You may have already made your resolutions for 2011—or maybe not—but today is the perfect day to make your Personal Green Promise (PGP).

Continuing your green journey is all about individual steps, so start small and go from there by making a new PGP each month. And remember that simple promises are easier to keep. The more you work at it, the more likely you are to turn these changes into habits.

My PGP is to order reasonable amounts of food when I eat at local restaurants. So many times my eyes are bigger than my tummy. Who knew that ordering only what you can eat is one way to go green? How easy-peasy! A clean plate means less food in the landfill.

With no leftovers to take home, there's no need for to-go Styrofoam containers. Ever. According to reports, this eco-evil, non-biodegradable material breaks up into small pieces, choking animals and clogging their digestive system. Our local organic eatery Cabbage Patch uses eco-friendlier takeout containers. Can we challenge all of our restaurants to stop using Styrofoam as their PGPs? Other cities have nixed these containers. 

Or, you can avoid takeout containers all together by bringing your own container from home.

Chinese takeout tonight? Tell your favorite spot to skip the chopsticks. How many pairs in their paper sleeves do you already have in your kitchen drawer? Our family visited the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo. Its fabulous, award-winning gift shop sells traveler's chopsticks made from stainless steel and wood that fit neatly in a case that clips onto your shirt or purse pocket. Order online from the convenience of your Bev Hills home. This could be the new sustainable status symbol. Pass on the individual packets of soy sauce too. Your bottle at home is all you need. You get the green picture.

You may have personal green promise ideas without even thinking about it. Our Patch blogger Maureen Kedes has the right idea about repairing items rather than buying them anew, from lamps to boots. And in this town, you can walk to our many service shops.

And speaking of promises and priorities: As covered by Patch reporter Laurie Lande, topping the list of the city of Beverly Hills' 2011 priorities are ways to improve city finances and enhance the Beverly Hills brand. However, issues that pertain to an environmentally friendly city are found further down the list:

• Priority 6 is to create a sustainable city by developing baseline information on the city government's carbon emissions and coordinate plans to minimize the city's carbon footprint.
• Priority 26—the last listed priority—is to conduct a water study that includes information on conservation, groundwater and recycled water.

Where do you think these priorities should fall on the city's to-do list?

Happy New Year from The Green Files and promise us you'll share some promises of your own.