From a young age, I’ve been interested in nature and the environment. But until my daughter was born, I ranted and raved about the environment but never actually took serious steps to minimise my own disruption. If we don’t all take steps to improve the way we live and the impact that we have on the environment, this earth won’t be a nice place for our children and their children. It’s time for me to put my money where my mouth is.

Growing up, we went to the beach every Christmas holidays. I started a Nature Lover’s Club! We met regularly and discussed ways to keep the beach beautiful. We’d make sandcastles and other masterpieces on the beach and make cubbies in the ‘rainforest’ in the nature reserve next to the beach. Wonderful memories. There were no smart Phones, laptops or computer games. TV was really the only screen to distract us from our enjoyment of the outdoors.

There are so many areas that I need to work on in order to improve my way of living. So many that it is overwhelming. As a result, I’m going to take a leaf out of Gretchen Rubin‘s book ‘The Happiness Project.’ Gretchen chose a different task to focus on each month over the course of the year to see if she could be happier. So, I’m going to do something similar but instead of happiness being the end goal, the environment will be the winner. Happiness will probably be a bonus side effect for all those involved!

These things take time to plan so I’m hoping to officially begin my quest for an environmentally friendly life in January 2016. In the meantime, I’ll post ideas and plans for the year ahead.