2007 is officially history, and what a year it was! Gavin’s provided a fantastic overview of some of the big green stories from last year… there’s plenty to celebrate as we consider the next steps we must take to meet the many environmental challenges that face us.

Here at GO, we’re also celebrating our first year in existence: Thursday will mark the one-year anniversary of Green Options’ beta launch. It was an exciting, challenging and fulfilling year: we had successes and hiccups, and (hopefully) learned much from both. As we move into 2008, we’ll be ratcheting up our efforts to help you make greener choices: look for new network blogs (with additional expert writers), and other web properties designed to guide you down the path towards a greener, more abundant lifestyle.

To get the new year started off right, we thought we’d share with you some of the plans each of us are making to make 2008 an even more sustainable year. Here are some of the resolutions members of the Green Options Media writing team have made:

Jennifer Lance (Eco Child’s Play): To waste less food from the garden by putting up more food for the winter (canning, freezing, dehydrating, etc.) and giving extra food to the needy. I grow a ton of food organically, but I fail miserably at using it all or giving enough of it away, thus much of it ends up as compost.

Stefanos Kofopoulos (EcoWorldly): More efficient and cheaper solar panels, clear water for everybody, peace, love, technology.

Pem Charnley (EcoWorldly): Continue to buy locally produced food. Organic where possible. Visit the farmers’ market more often and savour the delights of meat and veggies not flown halfway round the globe to satisfy western gluttony.

Maria Surma Manka (sustainablog): 1) Replace the last old-fashioned lightbulbs in my house (the indoor floodlight dimmables) with CFLs. 2) Learn to compost, for the health of my garden and for reducing my waste.

Kristin Dispenza (Green Building Elements): My ‘green’ resolution is to do a better job of consolidating our daily car trips (I live about 3 miles outside of town).

Gavin Hudson (EcoWorldly): My New Year’s resolution is to get a bike here in Korea so that I can stop taking the taxi to work and bike. I’d like to do this even though bicyclists (or pedestrians for that matter) don’t have 1/10 the rights on the road in Korea that they have in California… And even though it’s super cold outside. Reasoning: it would be great exercise and good to reduce smog here in our fair city of Gangneung.

Kelli Best-Oliver (Eco Child’s Play): Mine is to put more planning into our meals so that they focus on seasonal, local ingredients, include more vegan meals, and create less food waste by using all food that I buy before it goes bad. So, I guess my resolution is… eat more!

Paul Smith (Ecopreneurist): I resolve to be as much a resource as possible to help people do business in a way that’s supportive of the health of the planet, and the residents on it.

Melissa Stajda (Crafting a Green World): My resolution is to lessen my family’s impact on the planet by consuming less. Our first step is to avoid purchasing any products that are packaged with plastic materials. Even though plastics are sold with the recycling symbol stamped on them, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll be recycled. Most communities in the U.S. only have the facilities to recycle plastics numbered 1 and 2, which usually amounts to soda bottles, and actually end up throwing everything else into our landfills. So basically, if I wouldn’t want to bury it in my own backyard then I won’t buy it.

Shirley Siluk Gregory (Planetsave): Mine is to grow as much food of my own as possible; living in northwest Florida, I’ll probably start some early-season vegetables indoors right after New Year’s and plant them outdoors later in January. I’ve also got four young avocado trees doing well in my backyard (successfully started from leftover pits last year) and hope the bees will eventually cooperate to get them producing.

Philip Proefrock (Green Building Elements): Mine (and my family’s) is to reduce even more high-fructose corn syrup from our diet (I won’t say eliminate, because I know we won’t get to that point this year). We are also going to try to do a week of no processed foods (so, for example, if there’s bread, we’ll make it from whole ingredients ourselves rather than just buying a loaf).

Max Lindberg (Planetsave and Gas 2.0): Ah, another New Years resolution opportunity. Seems I’ve had 70 or so opportunities. I made a few and kept 3 or 4, and gratefully so, for they changed my life. My promise for 2008 is to be the best person I can be, in my marriage, for my family, community and the world in which I live. This past year, because of my association with the Green Options family, I’ve become very aware of my own impact on the environment. I will use the knowledge presented here to practice every method available to conserve, recycle and lessen my carbon imprint. As for my role here at Green Options, I resolve to dig deeper, become more knowledgeable, and present intelligent and informative podcasts and articles to the best of my ability. Happy New Year!

And finally, Jeff McIntire-Strasburg: Restart my worm composting bin, install a dog waste composter in the back yard, and restart my efforts to landscape with local plants (including buffalo grass in the back).

We hope you’ll share your resolutions with us… perhaps you’ll even resolve to start a Green Options Journal to share your green experiences in 2008 with all of us.

Happy New Year… from all of us to all of you!