A new year brings a sense of anticipation. Plans, hopes - and resolutions! Most of us have many good intentions, but here are some New Year suggestions.

Be more responsible

Experience another travel dimension and take an eco-tour. 

Greenloons is dedicated to inspiring people to think different, be different and travel differently - connecting mindful travelers with unique, meaningful and eco-certified travel experiences all over the world. 

Some of their suggestions include:

• Try a local delicacy such as the elusive truffle during Croatia's annual Truffle Days Festival.

• Learn about an endangered wildlife species with a naturalist guide on an exclusive tour along Australia's Great Ocean Road.

• Stay at a U.S. National Park Eco-Lodge on a native-owned wildlife sanctuary offering views of Alaska's Pedersen Glacier.

Or you could head for somewhere remote, such as Mongolia, Australia's Nullarbor plain, or the High Atlas mountains in Morocco.

Whatever you do, wherever you go - make it your resolution to help to ensure a more sustainable planet.

Watch the fireworks

Wherever you are on December 31, when the clock ticks past midnight, make sure you're watching some celebratory  fireworks!

Sydney is one of the first places to welcome each new year, so perhaps it's no accident that this harbour city's spectacular New Year's Eve Midnight Fireworks are some of the best worldwide. This year they will be seen by millions more people around the world via the City of Sydney's first-ever NYE live stream on the revamped event website.

The new live stream, created by Telstra, means people who aren't in Sydney can enjoy the excitement, which this year has the creative input of Aussie pop princess Kylie Minogue.

In another first, the interactive vantage point map will allow people to search the 74 viewing spots around the harbor for services and amenities, such as public transport stops, accessible toilets, path gradients and more.

'Plan Ahead' section covers tips for visiting Sydney, watching the fireworks, public transport, safe boating, and keeping your pets safe on the night.

Download the NYE12 smartphone app or search your app store for 'Sydney New Year's Eve'.

Change the food system

Those enthusiastic folk at The Food Think Tank have put together a 'baker's dozen' of 13 resolutions to change the food system in 2013.

These are resolutions that the world can't afford to break, they say, with nearly one billion still hungry and more than one billion suffering from the effects of being overweight and obese. We have the tools - let's use them in 2013!

Here they are:

1. Growing the Cities:  Food production doesn't only happen in fields or factories. Nearly one billion people worldwide produce food in cities. In Kibera, the largest slum in Africa, farmers are growing seeds of indigenous vegetables and selling them to rural farmers. At Bell Book & Candle restaurant in New York, customers are served rosemary, cherry tomatoes, romaine, and other produce grown from the restaurant's rooftop garden.

2. Creating Better Access:  People's Grocery in Oakland and Fresh Moves in Chicago bring mobile grocery stores to food deserts giving low-income consumers opportunities to make healthy food choices. Instead of chips and soda, they provide customers with affordable organic produce, not typically available in their communities.

3. Eaters Demanding Healthier Food: Food writer Michael Pollan advises not to eat anything that your grandparents wouldn't recognize. Try eating more fruits, vegetables, and whole foods without preservatives and other additives.

4. Cooking More: Home economics classes have declined in schools in the United Kingdom and the U.S. and young people lack basic cooking skills.  Top Chefs Jamie Oliver, Alice Waters, and Bill Telepan are working with schools to teach kids how to cook healthy, nutritious foods.

5. Creating Conviviality: According to the Hartman Group, nearly half of all adults in the U.S. eat meals alone. Sharing a meal with family and friends can foster community and conversation. Recent studies suggest that children who eat meals with their families are typically happier and more stable than those who do not.

6. Focus on Vegetables: Nearly two billion people suffer from micronutrient deficiencies worldwide, leading to poor development. The World Vegetable Center, however, is helping farmers grow high-value, nutrient rich vegetables in Africa and Asia, improving health and increasing incomes.

7. Preventing Waste:  Roughly one-third of all food is wasted in fields, during transport, in storage, and in homes. But there are easy, inexpensive ways to prevent waste. Initiatives like Love Food, Hate Waste offer consumers tips about portion control and recipes for leftovers, while farmers in Bolivia are using solar-powered driers to preserve foods.

8. Engaging Youth: Making farming both intellectually and economically stimulating will help make the food system an attractive career option for youth. Across sub-Saharan Africa, cell phones and the internet are connecting farmers to information about weather and markets; in the U.S., Food Corps is teaching students how to grow and cook food, preparing them for a lifetime of healthy eating.

9. Protecting Workers: Farm and food workers across the world are fighting for better pay and working conditions. In Zimbabwe, the General Agricultural and Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ), protects laborers from abuse. In the U.S., the Coalition of Immokalee Workers successfully persuaded Trader Joe's and Chipotle to pay the premium of a penny-per-pound to Florida tomato pickers.

10. Acknowledging the Importance of Farmers: Farmers aren't just farmers, they're business-women and men, stewards of the land, and educators, sharing knowledge in their communities. Slow Food International works with farmers all over the world, helping recognize their importance to preserve biodiversity and culture.

11. Recognizing the Role of Governments:  Nations must implement policies that give everyone access to safe, affordable, healthy food. In Ghana and Brazil, government action, including national school feeding programs and increased support for sustainable agricultural production, greatly reduced the number of hungry people.

12. Changing the Metrics: Governments, NGOs, and funders have focused on increasing production and improving yields, rather than improving nutrition and protecting the environment. Changing the metrics, and focusing more on quality, will improve public and environmental health, and livelihoods.

13. Fixing the Broken Food System: Agriculture can be the solution to some of the world's most pressing challenges -including unemployment, obesity, and climate change. These innovations simply need more research, more investment, and ultimately more funding.

How about it? We can do it---together!

Celebrate the new year

With a blank calendar ahead, who know what we all can achieve!

Vomo, a tiny Fijian island, has some big plans.

The island's resort plans to celebrates the New Year by transforming their famous Rocks Beach into a sand-made lounge with authentic Fijian touches.

This island, close to the International Date Line, gets a head start on the New Year by ushering in 2013 a day ahead of the U.S. Vomo Island Resort - one of Fiji's most popular private island getaways - is throwing an elaborate, beach-chic celebration under the stars on December 31 and everyone is invited!

For their annual New Year's Eve party, the hotel converts their gorgeous Rocks Beach - that literally feels like paradise at the end of the earth - into an exotic, open-air lounge lined with tiki torches & authentic Fijian décor that incorporates elements of the exotic setting. And forget traditional sandcastles - for this party, Vomo crafts couches from the beach's white sand and covers them with fine linen, tropical flowers & pillows, creating a unique space perfect for al fresco cocktailing & enjoying the spectacular midnight fireworks display. In addition to relaxing on the 'sand-made' lounges, guests can bring in the New Year with a bang on the dance floor and socialize around a roaring bonfire, all while enjoying a stunning view of the blue Pacific with Vomo Lailai, Vomo's deserted volcanic island, on the horizon.

There will be a six-course degustation dinner and as a lovely symbol of new possibilities, one lucky guest is chosen to release a Hawksbill turtle from the Resort's Turtle Protection Program (working in conjunction with the Mamanuca Turtle Conservation Society) into the ocean. 

Vomo is situated just 15-minutes by helicopter from Nadi International Airport.