One of the most helpful tools for curbing consumption and budgeting my spending is to make a list of the items I need and the items I want. Once it’s on the list I leave it there for a couple of weeks. More often than not after living without the item on my “need” list for a few weeks it usually becomes clear that it is more of a want or that I can live without it. Items on my “want” list are often crossed off after a few months when I realize I no longer have an interest in them. If an item has been on my want list for more than a few months, I might use it as an incentive for accomplishing a goal I had set for myself or as a small treat.

If part of your new year’s resolution is to live more sustainably, there are countless, easy ways to get started. People often get overwhelmed by the task of decreasing their consumption and waste, but there are a few small changes that can make a big impact. Here are 13 tips for 2013.

1. Ditch single use plastic water bottles. Always bring your own reusable bottle. This is also a great way to stop impulse buys of sodas and other drinks (which will help you with your new year’s weight loss goal or commitment to living a healthier life).

2. Put on a sweater, grab a blanket, and turn down the heater.

3. If it’s wrapped in plastic, don’t buy it. This includes food and other items.

4. Make your own cleaning products to not only save you money, but also detox your home.

5. Drive less. Ride your bike, walk, group trips, use public transportation, carpool, or just don’t go.

6. Detox your cosmetic and personal care products. To see what you are using now and what you should change, check out the EWG cosmetics database.

7. Put away the credit card, stay away from the mall, block your favorite online shopping sites. If you don’t absolutely need it, don’t buy it. If you aren’t willing to go cold-turkey, try the list method.

8. Bring your own lunch to work and make dinner at home instead of eating out.

9. Learn to sort your waste properly. Think you know what goes in your recycling bin? Some of your local rules my surprise you. Visit your local provider’s webpage for a full list of what can be recycled  composted, or put in the landfill.

10. Turn off the lights, TV, stereo, and everything else you are no longer using when you leave the room, not just when you leave the house.

11. Take a shorter shower. Shaving five minutes, or even 3, can make a huge impact on your water consumption and bill.

12. Wash your laundry in cold water. It will get just as clean and save you energy and make your clothes last longer.

13. Slow down. With most things in life, if you take the time to consider your choices and impact you will make a better, more sustainable choice. Don’t just rush into what is easy or cheap. Hold yourself accountable and think before you act.

Lose weight. Remember to floss every night. Give up an hour of TV a week. Stop swearing. Eat more vegetables.

Did you know most cleaning products sold in the average store qualify for hazardous waste disposal? How about the amount of chemicals you ingest or inhale from these products on a daily or weekly basis? Every day we are exposed to hundreds, if not thousands of chemicals in our own homes that have been linked with cancer and other health problems.

One of my least favorite things about Christmas is the waste created. The garbage cans full of wrapping paper after Christmas are frightening. This year instead of finding cloth wrapping or buying a reusable vessel to put my gifts in, I reused the packing that came in one of the boxes from an online order and some old scraps of yarn I had to make sustainable gift wrap.

The wrapping didn’t cost me anything and kept waste out of my trash (or recycling) can. Not only that, but they will be easily recycled or composted when they are done, and I have plans for them after they are no longer gift wrap, so that won’t be for a while.

I hate going to stores, waiting in lines, having people try to convince me to buy another item, even just driving there makes me cranky.

I have long been a fan of the convenience and comfort that only online shopping can provide (where else is shopping in your pajamas completely acceptable?), but after reading this article about how terrible the working conditions of the warehouses I’m starting to realize that online shopping isn’t the paradise we all imagined it to be.

“DON’T TAKE ANYTHING that happens to you there personally,” the woman at the local chamber of commerce says when I tell her that tomorrow I start working at Amalgamated Product Giant Shipping Worldwide Inc. She winks at me. I stare at her for a second.

“What?” I ask. “Why, is somebody going to be mean to me or something?”

She smiles. “Oh, yeah.” This town somewhere west of the Mississippi is not big; everyone knows someone or is someone who’s worked for Amalgamated. “But look at it from their perspective. They need you to work as fast as possible to push out as much as they can as fast as they can. So they’re gonna give you goals, and then you know what? If you make those goals, they’re gonna increase the goals. But they’ll be yelling at you all the time. It’s like the military. They have to break you down so they can turn you into what they want you to be. So they’re going to tell you, ‘You’re not good enough, you’re not good enough, you’re not good enough,’ to make you work harder. Don’t say, ‘This is the best I can do.’ Say, ‘I’ll try,’ even if you know you can’t do it. Because if you say, ‘This is the best I can do,’ they’ll let you go. They hire and fire constantly, every day. You’ll see people dropping all around you. But don’t take it personally and break down or start crying when they yell at you.”

Which is worse then, online shopping or in the store? I guess it depends on each store, each warehouse, each item… Instead of buying an extra item because it’s only a few clicks away we should consider the social and environmental impact of each item and live with what we have or buy used before we buy new.