With a new year here, some might be welcoming a season of self-growth. Others may be too exhausted to even entertain the idea of resolutions. At the Haz Waste Program, we’re somewhere in the middle of the “new year, new me” spectrum. So, we came up with some realistic resolutions to share with you. 

Home 

• Add a vegetable side when ordering my fourth take out meal of the week. (+1 for supporting small businesses.) 
• Stay safe when cleaning and disinfecting by using an EPA-registered product, following product instructions, wearing gloves and eye protection, and turning on a fan or opening a window for ventilation. 
• Sort and label any haz waste in the home. See a list of common products here. 
• Lock up medicines to prevent accidental poisoning. Or, drop off unwanted or expired meds at a takeback location. 
• Damp dust and mop once per week to prevent exposure to lead dust.  
• Clean the garage, then visit a haz waste collection site to drop off unwanted products.  

Work  

• Change out of my pajamas on my days off.  
• Have a spill kit and train employees to use it when needed. 
• Pick up when my boss calls, instead of setting my status to “away.”  
• Label any hazardous waste or products.  
• Prevent hazardous spills by using sturdy containers with tight-fitting lids. 
• Eat breakfast instead of guzzling coffee and calling it “healthy bean juice.”  

Life

• Buy and use safer products to reduce exposure to harmful chemicals. 
• Stop doom scrolling. 
• Dry hands completely instead of half-heartedly wiping them on my pants. (Germs can be transferred more easily to and from wet hands.)
• Visit a local dry cleaner that uses “wet cleaning” technology which is safer for staff and the environment. (+1 for supporting small businesses.)
• Learn a TikTok dance so my kids think I’m cool.

We can’t end this post without noting that embracing a “new year, new me” mentality is helpful to some and not to others. We’re trying to keep the upbeat vibes going, and (not “but”) we recognize that the impacts of loss in 2020—lost loves ones and loss of emotional, physical, mental, financial, and spiritual security—don’t end because the calendar year has changed. To those struggling, we see you and we believe in you!  

We’re all going into 2021 more resilient, so cheers to that.