Reset Your Habits: Eco-friendly Resolutions to Adopt in 2025

Embracing Resolutions for a Greener World

A brand-new year offers the perfect moment to pause and reflect on our lives. For many, it’s a time to make resolutions aimed at improving or transforming specific areas. This 2025, consider a resolution that takes into account not just your personal goals but also the well-being of others, the environment, and your finances.

In recent years, sustainability and conscious green living have gained momentum as practical solutions to combat climate change and restore our environment to its former glory. Calls to embrace sustainable practices echo across local, regional, and international platforms. Notably, the 29th Conference of Parties (COP29), held in November, revolved around the theme "In Solidarity for a Greener World." The conference emphasized the urgent need to restore the planet to its purest state.

While the vision of a greener world is ambitious and long-term, small, consistent efforts by individuals and organizations can bring this dream closer to reality. As you consider your New Year’s resolutions for 2025, why not commit to eco-friendly habits? Let this year be the time to shift from actions that take from the Earth to ones that protect and nurture it.

Switch Paper Towels to Cloth Towels 

Cloth towels may require a bit more care, but they’re undoubtedly the better option for both your wallet and the environment. Cutting back on paper towels not only saves money but also reduces waste, contributing to a greener planet.

While paper towels might seem like a minor offense in the grand scheme of unsustainable choices—after all, they are biodegradable—reducing their usage is still a meaningful step toward eco-friendliness. Think about how often you rely on paper towels: wiping stained surfaces, drying wet spots, or even using them in the restroom (though we hope this practice has faded in the 21st century, as water has proven to be far more hygienic). Now, imagine the cumulative cost of such a habit.

By switching to cloth towels this 2025, you can save money on something so trivial while making a positive environmental impact. It’s a simple change, but one that speaks volumes in your commitment to sustainability.

Patronise Circular Businesses 

Circular businesses are designed to reduce environmental impacts. Their operations do not deplete resources but rather enhance economic, social, and environmental benefits. These businesses see waste as a resource for creating something new—they integrate circular inputs into their operations, encourage a sharing-based business approach, or adopt a "product-as-a-service" model, as well as resource recovery. Circular businesses are growing, but traditional businesses still dominate the marketplace.

In essence, the end life of a product in a circular business becomes the beginning of another life cycle, unlike linear or traditional business systems. Traditional businesses extract virgin resources, produce goods, sell them to consumers, and discard the products when they are no longer needed or usable—adding to the waste accumulating in landfills or beneath the ocean.

Linear business systems are still rampant and widely patronized, but if we begin to support circular businesses, we can soon change the narrative—a world where circular businesses become the standard! Begin this journey by making a resolution to patronize only businesses that consider their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) impacts impacts in their operations, delivery, and services.

Opt for Reusable Bags 

Make 2025 an intentional year: switch to eco-friendly reusable bags. Plastic bags have become a staple in our society, but in reality, they shouldn’t be. While they are affordable, lightweight, and convenient, their environmental impact is devastating. Globally, about 5 trillion plastic bags are used annually, making them a significant contributor to plastic pollution on both land and sea.

Plastic bags never biodegrade; instead, they take up to 1000 years years to break down in landfills, fragmenting into microplastics that cause even greater harm to the environment. Although their production has become a societal norm, we can help reduce their consumption.

This 2025, make an intentional resolution not to contribute to the plastic bag menace. Opt for reusable bags for all your shopping and carriage needs—it’s a small change with a big impact.

Check the AyoTimes Reusable Bags collection to start your no plastic bags journey (the merch collection)

Try a No-Spend Weekend

The idea of a no-spend weekend is to save money and help anyone burdened with overconsumption. Today's world glories in consumption. Stepping outside the porch door is akin to inserting your debit card into an ATM or POS machine. Expenses always find a way to happen once your feet are outside. The no-spend weekend may seem very uncomfortable initially, but once you master the art, you’ll be smiling as you see how much you save each time you observe this habit.

A no-spend weekend is when you spend zero money on frivolities, wants, or needs—no new dresses, entertainment, dining out, or fun activities. This practice can be done once, every fortnight, or quarterly. Before that period, make sure you have your basic home needs—groceries, kitchen supplies, cosmetics, etc. You don’t want to be on a no-spend weekend with an empty kitchen pantry!

A couple of fun activities that cost zero cents include: taking a walk, watching movies, cooking meals with what you already have, reading a book, dancing, making yourself breakfast in bed, curating a bucket list, etc.

Fire Up Your Nutrition With More Plant-Based Meals

The old phrase, “You are what you eat,” readily comes to mind. Considering that a new year means another step forward in age for everyone, it’s essential to prioritize our nutrition more than ever.

As humans, we are designed to live in harmony with nature, and incorporating more plant-based meals into our diets is one way to achieve that balance. It’s no secret that processed foods are detrimental to our health, with many age-related diseases linked to poor nutrition.

A public health report revealed that unhealthy diets contribute to approximately 678,000 deaths each year in the U.S.—a stark reminder that while junk food may delight the taste buds, it doesn’t serve the body.

This year, choose to eat what nourishes your body. Opt for meals that promote health, vitality, and longevity. 

Start Composting your Kitchen Waste

Start Composting Your Kitchen Waste

Can someone truly claim to practice a sustainable lifestyle without owning a home compost? The statement just doesn’t add up. How is the individual deriving value from waste? Composting is one of the easiest ways to reduce waste and tackle climate change right from home. It’s nature’s way of recycling.

By composting your food scraps, you significantly reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills or gets incinerated, thereby cutting down greenhouse gas emissions.

If you’ve missed out on this before, 2025 is the perfect time to join the league of those already well-versed in composting. It begins with separating your kitchen waste and putting it to good use. Owning a compost bin could even inspire you to start a home garden, as compost makes excellent material for growing vegetables and herbs in your backyard. Items to compost include fruit and vegetable scraps, paper tea bag, coffee grounds and paper filters, grass clippings,  dry leaves etc

Ready to get your hands dirty? Check out this article on how to compost—even if you’re not ready to dive into advanced composting techniques just yet!

Adopting these eco-friendly resolutions in 2025 could be your gateway to embracing a sustainable lifestyle, which has become the next big trend for individuals living in the 21st century.