Make a wilder resolution for 2017
Ben Hall/2020VISION
With a new year, comes new year’s resolutions! This year, why not make a few different pledges?
1. Pledge to use less plastic
Plastic can be a menace to the environment but the good news is there are so many easy ways you can stop scenes like this happening:
- Buy a reusable coffee cup
- Say no to plastic straws. Either give up straws for good, or use alternatives, like bamboo and metal straws
- Take a reusable shopping bag out with you – keep one in your car or bag!
- Use containers rather than plastic bags to store your lunch
- Buy products without microbeads – look for Polyethylene and Polypropylene on the ingredient list and make sure to avoid them
- Buy loose vegetables in paper bags rather than plastic packaged veg
- Avoid balloon releases - what goes up must come down somewhere...
2. What goes in, must come out!
Flushing the wrong things down the toilet or the sink can wreak havoc with our marine life.
- Don’t flush wet wipes or anything apart from toilet paper down the loo
- Use eco-friendly washing and cleaning products
- Never put chemicals down the drains – take them to your local tip
© Gillian Day
3. Be a nature superstar
There are so many direct actions you can take for wildlife, some big and some small, but all important. Why not try one of these?
Put up a bird box! Follow this handy guide to make your own if you're feeling especially crafty
- Imagine what it’s like to be a blue tit, trying to keep warm and well-fed – keep your bird feeders full (food from Vine House Farm also helps your local Wildlife Trust)
- Put out a bug hotel
- Plant a native tree species – this is so important for a wide range of species, including red squirrels (if you live in a red squirrel area)
- Leave a wild piece at the bottom of your garden. It's easy, just don't mow it
- Plant some pollinator friendly shrubs
- Put up a bat box
- Imagine you’re a hedgehog and need to forage for your food for miles each night. Help out a little and leave a hedgehog hole in your fence
- Make a compost heap - you'll be producing less waste and helping garden wildlife too
Matthew Roberts
4. Learn to appreciate the wild on your doorstep a little more
By loving our environment, we naturally want to protect it. Not only that, getting outdoors has been proven to be great for our health and wellbeing. Get a little bit closer to nature this year and feel happier and healthier.
- Exercise outside – run in the wood rather than on a treadmill, or even just walk around the local park
- Give yourself time to reflect – find a peaceful place, perhaps a bench in your park, a secluded area by a lake, and use the time to unwind, unplug and recharge your batteries
- Enjoy the beauty around you on your journey to work. It can be as simple as noticing the changing colour of the leaves on a favourite tree
5. Make your voice heard
- Get in touch with your MP and ask them to sign the Pledge for the Environment if they haven’t already signed-up! (OR thank them if they have signed up)
Cairis Hickey
6. Become part of something bigger with The Wildlife Trusts
- Join us and become part of the 800,000 people who are saying yes to wildlife
- Have a bit of spare time on your hands? Gain new skills, make friends and make a difference at the same time by volunteering with your local Trust
- Support one of our campaigns or appeals
7. Spread the word
One way you can make a massive difference is simply by telling others! Your family, friends, neighbours, hairdresser, taxi driver. Tell them all one easy thing THEY can do for the environment this year. After all, without a healthy environment, there can be no ‘us’.