The new year is a time to reflect on the future and how we can make it better for ourselves, our environment, and the next generation. Many people will be setting new year’s resolutions to do more for nature in 2024 but it can be a struggle to know what to do.  

Luckily, we’ve created this handy guide of 65 actions big and small to start you off on your journey. You may not be able to complete all actions but do what you can and if you’re feeling brave, why not make your actions into a fundraising challenge? 

Download our handy PDF guide to 65 actions here and don’t forget to tag us in your journey! 

1. Plant wildflowers 

To make sure you have the most biodiverse garden, plant a range of different sized and shaped flowers to accommodate all different sizes and shapes of insect tongues. You can also look at what seeds the flower produces to find out if it attracts any birds in the autumn or winter. 

2. Take reusable bags food shopping 

If you’re not doing this already, try to make this a 2024 resolution. Make it easier to remember by popping a bag in your car boot or in your backpack just in case you need it. 

3. Reusable water bottles 

Buy yourself a water bottle large enough for your daily need if you think you’ll struggle to get a refill and take it with you wherever you go. We have an aluminium Wilder Kent bottle available on our shop here. 

4. Volunteer with us 

We need the help of our volunteers to help us manage our reserves for nature. Learn more about the outdoors, get time out in nature, and do something meaningful. You can even bring friends and family along to make this a group activity. Check out our volunteer opportunities here. 

5. Visit a nature reserve 

Do you know all the nature reserves near you? Have you been to all of them? Take this opportunity to scan your location and find a new nature reserve you haven’t been to. Enter your postcode to find your nearest Kent Wildlife Trust reserve here. 

6. Switch to eco-friendly cleaning products 

Making the switch can help reduce the number of harmful chemicals in our waterways. Make the change today! 

7. Take the bus or cycle 

Always driving? Try to take the bus, walk, or cycle at least once a week and not only will you help to reduce carbon emissions, but you’ll be improving your fitness too. 

8. Write to your local MP 

Ask your local MP to support nature by pledging to put our five priorities into their election manifesto this year. 

9. Make a bee hotel 

Solitary bees are important pollinators and a gardener’s friend. Help them by building a bee hotel for your home or garden and watch them buzz happily about their business. Follow our guide to making a bee hotel here. 

10. Build a bat box 

Build your own bat box and give a bat a safe place to roost. Follow our guide to building a bat box here. 

11. Build a pond 

A wildlife pond is one of the single best features for attracting new wildlife to the garden. Follow our guide to building a pond here. 

12. Build a hedgehog home 

By providing safe places for hedgehogs to live, you’re much more likely to see these prickly creatures in your garden.  

13. Make a log shelter 

Log piles are perfect hiding places for insects, providing a convenient buffet for frog, birds, and hedgehogs too! Follow our guide to making a log shelter. 

14. Grow a wildlife-friendly vegetable garden 

Learn about companion planting, friendly pest control, organic repellents, and how wildlife and growing vegetables can go hand in hand in our guide. 

15. Make a hedgehog friendly garden 

There’s more to it than just building a hedgehog home! You can find plenty of useful resources on our help a hedgehog page. 

16. Grow a wild patch or mini meadow 

Whether it's a flowerpot, flowerbed, wild patch in your lawn, or entire meadow, planting wildflowers provides vital resources to support a wide range of insects that couldn't survive in urban areas otherwise. It is also a great way of avoiding tools such as lawnmowers that are powered by fossil fuels! Follow our guidance on growing a wild patch or mini meadow here. 

17. Attract butterflies to your garden 

Provide food for caterpillars and choose nectar-rich plants for butterflies and you’ll have a colourful, fluttering display in your garden for many months. Follow our guide to attracting butterflies to your garden.  

18. Create a container garden 

Pots and containers are a great way of introducing wildlife features onto patios, or outside the front door. They are also perfect for small gardens or spaces like window ledges or roofs. Herbs, in particular, make good container plants and attract lots of wildlife. Take a look at our guide to creating a container garden for wildlife here. 

19. Attract bumblebees to your garden 

Bees are important pollinating insects, but they are under threat. You can help them by planting bumblebee-friendly flowers – see our guide to attracting bumblebees to your garden. 

20. Install a water butt 

Water butts lower the risks of local flooding and will reduce water bills by conserving the water you already have. They're great for watering the garden, refilling the pond, or even washing the car! Learn how to install a water butt from our website. 

21. Plant a tree 

It might surprise you, but even the smallest of gardens can accommodate a tree! Find out how in our handy tree planting guide. 

22. Create a vertical garden 

Gardening doesn’t need to be restricted to the ground – bring your walls to life for wildlife! Many types of plants will thrive in a green wall, from herbs and fruit to grasses and ferns. Follow our guide to creating a vertical garden here. 

23. Feed birds in your garden 

Find out how to attract birds into your garden all year round. 

24. Feed hedgehogs and badgers in your garden 

Putting out a bit of food can help see mammals like hedgehogs through colder spells. Follow our advice here. 

25. Grow plants for bees and pollinators 

Set up a ‘nectar café’ by planting flowers for pollinating insects like bees and butterflies. Check out our ideas for pollinator-friendly planting. 

26. Grow wildlife-friendly herbs 

Planting herbs will attract important pollinators into your garden, which will, in turn, attract birds and small mammals looking for a meal. To find out more and get some ideas on plants you can use, follow our guide. 

27. Provide water for wildlife 

All animals need water to survive. By providing a water source in your garden, you can invite in a whole menagerie!  

28. Conserve water 

If we all do our part in saving precious water supplies, we can make a huge difference for the environment. Learn more about how to conserve water. 

29. Use less single-use plastic 

Plastic waste and its damaging effect on our seas and natural world has been big news recently. Here's what you can you do about it. 

30. Build a bird box 

With natural nesting sites in decline, adding a nestbox to your garden can make all the difference to your local birds. Here’s our handy guide to building a bird box. 

31. Go chemical-free in your garden 

Go chemical-free in your garden to help wildlife! Find out how to prevent slugs and insects from eating your plants with wildlife-friendly methods. 

32. Compost your waste 

Instead of sending your green waste to landfill, create your own compost. 

33. Make a gravel garden for wildlife 

Surfaced spaces needn't exclude wildlife! Gravel can often be the most wildlife-friendly solution for a particular area. Follow our wildlife gravel gardens advice here. 

34. Go peat-free at home 

Our homes and gardens play an important role in the fight against climate change. Help preserve vital peatland by going peat-free. 

35. Make a hedge for wildlife 

Hedges provide important shelter and protection for wildlife, particularly nesting birds and hibernating insects. Learn how to make a wildlife hedge here. 

36. Make a seed bomb 

Plant wildflowers with seed bombs! 

37. Make a woodland edge for wildlife 

Few of us can contemplate having a wood in our back gardens, but just a few metres is enough to establish this mini habitat! Learn more about woodland edge gardens. 

38. Make a bog garden 

Instead of draining, make the waterlogged or boggy bits of garden work for nature, and provide a valuable habitat. Follow our tips to bog gardening here. 

39. Attract moths and bats to your garden 

Plant flowers that release their scent in the evening to attract moths and, ultimately, bats looking for an insect-meal into your garden. Follow our advice here. 

40. Build a bug mansion 

Build your own bug mansion and attract a multitude of creepy crawlies to your garden using this guide. 

41. Make a shrub garden 

Woody shrubs and climbers provide food for wildlife, including berries, fruits, seeds, nuts, leaves, and nectar-rich flowers. So why not plant a shrub garden and see who comes to visit? 

42. Do companion planting 

Grow plants that help each other! Maximise your garden for you and for wildlife using this planting technique. 

43. Take part in a litter pick 

Be a wildlife saviour and do a litter pick! 

44. Play our wildlife lottery 

Help us support the future of wildlife in the County while having the chance to win cash prizes! 

45. Watch what you wash away 

Some cosmetics, soaps, washing-up liquids, and cleaning products can be harmful to wildlife with long-lasting effects. Find out more about how to help here. 

46. Take part in a beach clean 

Do your bit for nature and go on a beach clean! 

47. Host an eco-celebration 

Have a fun-filled celebration without the negative impact on the environment.  

48. Record a wildlife sighting 

It is only through recording wildlife that we can see when changes happen in our environment, whether this occurs in our towns or the countryside. Learn what information is needed to make a good record. 

49. Clean nest boxes and bird feeders  

Nestboxes can harbour parasites, so it is good practice to take them down at the end of the season and give them a clean. Likewise, it is important to keep bird feeders clean to stop the spread of diseases. 

50. Reduce your energy use 

Energy used in buildings accounts for around 17% of total emissions. Reducing your household energy use by making efficiency savings, switching to a renewable energy supplier, or installing a heat pump will help cut this down. 

51. Recycle and reuse 

Recycle, upcycle - and make do and mend! Production of household waste needs to decrease by 33% by 2037 to reach emissions targets. So get out that needle and thread! 

52. Check your bonfire for hedgehogs 

We can all take steps to protect hedgehogs on bonfire night and beyond. Follow our 4 steps to make sure you keep hedgehogs safe. 

53. Cut out palm oil 

Palm oil is a cheap, efficient form of vegetable oil, but a lot of species-rich tropical habitat is being destroyed to make way for it. Find out how to cut down the use of palm oil.  

54. Make a wreath for birds 

With food, water, and shelter scarce over the winter months, give your garden birds a treat with an edible wreath. Follow our guide here. 

55. Change what you eat 

Buy local produce, eat more plant-based foods, and reduce your food miles to shrink your environmental footprint. Find out more about how you can eat more sustainably here. 

56. Help wildlife at school 

Whether feeding the birds or sowing a wildflower patch, setting up wildlife areas in your school makes for happier, healthier, and more creative children.  

57. Buy gifts from our online shop to support wildlife 

All profits from our shop go towards creating a wilder Kent. Shop from a range of different gifts today.  

58. Become an eco-friendly pet owner 

Caring for a pet is a rewarding experience that doesn't have to cost the earth. Find out more here. 

59. Make a coastal garden 

Coastal gardening can be a challenge, but with the right plants in the right place, your garden and its wildlife visitors can thrive. 

60. Be smart with souvenir shopping 

Bringing a piece of your holiday home is a great way of keeping the memories alive – just make sure it’s wildlife-friendly! Here are some tips for smart souvenir shopping. 

61. Help wildlife at work 

Attracting wildlife to your work will help improve their environment – and yours! 

62. Join an environmental group to advocate for wildlife-friendly spaces 

You could become a member of an organisation like ours or simply join a group that is advocating for something you are passionate about.  

63. Join a community garden 

Look for your nearest community garden and join others in your community who are using outdoor spaces to gain mental health benefits. 

64. Support a local farmer’s market 

Check out your local farm shops and markets and make sure to choose sustainable farmers that manage their land for wildlife.  

65. Encourage friends and family to join Kent Wildlife Trust 

Spread the word that a little goes a long way and if you join before the end of January your membership will be half price our usual minimum. This means you can support our cause from as little as £1.50 a month.