You could decide to lose weight—again—or this year you could resolve to lighten the load you leave on the planet. To help, we’ve outlined a series of small changes that add up to big results and divvied them up by time frame—tasks you can complete today, in the next week, during the next month and over the course of the next year. Breaking your efforts into smaller, more manageable tasks isn’t a cop-out: By following this plan, each small step adds up to changes that will benefit the health of the planet—and, yes, even your own health—immediately and in years to come.

Food
Over the course of the year,your goal is to educate yourself about food—where it comes from, how it’s packaged and transported, and what happens to the waste—so you can make wiser choices at every meal.

This week, start at the end: Research your composting options. Throwing food scraps in the garbage may seem innocuous, but decomposing food not only clogs landfills, it also releases methane—a far more potent greenhouse gas than CO2. And encasing food scraps in a plastic bag or landfill keeps fruits and vegetables from replenishing the soil, increasing our dependence on chemical fertilizers.

The University of Arizona estimates that if every American household reduced the amount of food it throws away by half, we’d cut our entire environmental impact as a country by 25 percent. Aim to do your part by composting your fruit and vegetable scraps. If you’re a do-it-yourselfer, check out a no-fuss option such as the Once a Year Compost Bin ($139.99; cleanairgardening.com). Or find local resources that will accept your food waste, such as a community garden, recycling center or farmer’s market, and start storing scraps in your freezer until you can make a drop-off.

Transportation
Vow to take two fewer car trips over the next seven days, replacing them with walking, biking or public transportation. Keep tracking each car trip in your notebook, and start writing down how many gallons of gas you’re buying each time you fill up. And for each car trip you do without, note any other benefits you reap beyond saving gas—such as fresh air, exercise, community interaction or reading time—so you can see the full spectrum of ways that driving less impacts your daily life.

Energy
Schedule an energy audit to get a list of suggestions for reducing your home’s energy use. You can either get a free audit from your local utility— the best choice if you rent since their suggestions tend to be smaller-scale projects, such as weatherstripping—or from an energy assessment professional. The latter is the best choice if you own your home, since they specialize in larger projects such as helping you choose efficient heating and cooling systems.

A professional assessment will run $350 to $550 but will likely pay for itself in energy savings if you end up making a major improvement. To find a certified building energy rater, visit resnet.org. And if you think an energy audit isn’t worth the time or money, think again. “An energy audit will help you focus on the top one or two purchases that will have the biggest impact on your home energy use,” says Josh Dorfman, author of The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget ($14.95, STC, 2009).

Open a savings account devoted to green home improvements. Look at your budget and see what you can set aside toward a new efficient appliance, hot water heater or furnace. Even if it will take a couple of years to get there, it will pay off in the long run.

Everyday Purchases
Create your own personal “Going Green” kit. Small purchases that can add up to a big impact include: – reusable tote bags
- stainless steel water bottle
- travel coffee mug
- BYO-lunch supplies—an insulated carrier, utensils and wax paper or aluminum foil (instead of plastic wrap)
- compact fluorescent light bulbs

By Kate Hanley

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