It's easier than you might think
- 1. Make compost, or if you don’t want to build your own compost heap, give your organic waste to friends.
- 2. Move closer to work, or work at home when possible. Commuting accounts for more than a third of all car travel.
- 3. Reuse paper bags, envelopes, etc.
- 4. Maintain possessions instead of discarding them. With a few tools and a how-to book, you can save money, resources, and landfill space.
- 5. Xeriscape with drought-tolerant native species in your yard. Plant shade trees and vines to keep cool in the summer.
- 6. Build an extra unit on top of your garage, or convert your home into a duplex or tri-plex; it will mean less open space sacrificed to new construction.
- 7. Install low-flow showerheads. With less water to heat, you’ll save water and energy.
- 8. Buy in bulk, and bring your own reusable containers to eliminate wasteful packaging.
- 9. Takedown your back fence. Share garden space and play areas with your neighbors.
- 10. Use compact fluorescents, which screw into ordinary incandescent light-bulb sockets but use far less electricity. Add motion-sensing switches to turn them off when the room’s empty.
- 11. Ventilate with air-to-air heat exchangers. They pre-heat fresh air coming in with waste heat from the "old" air circulating out.
- 12. Plant deciduous shade trees to cut summer cooling bills. Put them on the west and east sides of the house to let light in during the winter.
- 13. Bike, walk and use public transit.
- 14. Install a solar water heater; they’re often cost-effective even in cloudy areas.
- 15. Buy efficient appliances with smarter designs, like front-loading washers (they use half the water and detergent of top-loading washers). Check efficiency ratings you could save up to 13 percent of your household energy use.
- 16. Use non-toxic cleaners. Borax, vinegar, baking soda, salt, and lemon juice are a few of the many natural alternatives.
- 17. Move to a smaller house. Okay, maybe not right now, but when you do move, re-examine how much space you really need and how close you are to work, and the services you need.
- 18. Tune-up your car. Without the required maintenance, it can lose up to 9 percent of its fuel efficiency.
- 19. Separate recyclables, and recycle ’em.
- 20. Landscape with edible plants. Decorative cabbage, fruit, and nut trees are lovely in the yard.
- 21. Upgrade/service your furnace. Newer models are usually more efficient. Cleaning and adjusting your furnace also makes a big difference.
- 22. Eat lower on the food chain. Meat, eggs, and dairy products require disproportionately more land, water, and other resources to produce than they return in food value.
- 23. Carpool and combine trips.
- 24. Talk with your neighbors. If you find you don’t have time, cancel a trip to the shopping mall or put the TV in the basement.
- 25. Install faucet aerators. They work like low-flow showerheads; most have an on/off control to let you cut off the water while soaping up.
- 26. Store rainwater; use your roof as the collector. It’s clean, it’s free, it’s great for your garden or yard, and it doesn’t take energy to pump it to your house.
- 27. Caulk and weatherstrip, and insulate walls and ceilings. Local utilities will often subsidize bringing older houses up to current standards.
- 28. Fix leaky pipes. Even small ones can waste thousands of gallons of water a year, and most can be easily repaired by replacing worn parts.
- 29. Start a community garden in an unused open space. Buy your food from local growers.
- 30. Install low-flush toilets and drop from six gallons per flush to one and a half. It saves money as well as water, by cutting utility bills and/or septic tank service calls.