Giving up smoking as a New Years resolution has a whole lot more weight to it in these developing eco conscious times. The process of using nicotine and other chemicals to make cigarettes uses a lot of energy and creates pollution by virtue of the distances travelled to get the ingredients together and deliver that finished Marlboro pack to the supermarket cigarette counter. Smoking of course is also polluting the atmosphere, not just of your lungs and your families but those of nature. So eco-conscious times call for resolutions that go beyond benefiting our health and our personal desires. It's time to resolve on making our planet a cleaner place to live... more importantly to start taking actions towards ensuring it's still inhabitable for future generations to come.

There's no need to quit your job, don a beaded headscarf and join the peace corps (not that there is anything wrong with that) to contribute to the eco cause. It can be as simple as making a few easy changes, for example:
* Photocopy on both sides
* Drink fairtrade (coffee); Eat fairtrade (chocolate)
* Praise others for making steps in the right eco direction
* Start using eco-friendly washing powder
* Challenge your work about their lights on at night policy
* Swap the products you use for your daily beauty routine (moisturiser, cleanser, make up) from high street brands to organic, chemical free brands
* Educate yourself - find out where your lunch has come from and choose local ingredients where possible
* Take the stairs

Here are a few of the So Organic teams New Years Eco Resolutions:

Sam...

1. Get involved in a regular organic veg box scheme 2. Find out where I can recycle my tetra paks locally

Stuart...

1. Drink more organic beer 2. Recycle more

Claire...

1. Change to a more ethical bank 2. Do a course on how to make my own biofuel

Christelle...

1. Buy, where possible, from ethical and Fairtrade companies 2. Eat more organic food

Chris...

1. Eat organic sausages 2. Actually put our recycling in the recycling box (rather than leaving it for my flatmate)

And mine...

1. Visit a biodynamic/organic farm 2. Learn how to grow my own vegetables