The 2025 Climate bucket list

10 simple challenges to make this your most climate-friendly year yet

It’s January, the season of setting goals and you’ve probably had enough of (or have given up on) the usual - hit the gym, say no to sugar etc. So here’s a slightly different list - 10 things to try this year that could take you closer to a sustainable lifestyle!

1. Train Over Plane: Convert one flight this year into a train journey. Pick a route that’s convenient or scenic or both! There are quite a few <2 hour flights that could be manageable train journeys. Some examples:

   • Bangalore - Hyderabad is a 8 hr train (Vande Bharat!)

   • Bangalore - Chennai is a 5 hr train (Vande Bharat!)

   • Mumbai - Delhi has a 16 hr overnight Rajdhani. You board at 5 pm and reach before 9 am the next morning!

2. Clothes Swap Party: The next time you feel the need to refresh your wardrobe, call your friends in stead and organize a clothes swap! Refresh your wardrobe without spending a dime and enjoy some quality time together.

   That’s my best friends and me having a blast at a clothes swap we did last year!

3. 30 minutes of nature time every week: Make time for nature every week. Go to a park or a lake, or go to the sea. It's the best thing you can do for your mental health. And it’s the best thing you can do for the planet - I am yet to meet a person hasn't felt comforted by nature, awed by it and followed by the compulsive need to protect it.

4. Ditch the Quick Commerce: Challenge yourself to go Q-commerce-free for 1 day/ week. Think of it as a digital detox! If that feels too tough, limit your quick commerce usage to just once a day—think of it like setting screen time limits on your phone!

5. Carry your own water bottle: It’s simple and effective! Start carrying a bottle so you can say ditch the plastic mineral water bottle.

6. Repair, Don’t Replace: Get 1 item repaired this year! Check out local repair cafes or find a cobbler nearby—let’s give our belongings a second chance! Or even better, learn to repair yourself - Sew on a button, fix your bike, or mend that broken earring.

7. Eat Local and seasonal: Discover what’s grown locally in your area and dive into seasonal delights! When shopping at the supermarket, check where products are made and opt for those closer to home.

8. Pause Before You Purchase: Delay buying at least 1 new item! If your phone is still working fine, hold off on upgrading. Or you could consider second-hand options or hand-me-downs instead—your wallet and the planet will thank you!

9. Start Composting: Turn your kitchen scraps into nutrient-rich compost!

10. Read a book: Dive into one book about climate change this year! Here are some of my favorites to get you started

    • The living mountain by Amitava Ghosh - it’s just 30 pages and a 20 minute read. My absolute favourite from last year.

    • The ministry for the future by Kim Stanley Robinson - It’s science fiction. I loved it.

    • The story of more by Hope Jahrer- a short read about overconsumption.

    • The limits to growth by Donella Meadows - A little long but very good book on systems thinking

    • Braiding sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer- A little long again but was a completely different world for me - learning form indigenous people and their practices

    • Climate capitalism - Good overview of solutions

    • How to save our planet by Mark Maslin - Not very deep but a good starter for anyone who is climate curious

If you’d like to sign up for this challenge (you can commit to any number of the 10 challenges above), click on the button below and fill out a quick <1 minute form. I’ll check in with you on how you’re doing in Dec and share what the group’s (everyone who signed ups) achievement looks like next year!

Have a great 2025!