November 15th is America Recycles Day! As Robin noted on Tuesday, it’s an occasion that can create mixed feelings for us “greenies”: yes, it’s great to have recognition of the importance of recycling in our daily lives, but the very existence of America Recycles Day reminds us that, in many cases, American’s don’t recycle… or, not nearly enough of us, anyway. We need to address that issue on the level of mindset as well as accessibility: many of us don’t think about our disposal of “waste” as we should, but many others don’t have access to convenient recycling services… and we’d like both to change.

I’d imagine both of those issues will receive plenty of attention today. I’d like to bring up another concept that doesn’t get discussed as much: recycling as a moral yardstick for one’s commitment to environmental protection and restoration.  You know what I’m talking about: the mixture of disbelief and downright contempt many of us experience, and express, when we find out someone doesn’t separate recyclables out from their home waste stream.  “You don’t recycle?!” We often “ask” this rhetorical question with a tone reserved for question like “You don’t vote?” or “You don’t wash your hands after using the bathroom?” Failure to recycle is a personal and social failing akin to passing gas at a cocktail party…

OK, maybe that’s a little strong, but I do think we tend to approach the act of recycling as a sign of virtue.  I don’t know that this is always the best way to get more people not only separating out waste paper and aluminum cans from the “trash,” but also thinking about the impact of their consumption choices.  As someone who’s been guilty of all the above-mentioned sins, I’d like to share my resolutions for this America Recycles Day (why wait until New Year?).

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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:

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Editor's note: We're pleased to welcom Tiffany Washko to the GO blog! Tiffany writes for GNMParents (among others), and her biweekly pieces that we'll publish here are one half of a content swap we're doing with that site. In this case, we'll be trading original pieces: our "Green Family Values" writer Jennifer Lance will be fulfilling our half of the obligation at GNMParents — you can find her first post here.

Earth Day has come and gone now. Hopefully you spent the day with your family like I did, reaffirming your dedication to environmental causes through one or more activities designed to unite us all in the love for our one home — earth.

But now that the official day has passed, does that mean Earth Day is over? Is it out of mind now? Hopefully it is not. As an avid environmentalist I choose to look at Earth Day as a true holiday for treehuggers. It is one day that I can show my "true colors" so to speak and not have everyone in my community look at me as though I have fallen off my rocker — even when I am wearing my old ragtag tie-dye T-shirt that says "World Peace" and I am scouring the park with my kids looking for garbage to pick up. Earth Day means a lot to me but it does not end after the sun rises on April 23rd. Instead I choose to see Earth Day as something like New Year's for environmentalists and their agendas. It is a day to make resolutions so that every day can be Earth Day.

So after the festivities of Earth Day have died down I sit with my family and we make a list of all the ways we want to improve our current activities and our lifestyle to make them more planet friendly. My children are quite young so usually they concentrate on just one thing. My six-year-old son has picked his resolution. He wants to pack zero waste lunches for school.

My husband, who is not an environmentalist my any means, has the goal to drive less and walk more. This means walking to the post office, library, DMV, etc and take advantage of the community we chose to call home and the ease with which one CAN walk instead of driving. I am sure that since gas prices are also incredibly high, he sees the money savings as an added benefit.

I also have a few areas that I need to concentrate on this year. For one, I want to concentrate more on reusables. I got a jump on things by purchasing a few more Klean Kanteen bottles, some Wrap-N-Mats, laptop lunchboxes, cloth napkins and canvas grocery totes. These items easily replace their disposable counterparts while not sacrificing comfort or style.

I am also going to switch my regular grocery day to Friday so that I can attend the Farmer's market every Thursday and stock up on fresh, local produce and then plan our meals and our additional grocery needs around that. This way we will be eating in a more sustainable way and helping our local economy.

This year I want to increase the amount of food I grow and to help do that I am enlisting the kids with the some clever garden projects. One such project will be the making of a pizza garden by separating out a 12 food wide circular area and making slices with string and then planting all of the ingredients for our homemade pizzas (tomatoes, garlic, onions, basil, peppers, etc.) in the different planting areas. When harvest comes we will be able to pick our pizza ingredients fresh from the garden and make our pizzas together.

And of course I have a few small resolutions such as my intent to put an egg timer next to the shower and start taking two minute showers and to bring more plants into the house to act as natural air cleaners.

Now that we have a plan, Earth Day doesn't need to end. April 22nd is a holiday and a reminder. It is the day that we revive our environmental goals and evaluate our current lifestyles and see clearly all the areas where we can lighten our environmental footprint and do more in our individual communities. Don't let the enthusiasm that Earth Day brings die down in the aftermath — every day can be Earth Day in your homes and hearts.

So what are your resolutions for this "new year"?

Tiffany - the NatureMom