Greenpeace's top three New Year's resolutions

I Will Quit Driving.

We're sorry. It's no fun to say and even less fun to hear: driving is one of the worst things you can do to the planet. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, driving is the most damaging consumer (as opposed to industry) activity in the US. In Canada, transportation accounts for approximately half of each individual's greenhouse gas emissions.

The solution: take public transportation, bike ride, walk or carpool. If you must drive, we'll make you a deal: commit to cutting down at least two driving trips per week in 2008 and take it from there. And click here for a list of the most fuel-efficient vehicles and here for tips on how to reduce your driving impacts.

For extra bonus points, don’t fly either - airplane travel is one of the planet's fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions.

I Will Cut Down on Meat (or Stop Eating It Completely).

Again, sorry. Unfortunately, meat, seafood, poultry - animal-based products - are generally environmental bad news. Here are a few reasons why:

• Meat wastes food. The Worldwatch Institute estimates that the total amount of soy and grain fed to livestock in the US each year could feed everyone on the planet five times over.
• Meat is greenhouse gas intensive. Researchers at the University of Chicago estimate that if an average, meat-eating American switched to a plant-based diet, they would eliminate approximately 1.5 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year.
• Meat wastes water. Animal products – in particular grain-fed beef – require significantly more water than cereals like corn, wheat, barley and oats.
• Meat wastes land. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, livestock production now accounts for a shocking 30 percent of the planet’s surface area (including both grazing areas and arable land used to grow crops for feed). 

Plant-based diets (especially local, organic ones) will dramatically reduce your eating impacts. If you are going to eat meat, try to introduce organic meat, poultry and dairy when you can. If you are going to eat seafood, use SeaChoice’s fabulous pocket guide to help you navigate the grocery store shelves.

Try introducing one plant-based meal per week and take it from there. For recipes and tips, visit www.vegcooking.com.

I Will
Stop the Tar Sands,
Force Stephen Harper to Meet Canada’s Kyoto Commitments,
Protect the Boreal Forest,
Label Genetically Engineered Foods
and Prevent Canada from Doing Further Environmental Harm on the World Stage.

It’s a lot of work for you, we know. But if anyone can do it, you can. One way to help meet these tall orders - renew your membership for 2008, or join Greenpeace if you haven't already! Another, hold elected representatives and industry to account. Here are a few action points to get you on your way.

• Stop the tar sands. It’s an ugly, messy business up there in northern Alberta and it’s only getting worse. Out of sight of most Canadians, one of the greatest environmental catastrophes in our history is unfolding. Quickly. Right now, the tar sands are Canada’s fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions. Visit Greenpeace's tar sands action centre to take action.
• Right now, logging companies are cutting down Canada’s ancient Boreal Forest at an alarming rate. Three of the largest companies involved in this destruction are Abitibi Consolidated, Bowater and Kruger. These companies are regularly clearcutting areas of forest the size of 17,000 football fields. We need your help getting the message to the CEOs of Abitibi Consolidated, Bowater and Kruger: Canada’s forests are not disposable.

From all of us at Greenpeace, we wish you and yours a happy, healthy 2008!

And to help reduce your environmental impacts all year ‘round, pick up a copy of the fabulous new Greenpeace Guide today!