Impact, Travel
Top Sustainable New Year’s Resolutions For 2023
Read on for Nestor’s top sustainable resolutions for the year ahead 💚
The end of 2022 is quickly approaching and this year has been a whirlwind. We’ve been doing everything we can to continue promoting sustainability across our brand and properties. As 2023 draws in, we look forward to seeing how else we can thrive and help save our planet.
Many feel like they aren’t doing enough or making a truly positive impact on their own, but we can reassure you that there are different ways you can help the environment.
Whether you’re already recycling at home, trying to avoid flying or shopping locally, you’re actually already making healthy choices to help the planet. If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to be more environmentally friendly, read on as we reveal a few ideas that’ll have a big impact and are easy to stick to.
Reduce your carbon footprint
This is a broad topic but that just means there are so many ways to go about reducing or offsetting the carbon footprint you leave.
One of the biggest trends we have already noticed this year is a shift away from air travel towards slower forms of transport such as trains or boats. It may add journey time, but it can be a great way to see a place more thoroughly, and these modes of transport have a far lower carbon footprint than planes.
On the same note, you can also think about exploring closer to home. You can still travel – perhaps you could take a river cruise or boat trip in the UK, catch a sleeper train up to Scotland or book a staycation.
With all of these, you’re not only avoiding flying but you’ll likely be staying in a local hotel or property, discovering a new destination and enjoying local food and products too. On the topic of travel, why not reconsider how you commute to work?
Although many people are moving to remote working, offices are still thriving. Instead of driving, or even taking public transport, consider if you live close enough to cycle, or invest in an e-scooter or e-bike.
Avoid single-use plastics
Although the world is getting better at this, it can be a tricky resolution to keep, since single-use plastics pop up everywhere and in unexpected places.
However, consciously making the decision to avoid single-use plastics has a huge impact on the environment, with many businesses, hotels and restaurants already switching to recyclable products and avoiding things like plastic straws, unnecessary packaging and miniature toiletries.
At Nestor properties, you’ll find that all of our toiletries are either recyclable or refillable, reducing the need for plastic usage.
For your resolution, you can start with simple things – try out shampoo and conditioner bars, instead of regularly buying plastic bottles, or opt for a bamboo toothbrush.
Check online if there are any zero waste shops near you, which will often refill things like soaps or cleaning products if you bring in your empty bottle. Another easy hack is to avoid buying fruit and vegetables that are individually packaged – you can easily pick up fresh, organic veg at a local farmer’s market instead, both avoiding plastic and helping local producers. Earl’s Court, Notting Hill and Chelsea all have lovely local markets close to some of our West London properties.
Shop Local
It’s likely you’ll already be doing this one, even if you don’t realise it! Shopping locally not only helps sustain small, local businesses, but it avoids contributing to the negative environmental impact large corporations often have on the environment, particularly in industries such as fast fashion or toys. If you aren’t sure where to begin, Etsy is great for finding handmade gifts, jewellery, art and more.
As mentioned, if you travel to a new place, try to avoid shopping in places you could visit anywhere, and seek out artisans or independent retailers. These are abundant in London, if you head to markets such as Portobello Road, or areas like Brick Lane, you can find stalls and shops selling everything from souvenirs to gifts and clothes.
Thinking about fast fashion, consider shopping second-hand, such as in charity shops or vintage clothes shops, or even on apps such as Depop and Vinted. This also applies to your own clothes – if you no longer need things, it is simple to give them to charity or sell them online, so that someone else can get use them, instead of them ending up in a landfill.
Try going vegan (or vegetarian!)
It may sound difficult if you’re a meat lover, but going vegan or even ‘flexitarian’ can have a huge positive environmental impact. Meat production and farming contribute large amounts of carbon dioxide into the environment, not to mention the plastics, packaging, labour and more that go into it.
Did you know that over one-third of the earth is used for livestock production? Most of this isn’t actually used to keep animals, but to grow the high number of crops needed to feed them, although large swathes of forests are frequently cut down to make room for animals too. Why not try out Veganuary, just to see if you can manage eating vegan for the month, or incorporate one or two vegan days into your week?
There are already movements based on this, such as Meat Free Mondays, and you can find loads of vegan alternatives in the shops if you’re still craving meat. If you aren’t sure you can manage to go fully vegan, even having some vegetarian days means overall reduced meat consumption, plus it’s super healthy!
Keep learning
Our top resolution for the new year is an easy but important one. Simply learning as much as possible about ways to help the environment and spreading the word, will encourage more people to have a positive impact. You can use this information to make active choices about where you stay and what you do, such as staying at sustainable properties and seeking out local businesses.
Resolve to read a book, magazine or article a week about the environment and how to help; you’ll be an expert by the end of 2023! You can already find tourism and hospitality companies offering sustainable holidays, tours and hotels, such as the carbon negative room2 hotel in Chiswick, or ByWay, the travel company with trips that don’t involve any planes.
At Nestor, we’re constantly working on our global impact. When you book a stay with us, we plant a tree – so you’re contributing positively from the start. In our West London properties, we use vegan, refillable toiletries.
Our toilet paper is fully recycled, and our coffee pods are compostable. You can rest assured your stay with us will be comfortable, with everything you need to enjoy the city, whilst also helping save the planet.
