I don’t usually make New Year’s resolutions. It’s an artificial moment to decide to improve your life, and if a new year is the reason to live healthier or more frugally, you usually don’t stick to it.
But anyway, I am a fan of symbolism and symbolic dates. That’s why I announced more than a month ago that I would say goodbye to Meta on 1 January 2026.
While I’m at it, I’m going to go one step further. Because the world is on fire, now more than ever. And closing our eyes and occasionally opening them opportunistically is no longer an option. I want to start a small revolution on my own to move a small stone in a river.
We are consuming the earth to death, and we are destroying the free world by falling en masse into the trap of Big Tech on the one hand, but also Temu, Shein, Alibaba, and other hyper-polluting, unethical greedy wolves on the other.
Enough is enough. I am going to consume less. This is what I want to do in 2026 to put an end to some bad habits:
- Do I need it? Even more than before, in 2026 I want to think carefully about every purchase and only buy what I really need. No unnecessary gadgets, no board games gathering dust, no food that has to be thrown away.
- Zero tolerance for fast fashion and other Chinese online shops that produce cheap rubbish. In addition to the danger of your data being collected, there is the problem of the depletion of natural resources, massive international trade and the associated emissions, and the culture of disposability that is being encouraged. I was already not a fan of these webshops, but in 2026 I will go one step further: I will actively oppose any purchase in which I am involved, whether directly or indirectly. So, if someone says, ‘Let’s order it there, it’s cheap and it’s for one-time use’ for work or carnival, I will no longer turn a blind eye, but will actively oppose it.
- Research into the origin of products. I didn’t say I don’t want to buy anything from China anymore. I do freelance work for Stonemaier Games, and those board games are all produced in China, but in a sustainable, high-quality, and humane way. But I want to be aware of where a product comes from, and I want guarantees about the conditions in which the product is made. And yes, that’s difficult for iPhones, which are not known for the best factory conditions.
- Local products first. Fewer webshops, more local shopping. Less from abroad, more from Belgium. Less from the USA, more from Europe. For every purchase, I try to see how I can buy as locally as possible, even if it costs a little more.
- Sustainability over convenience: there’s no such thing as free delivery. In any case, I want to significantly reduce the number of parcels I receive from online shops by thinking carefully about every purchase and buying locally first, but if it really has to come from an online shop, I’m not going to look for free shipping. Because free doesn’t exist. I choose online shops that ship sustainably, that deliver to a parcel locker or collection point, and that offer the option of not delivering the next day, but simply when it suits them best.
- Second-hand and repair first. A product is only replaced when it is really, truly broken or worn out and can no longer be repaired. And when replacing something, I first look in thrift shops and on Vinted.
- As little dependence on Big Tech as possible. This is related to my departure from Meta, of course. Away with the dominance and dependence on WhatsApp. Away with Instagram. Away with Facebook. And I hardly ever used Google anyway. I use Generative Artificial Intelligence sparingly and only when it adds value. And I pay for everything I use: search engine (Kagi), GenAI (Perplexity), and other services. So that I don’t pay with my data, or as little as possible. Here too, Apple is the elephant in the room—I’ll come back to that in a moment. Oh, and I don’t use Spotify. They don’t pay the artists what they deserve and they have malicious ways of deceiving people.
- Not everyone can make these resolutions just like that, and I want to try to do something about that. I realise very well that I can only make many of these resolutions because I can afford to pay for services or more expensive products. Not everyone can do this, so I want to strategically increase our monthly donations, with a focus on poverty organisations. I also want to see what I can do for organisations that are trying to close the digital gap (increasing digital literacy).
- Less perfection, more perseverance. It may seem like a weak move to end this list of resolutions with a disclaimer, but I don’t see it that way. I can make grand promises and say that I will persevere no matter what, or I can say in advance that I will occasionally sin and break a rule if I have to. In the first case, my resolutions will quietly disappear if I am forced to break them, in the second case, I can pick myself up and continue with courage. So yes: I will sometimes break a rule. And I will sometimes be hypocritical. But I will do my utmost to only break rules when necessary, and not just when it suits me. I will feel the impact of no longer having WhatsApp in my social life, and that’s fine. I will miss not being able to buy certain gadgets, and that’s fine too.
Finally, as an Apple fanboy, I would like to circle back to Apple. The production conditions of iPhones are often contested, and Apple definitely has its place in the Big Tech club that rules the world. So isn’t it hypocritical to remain loyal to that premium brand?
Look, I already explained why I trust Apple with my data in the Meta article. The production conditions: I would like to see Apple make more of an effort there, but honestly, what is my alternative? No devices, that’s not a serious alternative. A Fairphone runs on Android, and I try to avoid Google. And my entire life is organised around the Apple ecosystem. My promise is that I will keep my products for at least five years (and usually longer), and that I will walk away as soon as they are caught engaging in truly malicious behaviour. Until then, they are the least of all evils for me.
That’s my list for 2026. The list with which I hope to make a tiny difference. Because it’s necessary.