Start the year with TEN New Years Resolutions!

1. Start shwopping - Every year we consume around 2 million tonnes of clothes and other textiles and throw away half of this amount into landfill. Organise a shwopping party with friends and exchange unwanted items for new ones.

2. Start insulating - For every £5 you spend on energy bills, an estimated £1 is wasted. Insulating your loft could actually save you around £150 per year on your annual energy bill.

3. Start holidaying closer to home - As well as cutting travel time, holidaying closer to home is good for the planet: a flight from London to Rome is eight times less polluting than a flight to Thailand. Taking the train can be even more sustainable.

4. Start loving your leftovers - 8.3 million tonnes of food is thrown away by UK households every year. Wasting food costs the average family with children £680 a year and if we all stop wasting food that could have been eaten, the CO2 impact would be the equivalent of taking 1 in 4 cars off the road.

5. Start buying local in season produce - Produce grown in artificial ecosystems or greenhouses requires a tremendous amount of energy for temperatures to be maintained. Transporting goods by plane from one side of the world to the other generates about 1,700 times more CO2 emissions than transporting them by truck over 50km. Our seasonal food guide has recipes and simple serving tips to help you.

6. Start upcycling - 'Upcycling' is the growing trend of repurposing non- or not easily recyclable materials into new products. With a little creativity, you can divert almost anything from landfill and give it a new lease of life. Why not transform a worn out jumper into a hot water bottle cover, give old furniture a stylish makeover, or use a flat tyre as a garden planter?

7. Start using water wisely - Saving water is a crucial part of a sustainable lifestyle. Fortunately, there are many ways to do this, learn more at our guide.

8. Start being thermostat friendly - Reducing your room temperature by 1°C could cut your heating bills by up to 10% and typically saves around £55 per year. 70% of energy used by households in the EU is spent on heating homes.

9. Start car sharing - sharing an average commute of approximately 12 miles a day, could save 170 litres of petrol or over £200 per year.

10. Start making and baking - knitting, sewing, baking, woodworking, jewelry making, brewing beer, stone masonry the list of crafts you can learn is endless and by making and baking your own you can pick local, fair trade or organic ingredients, utilize scrap or otherwise unwanted materials and make something perfect for you.

http://www.startuk.org/think/10-ideas-to-inspire-you.aspx