New Year Resolutions

I got these from Imperial College and acan manage about half of them. Can anyone do better?
1I will refrain from eating beef.
– Prof Jo Haigh, Co-Director
A recent study showed that beef requires 28 times more land to produce than pork or chicken and 11 times more water; also it results in five times more greenhouse gas emissions.

2Starting in 2017, I want to eliminate dairy products from my diet as much as possible.
– Clea Kolster, SSCP DTP PhD student and Ecotarian
I’d like to push forward in the fight against the inefficient over consumption and production of livestock.

3I’m swapping meat for vegetables and seafood on three days a week
– Oliver Schmidt, PhD student, SSCP DTP
I think meat production is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and the destruction of biodiversity ,and displacing red meat in particular will make my diet a lot healthier as well.

4This year I’m taking meat off the menu three evenings a week.
– Prof Richard Templer, Director of Innovation
I currently have a meat-free dinner two days a week.

5In 2017 I am going to grow as much of my own fruit, veg and herbs as possible.
– Sophie Smith, Project manager – Education
As a greengrocer’s granddaughter I’ve long been aware of the benefits of local, seasonal produce. It’s good for your health, the local economy and the environment.

6My resolution will be to use a reusable coffee cup at work.
– Dr Mirabelle Muûls, Grantham Lecturer in Economics
Not only does a disposable cup need to be produced and delivered to College, once used it has to be transported and either recycled or dumped.

7I want to reduce food waste by planning our meals.
– Dr Tamaryn Napp, Research Associate
This year, I want to make an effort to routinely plan our family meals so that we eat more healthily and reduce waste.

9My resolution is to change energy provider to one with more renewables in their energy mix.
– Dr Erik van Sebille, Grantham Lecturer in Oceanography and Climate Change
I really want to be able to practise what I preach and make changes to the house that make a difference environmentally whilst still being affordable.

10I want to spend this year collecting data about the sustainability of my new home and then figuring out how to make it better
– Alyssa Gilbert, Head of Policy and Translation
As a house owner I intend to use my power to tackle the leaky walls, inefficient radiators as well as some style atrocities.

11I’m going to see how many EU flights I can replace by train and bike.
– Dr Kris Murray, Grantham Lecturer in Ecological Health
Taking more time to get more actively from A to B has so many advantages. It’s more civilised, more comfortable and productive, whether you want to work en route or relax a bit.

12In 2017 I’d like to cut my family’s car use by making more local trips by train.
– Ajay Gambhir, Senior Research Fellow
I’d like to get our carbon footprint even lower by making sure we make more of our local trips by train rather than car, to see if we can get our annual mileage below 5,000 (the UK average is about 8,000).

13My eco resolution for 2017 is to walk to and from workl every day (2 miles each way), no public transport, no taxi, no jetpack.
– Luciana Miu, PhD student, SSCP DTP
I think that active travel is a great way to keep healthy and avoid even a little bit of transport-related emissions.

14I will continue using public transport for all local journeys with my family.
– Dr Laila Read, Project Manager.
We haven’t had a car for the last two months and have managed surprisingly well.

15I’m going to start more conversations with family and friends about climate change and sustainability.
– Alex Franklin-Cheung. Digital Communications Officer
I’m passionate about environmental issues and discuss them at length with colleagues, but outside work I’m sometimes scared to bring them up in conversation, mainly out of fear of sounding too ‘preachy’.