Local action can lead to global change.

• Choose love.
• Choose compassion.
• Instead of driving, walk or bike.
• If you do drive, inflate your tires. You will get better gas mileage and emit less carbon.
• Hold a teleconference or videoconference instead of flying to meet your business partners.
• Use compact fluorescent light bulbs.
• Recycle.
• Buy foods and products with minimal packaging.
• Use cloth bags when shopping at the grocery.
• Start a compost pile.
• Plant native trees.
• Turn down the heat when you are not home or when you are sleeping. You can save up to 6% by lowering the thermostat a couple of degrees.
• Leave the air conditioning a few degrees warmer so that it runs less often.
• Buy locally grown foods.
• Use the energy saving dry cycle on your dishwasher or wash dishes by hand.
• Instead of trashing items, repair or donate them.
• Unplug unused electronics. Even when turned off these devices still consume energy.
• Try not to leave water running unnecessarily.
• Check regularly for toilet tank leaks.
• Use as little water as possible: short showers, half full baths, and a mug of water to rinse teeth after brushing.
• Hang your clothes to dry and smell the wind in your clothes.
• When disposing of paints, solvents, spot removers, carpet/furniture cleaners, glues, and lighter fluids, it is best to seal unused portions in their containers and take to a hazardous waste dump.
• Please do not dump unused pesticides onto the ground or into drains, sewers, oceans, streams, rivers, or lakes.
• Faucets that leak one drip per second can waste 20 gallons per day. Please repair them.

References and for more information:
The Nature Conservancy

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Environment Canada

EarthTrends