How about some resolutions?

For the first time in ages, I've decided not to make any New Year's Resolutions. Not because I'm against them or because I don't see the benefit in changing but because I don't see the need this time. I changed my eating habits on August 1st and have reaped the rewards of that so I would like to maintain and build on that success. The scheme is relatively simple: eating as many fruit and veg portions as possible and reduce/limit the amount of wheat based products consumed. Christmas has obviously included some off limits indulgence but as the chocolate box diminishes and my portion rate is high, I think my new found good habits will be slipped back into.

Another old chestnut for New Year is to exercise more which is relevant but I don't think I have the determination and creativity to work out a regime at the moment. I currently go to the gym with middle daughter a couple of times a week: it benefits her and me. If perhaps I regularly do another stint without her, I will be OK with that.

Over the past few weeks, I have been monitoring how much I use the car, with the aim to cut back the amount of journey's I make and hence the amount of petrol I use. This has been a really useful and interesting insight and I'm thinking of 20 miles per day to be the maximum. Some days, I'm way under but on some days way over. I think it balances but I would like to start thinking that if I do start heading towards 140 miles towards the end of the week, I start having to think how I can make cut backs as opposed to thinking "Oh well It doesn't really matter if I go over this week". The new job helps this a lot and maybe in the spring I can start thinking about some cycling. The idea is that a gym membership becomes redundant if you are exercising in other ways but I am a bit of a wuss so I will only start thinking about it when the weather is better!

Shopping at Waitrose has cut back on our mileage considerably. It is literally a stone's throw away from our house, so to drive elsewhere is foolish! Especially when you justify it by "They have cheaper brands". I think that shopping at Tesco's, Sainsbury's and Asda probably ARE cheaper but actually these days, I'm wondering what are we sacrificing in order to gain that cheapness? You don't get something for nothing. Cheap bread may be cheap but it doesn't taste like bread. Does this make a low price "good value"? And after reading Not on the Label (which I highly recommend) I really dislike the way that huge bully boy supermarkets wielding their vast power pressure growers and producers to cut their costs and provide special offers. I'm not saying that Waitrose is any better (but on the whole, I think they are because they are run by the staff {Partners} and aren't accountable to share holders) but I think I can support local producers there and a very local business which is good for my area.

We have recently been ordering a box of fruit and vegetables from a local organic farm. This ensures that the miles travelled by our produce is cut, we are sourcing food locally which is good for the local economy, we are cutting out the middle men (supermarkets, buyers, road hauliers etc) and organic fresh food is something that can't be beat. It has also been interesting to think about food that is in season. We are so used to indulging our choice at supermarkets that we don't tend to think about the natural order of things. Because peppers and tomatoes are readily available on the supermarket shelves, we buy and enjoy them and yet these things can't be grown locally because we haven't the sun or daylight to grow them. It means we then rely on a system of hot countries growing and then air freighting our goods several humdred, if not thousand miles to be able to satisfy our desire for choice. Would it not be better to enjoy peppers and tomatoes in the summer when they can be sourced locally, or at least within the country? There are a vast number of interesting (but unfashionable) vegetables that are grown in this country in the winter. By getting the box from the farm, we are discovering alsorts. It doesn't mean that I've stopped buying the other stuff from Waitrose but I am working on that!

I'm also aware that we recycle a lot more than we used to, which is great but better than recycling is not buying things packaged in the first place. I try not to use the flimsy plastic bags to bag up loose fruit and veg in Waitrose and we do use the 10p re-useable shopping bags. I think I need to be aware of this more and be more careful in 2006. It shocks me the amount we waste and it won't be too far in the future when the people of that time will regard us as decadant hedonists for the way we create, consume and then dispose.

So there is lots going on already that I want to continue and to explore further, so in that respect, I don't see the need to make resolutions to encompass it all. I want to continue this exploration and this journey so that by the end of 2006, I can see that there has been a significant change in the way that I do things to ensure a sustainable way of living for me and my family.