Here’s some good news as the holidays wrap up: Many New Year’s resolutions people already make — eating healthier, saving money, getting organized — double as climate-friendly habits.
Whether you want to spend less, declutter or eat right, here are a few choices that could make a difference for you and the climate. Bonus: They’re all low-effort and low-cost.
If you want to save money, start at home. Electronics and appliances can continue drawing power even when they’re turned off. You can cut phantom energy use by unplugging items you’re not using, such as chargers and entertainment systems or using a power strip with an on-off switch.
Adjusting your thermostat a few degrees when you’re not home can also reduce energy use and save money. The U.S. Department of Energy says that adjusting your thermostat by 7-10 degrees Fahrenheit (4-6 degrees Celsius) for eight hours a day can save up to 10% a year on heating and cooling.
Another simple tip: Washing your clothes on the cold setting and air-drying them when possible can help lower energy use and utility costs. Heating water is the biggest energy draw in laundry, and clothes dryers are among the most energy-intensive household appliances, said Matthew Gonzales, the vice chairman of the National Hispanic Energy Council, which advocates for affordable energy for communities of color. This can also reduce wear and tear on clothing.
Gonzales said other simple swaps include switching to LED bulbs, sealing drafty windows and replacing dirty air filters so heating and cooling systems run more efficiently. He also suggested using natural light during the day, opening or closing curtains and windows strategically to manage heat and turning off the lights when you don’t need them.
Savings vary widely depending on where someone lives, how old their home is and local energy prices. But he said households in high-cost states can see meaningful savings from small changes over time.
“Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good enough,” Gonzales said.
Cutting down food waste can also benefit your wallet, your diet and the environment.
Food waste costs U.S. consumers $728 every year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, and generates the annual planet-warming greenhouse gases equivalent to 42 coal-fired power plants.
One place to start is by using what you already have in your pantry before hitting the grocery store, said cookbook author Anne-Marie Bonneau.
“If you have fat and an onion and a couple of random vegetables – or even one random vegetable or some leftover cooked proteins or grains – you’ve got soup in the making,” Bonneau said. “If you’ve cleared out so much food that you don’t even have an onion and fat, it’s probably time to go shopping.”
She also recommends preserving food before it spoils, including fermenting vegetables, which, she says, is easier than it seems. For example, you can make sauerkraut with just cabbage, salt and a glass jar. You can also make sauces from seasonal vegetables like tomatoes and freeze them for use later in the year.
Using a multicooker to make things like applesauce, yogurt, stews and beans can also help with meal prep while reducing energy use.
As a general rule, Bonneau added, eating fewer ultra-processed foods — such as sugary cereals, hot dogs, chicken nuggets and TV dinners — can benefit both your health and the environment. Those foods are often heavily packaged in plastic, which can shed into food and contribute to pollution.
“You’ll improve your diet, you’ll reduce your waste and your food will come in less contact with plastic,” she said.
Getting organized doesn’t have to mean buying storage bins or throwing things out. Often, it starts with using what you already have.
Spending even an hour organizing your space, spotting duplicates and rediscovering forgotten items can reduce impulse spending by helping people understand what they actually use, said Katrina Caspelich, communications director for Remake, an advocacy group for human rights and climate justice in fashion.
She said a “one-in, one-out” rule — where you can only buy a new thing if it replaces an old thing — can be effective because it keeps wardrobes from growing and helps prevent clutter by encouraging more intentional purchases.
Unsubscribing from brand emails and sale alerts can also help. “Most impulse purchases start with a notification, not a need,” Caspelich said, adding that waiting 24 hours before buying something new often turns a “must-have” into a pass.
For a more structured reset, you might try a no-buy challenge, pausing new purchases for 30 or 90 days while re-wearing, repairing, swapping with friends, or, if you can’t commit to buying nothing, shopping secondhand instead of new. “The key is flexibility,” she said. “Framing it as an experiment rather than a strict rule makes it feel empowering instead of restrictive.”
Remake estimates that someone who takes part in a 90-day no new clothes challenge can save about 3,900 liters (1,030 gallons) of water, avoid roughly 300 kilograms (about 661 pounds) of carbon dioxide emissions, and keep around 9 kilograms (about 20 pounds) of clothing waste out of landfills while saving an average of nearly $300 by pausing new purchases.
Zoom out and the scale becomes clearer: Americans generated about 17 million tons of textile waste in 2018, most of it clothing, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
For anyone overwhelmed by the advice, the takeaway is simple: You don’t have to do everything, and you don’t have to do it perfectly. Starting with one habit you’ll actually keep can make a difference for your budget, your routine and the climate.
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