I spent a few years being very anti New Year’s Resolutions. During that time in my life, I felt they were too connected with hustle culture and this insanely American urge to constantly try to better yourself regardless of the outcome and to refuse rest of any kind.
This year, I’m feeling different. I’ve since come to realize you can participate in having a new year’s resolution without it really being that deep. And if you fail, it literally doesn’t matter. Life is hard; we’re all doing the best we can.
Being so immersed in sustainability I meet so many people who want to live more sustainably but find it overwhelming and/or out of reach. And I get that.
I also see everyday how small changes feel and are significant. So if you’re looking for some new year’s resolutions that are doable and sustainable, I got you!
Here are 20 new year’s resolution ideas that aren’t about hustle, or guilt, or self-improvement but about taking small, meaningful steps toward a more eco-conscious future.
Back on my Bullshit With 2025 New Year’s Resolutions
For 2025, I’m headed into my mid thirties and my 4th year of marriage and small business ownership. I’m feeling more grounded in my life, my relationships, my business, and honestly, who I am as a person.
For the first time in a long time, I’m grateful to have been able to take almost a whole 2 weeks off for the holidays. And I really committed to rest.
- I slept IN
- I spent a lot of time on the couch
- I watched almost all of the Star Wars movies for the first time
- Harry Potter 1 & 2 on repeat for days
- I didn’t listen to any podcasts
- I didn’t read any books
- I didn’t respond or worry about any emails
- Absolutely no news outside of what I took away from TikTok
- And I did not clean (I did have a couple of hours of organizing but that’s it!)
It. Was. Amazing.
And so as I’m slowly getting back on my bullshit, for the first time in a long time I wanted to make a new year’s resolution.
| Personal | Professional |
| 1. Shop more intentionally! | 1. Get my podcast moving forward! Publish! |
| 2. Prioritize natural fibers when buying things. | 2. DO! The past few years have been years of learning, now it’s time to do something with the knowledge. |
| 3. Always keep in mind: Do you really want/need it or is it just on sale? Then see #1 & 2. | 3. Continue to grow and build a community of awesome, wonderful people who make me feel all warm & fuzzy to know. |
| 4. Work on Spanish fluency |
21 Sustainable New Year’s Resolutions for 2025
Let me preface this with two things:
START SMALL. Choose ONE maybe two things to commit to. Trust me, it will make it so much less overwhelming; when you accomplish one thing you can keep going.
I wrote a blog for The Filtery (coming soon!) that’s a master roundup of brands that are sustainable AND non-toxic. I’ve used almost every brand on this list and the ones I haven’t come recommended by Abbie herself. This is the place I recommend looking for examples of any of these things.
1. Swap plastic dish soap & hand soap for bars
Although most grocery stores have bar hand soap now, this is an excellent opportunity to shop local!
For dish soap bars, start with: Meliora, No Tox Life, Simple Alchemy, & Etsy.
2. Swap plastic dish soap & hand soap for refillables
Another great opportunity to support a local refill store.
Brands like Blueland, Etee, Cleancult, Attitude (and more) have refill options if you prefer liquid.
3. Swap plastic shampoo & conditioner for bars
The switch to shampoo bars is a bit of an adjustment so go into it expecting some ups and downs. You’ll probably need to find the right kind of bars for your hair and that’s okay! You’re not going to like everything.
The conditioner is the hardest for me personally. I don’t love bars so I switch between an aluminum jar, refillables, and bars throughout the year.
Places to start: your local refill/eco store; my friend Abbie at The Filtery has a great shampoo bar blog with recommendations; and I get all mine from Haipažaža Pȟežuta.
4. Swap plastic shampoo & conditioner for refillables, aluminum, or cardboard packaging
If bars aren’t your thing that’s fine! Confession: I HATE bamboo toothbrushes; I won’t use them. Not everything is going to work for you.
Check out Plaine Products (subscription); Whole Foods (better packaging), & your local refill store.
5. Find a repair group near you; attend 1-2 times
First step: pick the cause it’s for — your clothes, household items, etc. Second step: attend AT LEAST 2 times in the next 12 months.
6. For the love of the universe, go through your closet and get it sorted
I wrote this great blog for ( r e )x about doing a wardrobe refresh without throwing everything away. If nothing else, go through your closet and sort by items you love, items you hate/never wear, items that need to be repaired, & items that can’t be repaired.
My friend Elizabeth over at Conscious Life & Style created this amazing closet tracker spreadsheet that I will be doing ASAP.
7. Find a place near you that accepts hard to recycle items
I’m talking scrap metal (frying pans), blender bases, paint, mattresses and all the things that you hate putting in the landfill and probably don’t belong there.
8. Follow 10 small, sustainable businesses
Make half of them local if possible and make sure they’re truly small businesses, not owned by a larger corporation. For the local ones, try to visit them in person and for the online ones sign up for their newsletter and see how you can support them from afar.
This could be a never ending list but let me start with my clients: ( r e )x & The Filtery both online platforms.
9. Find an eco/sustainable non-profit in your area; commit to volunteering 2x this year
So often we feel like we have to reinvent the wheel or that we feel the pressure is only on us or our generation. But I am almost positive that there are other people around you who care about sustainability and the environment in some way. I’ve met some of the most amazing people at climate events and I’m sure you will too.
In Chicago we have a lot! Personally I’ve been involved with Reduce Waste Chicago, Chicago Environmentalists, 47th Green Ward Council.
A good place to start is:
- Chicagoland Environmental Network
- This roundup from Earth Art Chicago
- Illinois Environmental Council Affiliates.
10. Find the local refill stores near you
In the past few years refill stores have become amazingly popular! My small Indiana hometown even has 1.5! Check them out and see what the easiest low-effort swaps are.
My recommendations: bar soap, dish soap, laundry detergent, liquid body soap, razors, dish sponges & brushes.
Our Chicago trifecta of refill stores are:
- The Unwaste Shop (West Town/West Loop)
- Eco & The Flamingo (Ravenswood/North Center)
- The Refilleri (Humboldt).
11. Try to buy nothing new for 2025
NOT INCLUDING the essentials. Don’t even try that with me. I’m talking secondhand shops, antique stores, buy nothing facebook groups. It truly might be possible, see what you can do and you’ll probably surprise yourself.
12. Research socially responsible EFTs you can invest in or even banks and credit cards
Where you put your money matters so make sure you’re comfortable with it. My personal account is at a local credit union and I moved my extra external account to Aspiration a few years ago. If you do any investing or want to get started with companies like Stash or Robinhood, do some research on socially responsible EFTs you can put your money with.
13. Schedule a tour of the things that make your city work
See if you can tour your city’s landfill/waste management facility, water reclamation or treatment plant, and recycling plant.
Actually seeing how the sausage gets made can put a whole new perspective on things.
14. Attend a festival or event for a cause you’re unfamiliar with
Not only are these events great ways to meet new people who are passionate about something but it helps you learn about other sustainable issues.
Think festivals like: vegan festival, Earth Day, conservation, upcycling artisans (usually mixed in with everyone at craft fairs), film festivals, fair trade shows, slow fashion & sustainable fashion, food shows (looking for the slow food movement).
15. Research the different areas of sustainability to narrow down your interests
One of the reasons I think sustainability is so difficult to take action on, is because it’s such a big topic. It’s hard to wrap our heads around it.
Kind of like every time I think about how big a whale is I immediately get overwhelmed thinking about how big the oceans are.
Take an afternoon to do some research in person or online about the different industries and movements within sustainability to help point you in the direction of organizations to get involved with and news to follow: electrification (is that a word?), renewable energy, cleaning products, furniture & home products, right to repair laws, planned obsolescence, clothing & fashion, building, city planning & management.
16. Limit or track your online purchases or ‘hauls’
If you’re still doing hauls, let me gently say your new year’s resolution should be to stop those altogether.
Do you need it or is it just on sale? An easy way to start this is just to track it, don’t make any changes to your habits yet.
17. Track your extra purchases
Taking it a step further, I plan to be tracking all my extra purchases this year and examining as I go what I’m purchasing. There are a few brands that have trapped me with their sales & I’ve been disappointed in the purchase because I wasn’t using my normal logic.
Outside of that I have done a good job at reducing my shopping but I still get caught up in the thrift store of it all during summer weekend walks. I’ve come away with some workout clothes that don’t end up working for me and then I feel worse having to rehome theme.
This year I’ll be tracking & categorizing all my purchases: gifts (which don’t count), essentials & everything else.
18. Try to avoid buying more polyester
I get it, it’s not always avoidable. Like, there’s no way to get a couch made out of natural materials. HOWEVER, do you really need that fleece blanket? Or robe? Or jacket? Or literally any piece of fast fashion?
Here’s the thing with sustainability and things like this. It’s not just about that one thing. Take polyester clothing for example.
- At the price you’re buying it for, could someone have made a living wage on that?
- With each wash it sheds microplastics into the water.
- Wastewater treatment plants can’t filter 100% of the microplastics.
- ‘Clean’ water is put back into the environment & used to water our crops.
- A poorly made item will only hold up for a few years, then it becomes trash here or in another country (look up Accra, Ghana & Atacama Desert, Chile).
- So you go back to that brand and buy another one just because it was soft.
- All the small businesses who are making things with natural and organic fibers are unable to sustain their businesses.
It kills me how much of our clothing is made with polyester. Once you lean into natural fabrics you’ll never understand why but you will understand why people with eczema, psoriasis, and autoimmune diseases are so affected by polyester.
19. If you can, wait & save for a higher quality item
I KNOW! We are so in the habit of buying whatever we need/want the second we need/want it.
I understand for many people it’s simply not possible to put off buying a new pair of boots, nor is it possible to put off buying a new pair while trying to save for a $200 pair. I was in that position for a long time.
But let me tell you, if you can, it will be worth it.
I’m also not talking about designer clothes, I’m talking about well designed clothes. Preferably from small businesses who can tailor it and fix it down the road.
While saving up for it is hard, down the road you’ll spend less money, be able to repair it, and support a business working on making great things.
20. Attend a local community meeting
I own my condo and it’s still hard for me to figure out when and where these events are. I only get invited when there’s a zoning change so I’ll need to go out of my way to find it. If you rent, it can be even more difficult.
I believe if you rent your vote doesn’t count (sorry) but it’s still extremely helpful to go to these meetings if you’re interested. First, it tells you what changes are coming to the neighborhood and you can really see how the city favors developers over existing residents. Second, you might be able to find another local area of government to get involved with.
21. Join a local board or commission
This can be related to anything not necessarily sustainability!
- First, we need more regular people doing great things for their cities and people.
- Second, I’m sure you’ll meet some interesting characters both good and bad.
- Third, you’ll get an understanding of how it all works and be able to have more informed conversations and votes.
- Fourth, sustainability is about human survival. Making a difference in bettering the lives of everyone IS sustainable.
BONUS: Shop less on Amazon
I understand Amazon has made itself essential. It’s often the only way people can get their necessities shipped to them at the most affordable price.
BUT I personally think Amazon has destroyed us in many ways. I live in a major city and often struggle to find random, yet essential items that I know just 15 years ago I could have found at a store.
- It’s made physical storefronts (i.e. neutral 3rd party spaces) unnecessary
- Made it impossible to find delightful randoms you need for your life to function
- It’s caused main thoroughfares to resemble abandoned towns
- It’s increased our impulse purchases
- Increased our love of buying absolute junk
- Normalized returns & multiple purchases to return the unwanted’s (this is worth a read)
I could go on but you can find me at the top of this hill when you’re ready. Amazon is now challenging local pharmacies and we’re seeing CVS & Walgreens close a lot of locations.
So while I do use it, I’m challenging you and myself to do so less often.
I hope you have a great 2025 and I’m staying toxically positive as we live through the dumpster fire that seems to be the relative norm now. 💚
