This year, let’s keep the gym goals and the fresh starts, but add something that lasts longer than January: gentler choices for the planet, our communities, and the animals who share our home.
Keep the Classics, but Make Them Kinder
Every January, we reach for the same well-meaning promises: move more, drink less, sleep better, save money, eat with more care. These resolutions aren’t wrong. They’re often necessary. Many of us genuinely want to feel better in our bodies and steadier in our minds, especially after a year that likely asked too much and offered too little rest.
But what if we widened the frame? What if the New Year wasn’t only a personal reset, but a collective one, too? Not in a performative, impossible way. In a small, steady, deeply doable way. A dash of humanity. A sprinkle of care. The kind that shows up in daily decisions, and in the way we travel, shop, eat, and share space with others.
Add a “Planet Clause” to Your Resolutions
Here’s a simple rule: for every personal goal you set, add one planet-supporting habit that makes it easier to live that goal. If you’re committing to saving money, build in more staycations and neighbourhood adventures. If you’re committing to eating healthier, add a low-waste kitchen practice like meal planning, using what you buy, learning the joy of leftovers, and composting where your city supports it. If you’re committing to less screen time, commit to more outdoor time, even if it’s ten minutes. Nature doesn’t need us to be perfect; it needs us to be consistent.
Make Kindness Measurable, Not Vague
“Be kinder” is a beautiful resolution, but it can float away without structure. This year, make it tangible. Send one message you’ve been meaning to send, with no agenda. Leave one thoughtful review for a locally owned business. Let someone merge in traffic. Donate a bag of warm clothing. Ask someone how they’re really doing, then listen without trying to fix them. Kindness isn’t only an emotion. It’s a practice.
Let Responsible Travel Be a Year-Round Mindset
Many of us only think about “responsible travel” when we have a plane ticket in hand. But the most meaningful travel habits are year-round, and they start at home. Support local artisans. Learn the Indigenous history of the land you live on through reputable sources and museums. Take public transit sometimes, even when it’s inconvenient, so the system remains viable for those who rely on it.
When you do travel, choose fewer destinations and stay longer. Seek locally owned accommodations and locally led tours. Spend where the money is more likely to stay in community hands. Treat culture as living, not decorative.
Keep Wildlife Wild: Look, Don’t Touch
When it comes to animals, adopt a firm, compassionate policy: look, don’t touch. If an experience requires an animal to perform, be handled, be ridden, be coaxed into contact, or live in captivity for entertainment, it isn’t aligned with responsible travel. Choose conservation-minded experiences with clear ethical practices, or choose wild observation from a respectful distance. A good rule of thumb is simple: if the animal can’t opt out, you should opt out.
Build a Staycation Season into Your Calendar
One of the kindest things you can do for yourself and the planet is to normalise rest that doesn’t require distance. Make a resolution to be a tourist in your own city once a month. Pick a theme: museum day, independent café crawl, architectural walk, winter waterfront, neighbourhood history, bookshops and bakeries. You reduce travel pressure, support local economies, and remind yourself that wonder is not exclusive to faraway places.
Choose Consumption That Reflects Your Values
Meaningful change also comes from what we choose to reduce: impulse buying, fast fashion, disposable convenience, constant upgrades. Consider a simple resolution: buy fewer things, buy better things. Repair before replacing. Borrow when possible. Choose quality that lasts. When you shop, seek out makers and businesses that treat people well and reduce environmental harm.
Redefine “Success” as a Life That Leaves Room for Others
The most radical resolution might be this: stop measuring your year only by what you achieve, and start measuring it by what you preserve. Your health. Your relationships. Your sense of peace. The places you love. The living world you share. That shift turns the New Year from a performance into a promise. Not a promise to become someone else, but a promise to become more fully yourself, with more care.
Tips
- Pair every personal goal with one planet-friendly habit (walk more, waste less; cook more, reduce packaging; save money, explore locally).
- Create one monthly “meaningful travel” outing close to home: museum, local workshop, historic walk, or a neighbourhood you’ve never properly explored.
- Practise “look, don’t touch” year-round: wildlife at a distance, no feeding, no handling, no captive-animal entertainment.
- Spend locally on purpose: choose one locally owned business a week to support.
- Make kindness concrete: pick one weekly kindness action you can repeat.
- Travel slower when you do travel: fewer stops, longer stays, and more time to understand one place.
- Reduce quietly: choose one category to buy less of this year (clothes, gadgets, single-use items) and stick with it.
- Put rest on the calendar: schedule an early night, a phone-free hour, or a long walk the way you’d schedule a meeting.
The Takeaway
New Year’s resolutions don’t have to be all self-improvement and no soul. Keep the classic goals if they serve you, but give them a wider horizon. Move your body and move through the world more gently. Nourish yourself and nourish your community. Choose joy that doesn’t cost the earth. Travel with intention. Practise kindness like a habit. The most meaningful resolution is not becoming “better” overnight; it’s becoming more awake to how your life touches other lives, and choosing, again and again, to leave things better than you found them.