbage bags or Perf brand "Go Green" trash bags.)

2) I Resolve To Use My Car Less.

How To Make It Stick:  Think before you hop in your vehicle. Do you really need instant gratification, or can you wait until the weekend to tie in your Twinkie excursion with other more practical trips that you need to make? In many cases, you can strategize and multitask (resulting in far less mileage) or you can actually walk for an even better physical Twinkie-torching and carbon-free result. Consider alternative forms of transportation such as signing up with a carpooling service in your area, taking a bus/train/light rail, or hopping on a bicycle. If you live too far away from town to ride on a bicycle, you can always strap your bike onto your car and once you've made the commute, park your car and switch over to two wheels. Another option: leave your bicycle at your office and run your errands via pedal during the middle or end of the day.

3) I Resolve To Switch Over To Green Versions Of My Most Frequently Used Household Staples. 

How To Make It Stick: If the idea of living a healthy life really appeals to you, read the ingredient labels on your favorite conventional products for a crash course in what NOT to put on the many surfaces of your home -- you might be horrified by what you learn. In far too many cases, the chemicals that are used in mainstream brands release volatile compounds into the air that we breathe, creating indoor pollutants that can trigger serious health issues. If you touch or wear anything that you're applying these chemical cleaners to, it's likely that your skin is absorbing things that will do more harm than good. Warnings typically stress that we shouldn't swallow these preparations, so why are we gamely rubbing them all over our floors and counter tops? Biodegradable, chemical-free preparations are a far better choice for our lives and our planet, and while there are countless green versions available in big-box stores these days, it's also worth having a go at a few DIY recipes. You'll save a lot of money, you'll be able to control the formulation, enhance your cleaners with citrus or other appealing natural essences and you might even begin to whistle while you scrub.

4) I Resolve To Reduce The Amount Of Meat That I Consume Each Week.

How To Make It Stick: Consuming just 3 veggie-based meals in the course of one week doesn't mean that you've bought a one way ticket to loopyville. It's time to let go of the negative connotations associated with vegetarianism and realize eschewing meat on a part-time basis doesn't mean that there's a factory farm chicken release in your immediate future or that you may soon be inclined to simmer twig tea on your stovetop. None of us benefit health-wise from eating animal protein at every meal -- and cholesterol concerns aside, the factory farming industry is not only inhumane but also one of the worst CO2 and environmental polluters on our planet. Trading even just one meat-based meal each week for a vegetarian option can help to curb the effects of global warming, and amazingly it's not all that challenging to implement. Enjoy spaghetti and tomato basil sauce. Nosh on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Roast an assortment of vegetables and garlic cloves in the oven and adorn a homemade pizza with them. Make a comforting split pea or 10 bean soup and serve it with some fresh green chile cornbread.

5) I Resolve To Expand My Recycling Repertoire.

How To Make It Stick: People, people....there are far more materials out there that can be recycled beyond the typical paper, plastic and glass. First, educate yourself by finding out what your local municipality collects and then get back online and research how to augment their lineup with other options. Terracycle has made quite a name for themselves by giving new life to old snack food wrappers, chip bags, yogurt cups, etc. so start a collection bin in your garage using a repurposed cardboard box and once you accumulate enough, mail your stash into them. Designate separate containers for e-waste, wine corks, household textiles...basically anything that could potentially be repurposed into a new consumer item is fair game.

6) I Resolve To Adopt 1 New Green Habit Each Month.

How To Make It Stick: Start slowly but surely and keep a running list so that you can review your ambitions on a regular basis and be reminded through repetition that once you believe it and practice it, you can achieve it. New habits generally take about 30 days to become part of our subconscious, so stay the course if you are sincere about making a green impact this year. Here are just a few of the countless things you might want to aspire to: a) Break free from the allure of bottled water and invest in a tap water charcoal filter instead.  b) Keep your faucet in the "off position" while scrubbing dishes, soaping up your hands, shampooing your hair, shaving and brushing your teeth. c) Unplug electronic household items when not in use. d) Stop using disposable products (such as paper towels and plastic cutlery) and revert back to the real deal.  e) Give up your Styrofoam habit.

7) I Resolve To Think Like A Greenie.

How To Make It Stick: Before you throw anything into a garbage pail, ask yourself WWAGD (what would a greenie do)? Can someone else benefit from this item that I would have normally disposed of? Kitchen scraps can be composted or given to happily munching pet rodents. Cardboard packaging and all paper bits should be in your recycling bin. If you don't want whatever it is that you're tempted to pitch into the trash can, let someone else have an opportunity. Ask friends, family and neighbors if they could use it. Post it on craigslist. Donate it to Goodwill. Leave it on your curb with a sign that says "FREE!!" Put on your DIY hat and turn it into something cleverly practical.

8) I Resolve To Ask A Trusted Friend Or Family Member To Hold Me Accountable To My New Green Goals.

How To Make It Stick: If you announce to the world (meaning your friends, family and colleagues) that you are committed to going and staying green, then you will have a built in community checking in with you to see how things are going and inquiring about your successes and failures. As you regale them with your tales, you may even infect them with the green bug and launch a mini revolution of good green clean living. Even if "going green" isn't for them, ask one trusted person in your circle to get a monthly verbal progress report from you -- there's no way you're going to let them down, is there?

9) I Resolve To Become An Active Member Of A Green-Themed Community.  

How To Make It Stick: When you dedicate a portion of your spare time to engaging with other eco-minded people -- whether via an online green social network, monthly meetups or green drinks events -- you are thrust into a world where ideas are constantly exchanged regarding how to do better, how to live greener and how to make a measurable impact. Networking in the eco-community is a fantastic way to reaffirm your green goals, grow as a human being and gain new perspectives that will carry you through the entire year. You'll realize that you are one of many who are intent on making the world a better place through their daily actions -- this perpetual source of inspiration is not only fulfilling and intellectually stimulating but it gives you solidarity and the motivation to keep on keepin' on.

10) I Resolve To Consider My Role As Voluntary Greenie A Privilege Rather Than A Chore.

How To Make It Stick: This will require a complete mind shift from the old consumer mentality of "why should I have to do this?" to one in which you say "as a global citizen, it is my responsibility to care for the greater good." None of us can afford to resent the condition that our environment is in and pass the buck onto some other nameless entity. Remember when we were growing up and our parents told us to stop blaming things on everyone else and just take responsibility for our actions?  Since we are all members of the planet earth society, we all use its resources...some perhaps a little more haphazardly than others, but it is absolutely incumbent upon every single one of us to face the facts that we are all equally responsible for what happens in the next chapter. There is no room for infantile finger pointing and bickering about what political groups have or have not done to help the planet. You and I have to take matters into our own hands while everyone else continues to be bogged down in red tape. The best commitment that each of us can make for the benefit and welfare of Mother Nature is to be in it all the way. Reassess every avenue of our lives, figure out how to give it a green angle and smile while we're doing it!