I don't claim to have always been the greenest hippie to ever eat granola with soy milk, but I have been doing the following things for many years: wearing vintage clothes, using secondhand goods, being vegetarian, recycling containers and paper, tearing full sheets of used paper into quarters as scrap paper, buying organic/sustainable goods when practical, etc.

But it's always possible to go even more green, even if you can't afford to drive a biodiesel car, install solar panels and a wind turbine, buy everything organic, sustainably produced, and all your groceries at Whole Foods. More recently I've tried to become conscious of energy use: turning off lights, unplugging chargers, hanging laundry outside to dry instead of using the dryer, using the toaster oven to reheat leftovers instead of firing up the oven or microwave. I also try to choose local when grocery shopping, shop at the green market, and grow my own vegetables (so far that has been limited to a pepper patch but there's another resolution: Get Better at Gardening).

I'm also planning a wedding in 09, and while many people are going to have to fly to it, I've taken steps to green that event. Vintage dress (natch), bridesmaids in dresses they promise they will wear again, DIY carbon offsets as favors, planting trees at our destination, homemade partially-recycled invites without the traditional like 14 cards and envelopes each, and so on. If all goes well registry-wise, I'll start composting this year as well. These are all small steps, but in the spirit of being positive about the New Year, keep in mind that little steps do add up.