Report tap leaks and faulty toilets in public places

Take a shower instead of a bath

When you've finished using the oven, leave the door open to warm your home

Make sure your car has a catalytic converter

Turn off the treadmill and run outside

Paydirt

Start a compost pile! Gardens thrive when their soil is enriched with compost. And the grass cuttings, potato peels, eggshells, hair clippings, and other organic stuff you use stays out of the landfill.

Do your part: For tips, check out http://vegweb.com/composting/.

Only buy seafood that isn't threatened

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs):

Gases released by certain solids or liquids, some of which may have a negative short- and long-term impact on health. The EPA reports that concentrations of many VOCs can be up to ten times higher indoors than outdoors. VOCs are emitted by a wide array of products, including paints and lacquers; furnishings, office equipment such as copiers and printers, correction fluids; and carbonless copy pager; graphics and craft materials including glues and adhesives, permanent markers, and photographic solutions.

Water your lawn later in the evening

Speak Volume

With landfill space increasingly at a premium, it's important to minimize the volume of trash you're putting at the curb. If you can't recycle o reuse them, try to collapse cartons and boxes, flatten steel or plastic containers, and fill garbage bags completely to get the most service out of each one.

Choose products that come in glass containers over plastic

Close all windows when running your air conditioner

Switch to paperless bank statements

Try shopping at a second-hand store

Keep your fridge away from heat vents and out of the sun

For all its popularity, gold remains a nasty metal to dig and refine.

'The process is hugely destructive and wasteful,' says The New York Times, relying on land-scarring open-pit mining, and on cyanide to remove the metal from the ore. Buy antique jewelry from estate dealers or select bauble fashioned from recycled gold.

Check your forced-air heating/cooling ducts for leaks

Allow your hair to dry naturally

Don't include a cover sheet with your faxes

With a little planning, you can reduce the heaps of ribbon and wrapping paper left behind on Christmas morning. Reusable gift boxes and bags deliver cheer again and again, and some attractive boxes are gifts in their own right. Those with dainty fingers can try to carefully unwrap the gifts they receive so they can 'regift' the paper.

Replace paper napkins with cloth

Replacing paper napkins with cloth is flawless environmental etiquette, and you can toss them in with the rest of your laundry. If you choose bright colors and prints that camouflage stains, the napkins will look nicer longer – and you can probably get away with using them a couple meals in a row before washing. (For company, of course, make sure they're freshly laundered.) For green brownie points, don't buy them new; make them from fabric or old garments you have around the house – just choose natural fabrics, which will be more absorbent.

Just the Fax

Create a template to print stickers for faxes in place of a cover sheet you normally send. Slap a sticker on the first sheet of the actual message and save a page every time you use the machine.

Buy beeswax and soy candles instead of paraffin

Choose eco-friendly flooring like bamboo, cork or sisal

Teach a child to ride a bicycle

Get the Balance Right

Organic isn't always the best choice: highly packaged, air-freighted organic produce will ratchet up a hefty carbon footprint en-route. Try to find food that's seasonal, local, unpackaged and unprocessed.

Use soaker hoses or drip irrigation in your garden

When you use the ATM, decline a receipt.

Keep track of your bank balance online instead. Every bit of paper saved (along with the chemicals used to bleach it) makes a difference, especially when you think of how many receipts you could rack up over time.

Turn your heat down 2 degrees in the winter

A heady libation

The herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, and other chemicals sprayed on grapes make wine one of the most chemically intensive agricultural products around. Select organic wines and you'll help reduce the amount of poisons entering the soil and groundwater. Do your part: At www.organicwinejournal.com , you'll find an oenophile's information trove, with facts on vineyards, vintages, and much more.

Protect the rain forests

The rain forests where coffee and cacao grow are some of the most diverse – and fragile – ecosystems on earth. Do your part to keep them safe and repair damage already done by buying your organic, fair-trade chocolate and coffee from companies that are responsible stewards of the land and fair to the workers who do the harvesting.

Sometimes being green involves a little lobbying.

Speak to whomever orders the chow for your office function and provide them with a list of green restaurants or caterers as alternatives to whomever you're currently using.

Donate left-over paint to someone else's project

Manage your Finances Online

Online bill paying and banking helps avoid unnecessary energy use from paper production, printing, postage, and waste disposal.

Turn off your computer

It's just not true that shutting off your work computer at night is too hard on the machine, yet the myth persists. Make sure you power down – and unplug power strips, where applicable – every time you leave the office at night or for the weekend. And wherever you're leaving your desk for a while, turn off your monitor, which uses much more energy than your hard drive.

Front-end waste reduction

Make it a habit to think about the waste consequences of all your purchases. If a product includes several layers of outer packaging, extra bracing, and protective structures, is made of materials that can't be recycled, or just seems likely to be an early throwaway, consider less waste-intensive alternatives.

Turn your AC up 2 degrees in the summer

Use rewritable CDs and DVDs

Thaw food in the fridge rather than cooking from frozen

Use your gas mower less often.Let the grass grow a bit longer

Avoid Polystyrene

it's made from valuable petrochemicals and doesn't biodegrade; and because it's so bulky, transportation and processing is expensive, so widespread recycling is unlikely to be feasible.

Use plant-derived sunscreen

Avoid buying disposable products whenever possible

Eat fruits and vegetables in season

Wash Fewer Loads

Cutting down by just one wash per week can avoid around 50 lbs. of CO2 emissions each year. Wait until you've got a full load to avoid wasting water and energy.

Urge your employer to join 1 percent for the planet (onepercentfortheplanet.org)

Recycle your old cell phone

Light Switch

Avoid old-fashioned incandescent bulbs, which are extremely inefficient. Low energy compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) uses only one quarter of the electricity and last up to ten times longer.

Carbon footprint:

A measure of the amount of greenhouse gases produced by human activities, in units of carbon dioxide. Includes direct emissions of CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels (through transportation and energy consumption) and indirect CO2 emissions from the manufacture and breakdown of a whole spectrum of products. A carbon footprint can help you conceptualize your contribution to global warming. Calculate yours at: www.carbonfootprint.com

Don't use your toilet as a wastebasket

Choose Products Sold in Refillable Containers

and make the effort to reuse them. Ask your favorite brands and stores to stock this kind of packaging if they don't already.

Buy products made from renewable resources

Put up a 'last one out turn out the lights' sign at the office

Use daylight instead of artificial light whenever possible

Read your newspaper online

Savings on the Line

If it's feasible where you live, a clothesline is a good alternative to your energy-hungry dryer. When there's a breeze, your clothes dry almost as quickly, and with a fresher smell than any laundry product can give them.

Americans' dryers are often used as much as 28 hours a month. At that level, they consume up to 140 kilowatt hours. That's roughly the equivalent of leaving two 100-watt lightbulbs burning for a solid month.

Eliminate all harmful chemicals from your personal-care products.

Become a habitual label reader. One simple rule: If you wouldn't put it in your mouth, don't put it on your skin (the largest organ in the body, and a very porous surface). Finally, opt for minimal packaging, and use refillable containers wherever possible.

Pay your bills online

Install solar panels

Take advantage of provincial government rebates to help you upgrade your home's energy efficiency

Keep heat-producing appliances away from your thermostats

Don't dump waste down the drain

Keep a Low Profile

the average adult receives 42 lbs. of unsolicited mail a year. Register with a mail preference service and always check the 'do not pass on my address' options when filling out applications.

Avoid Single Servings

the packaging and processing that goes into them gives them a huge environmental footprint - an individual serving of coffee has 10 times as much packaging as the equivalent coffee sold in bulk.

Recycle ink and toner cartridges

Use dimmer switches

Support local farm markets

Think Globally, Eat Locally

Because produce at farmers' markets isn't shipped hundreds, or even thousands, of miles, less fuel is burned in getting it to your table.

Do your part: Even in Iowa, one of the nation's foremost agricultural centers, most fruits and vegetables are now imported. If Iowans bought just 10 percent more of their food from in-state, they could avoid 7.9 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a year.

Weatherstrip around doors

Teach your kids to recycle

Share a Ride to Work

If everyone who regularly drives to work on their own shared a ride just once a week, traffic volumes would fall by 12-15%.

Use cloth napkins instead of paper

Don't use your lawn sprinkler on a windy day

Wash only full loads of laundry

Jump on a Local Bus

and you'll help to empty the roads. A bus can carry the occupants of 20 cars, producing far less pollution and taking up far less space on the road.

Change your car's air filter every 12,000 kms

Look for patio furniture made from recycled materials

Buy an Energy Star stove

Always choose fresh over canned foods

Second Life

when they're really no longer useful, give you computer and peripherals to one of the many organizations that now recondition IT equipment for reuse by nonprofit organizations.

Replace conventional lights with LED bulbs

Take your lunch to work

Resolve to take your lunch to work as often as possible, in reusable containers, to eliminate the waste from takeout or delivery. Invest in a couple of sets of camping cutlery – a knife, fork, and spoon together on a ring, and wipe your hands with cloth napkins or cotton bandanas.

Avoid buying toys that need batteries

Acquaint yourself with the code numbers on different types of plastic containers

Choose real corks rather than plastic ones

Use kitchen and bathroom exhaust fans sparingly

Marginal Savings

There's more space on the page than you think. Your computer's common default settings are 12-point type and 1.25-inch left - and right-hand margins. Try using 11-point type, 1-inch left-hand margins, and 0.5-inch right-hand margins. You'll lose a lot less paper.

Do your part: This simple change can help you fit 27 percent more information comfortably on a page. You'll save paper and still have plenty of room on the margins.

Don't overfill your refrigerator

Switch off your computer screen each time you leave your desk

Drain a bucket's worth of water from your hot water heater

Turn down the temperature on your hot tub

Cut up plastic 6-pack holders

Don't buy products that endanger animals

Annual holiday sales in the U.S. Amount to more than $200 billion

and there's no telling how much of the product ends up on the curb. Memorable holiday gifts don't have to cost a lot of money - and they don't have to consume much in the way of resources. Learn someone's favourite tune on the piano, promise a month's worth of back rubs, or issue a snow-shoveling voucher.

Recycle your old car tires

Buy a mesh coffee filter

Open Up

Sweet spring days are made for open windows - save your air conditioners for the really hot days when you need them most. On average, cooling accounts for 7 percent of household energy use (more in hotter climates). Fans are an energy-thrifty alternative, using a fifth or less of the wattage needed fro a window A/C unit. Juice up your fans performance by placing a pan of water in front of it.

Replace your old entry doors with new energy-efficient ones

Don't use higher wattage light bulbs than necessary

Use wax paper instead of plastic wrap

Organize a beach cleanup

Ask your energy company if they sell green power. Buy some if they do.

Don't print an ATM receipt

Save your paper clips and reuse them

Power Down

Contrary to office legend, turning off your computer when you go home at night does no harm. The good it does, according to a study from Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, is substantial - one workstation (computer monitor) left on all night for a year is responsible for one ton of carbon dioxide emissions. Switching it off at night and setting it to sleep when idle during the day can reduce energy use by 80 percent.

Do your part: If every computer and monitor in the country were off at night, we'd emit seven million less tons of CO2 per year.

Buy refillable pens and pencils

After you year it in half

Although telephone books can be recycled, they shouldn't be mingled with other paper bound for the mill. The paper used to make their thin pages is manufactured from very short fibers and isn't easily repurposed at conventional recycling plants. Call your phone company or municipal government to find local drop-off points that will ferry the books to their reincarnation – as phone books.

Earth Policy Institute

The Earth Policy Institute estimates that it takes about 1.5 million barrels of oil to make the plastic water bottles Americans use each year, 77 percent of which end up in the landfill. Resolve to use a reusable container instead, and pair it with an at-home water filtration system.

Use silverware and dishes instead of plastic and paper

Flue Shot

A fireplace with an open flue creates a sizeable hole in your house, allowing heat to escape in the winter and enter in the summer. Close the damper when you don't have a fire burning and save energy.

Do your part: An open fireplace damper can allow as much as 8 percent of the heat from your furnace to escape through the chimney.

Don't hit print unless you have to at work

Set up an environmental bulletin board in your community

No bagging, no burning

what to do with all those autumn leaves in the yard? You don't want to burn them, which creates air pollution and risks wildfires in some regions. Dumping them clogs landfills needlessly. An easy answer: Go right over the leaves with a mulching mower, pulverizing them along with grass clippings for a compost-rich lawn feeding. Multiple leaf fires in any area can cause pollution similar to that from factories and motor vehicles.

Don't overdry your clothes

Buy in Season

and enjoy a constantly changing parade of produce that's locally grown and at its prime throughout the year. Eating local and seasonal could cut your carbon footprint as much as 1,500 lbs. a year.

Pick up a co-worker on the way to the work

Buy an Energy Star refrigerator

Sturdy, reusable totes for groceries are a must

but so is a versatile, take-everything bag for errands and impulse buys on the way home that folds up to a couple inches square and can live in your purse, glove compartment, or coat pocket. Practice saying, "I've got my own bag, thanks."

Use lids on pots and pans when cooking

Open the fridge door less

Bring your lunch to work in a re-usable container

Make your own Compost

Buy a simple composting bin, or make your own: a wooden frame covered with old carpet of plastic sheeting to retain moisture and heat.

Change your furnace filter

Wrap your hot water tank with a tank blanket

If you won't use it, don't buy it

Call it Off

Credit card companies and banks often sell customer names and personal information to direct marketers; it's one of the reasons your mailbox is constantly stuffed with junk. Call your credit providers and tell them you don't want your information sold; it will cut down on the amount of unwanted mail you receive and toss.

Do your part: Go to www.optoutprescreen.com or call the toll-free number 1-888-5OPTOUT to have the national credit bureaus remove your name from the lists they offer lenders.

Get rid of your second fridge

Find out what types of materials can be recycled in your area

Close the drapes to keep your house cool

Open the drapes to warm your house

Replace your old furnace

Do full loads of laundry

Run the dishwasher only when it's full

Insulate your hot water pipes

Install foam gaskets around electrical outlets and switch plates

Seal drafty areas in your home

Close your fireplace damper when not in use

Commercial cat litter is effective, but the clay in it is a product of strip-mining.

Alternatives include litter based on wheat, corn, citrus peel, and recycled newspaper. Some are flushable, which means the leavings are exposed to sewage treatments.

Make your next washing machine a front-loading machine

Use recycled building materials

Invest in green companies

Don't throw away what you can give away

Buy a used car instead of a new one

Buy eggs in cardboard cartons

Pick up trash

Quit smoking

Power down

Contrary to the office legend, turning off your computer when you go home at night does no harm. The good it does, according to a study from Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, is substantial – one workstation (computer and monitor) left on all night for a year is responsible for one ton of carbon dioxide emissions. Switching it off at night and setting it to sleep when idle during the day can reduce energy use by 80 percent. Do your part: If every computer and monitor in the country were off at night, we'd emit seven million less tons of CO2 per year.

Start an office recycling program

If you're building, build green

Despite what automakers might have you think, we're nowhere near solving the vehicle-emissions problem.

Until there are better incentives for research and development, we'll continue to buy and drive cars that contribute to global warming. Ethanol takes almost as much energy to make as it produces, and anything that runs on electricity still requires power. If your car or truck has a diesel engine, by all means convert it to run on biodiesel. But the best practice is to drive the car as little as possible, and/or hold out on buying one unless absolutely necessary.

Investigate using biofuel

Put a batbox in your backyard

Donate your old furniture to a furniture bank

Use refillable liquid hand soap dispensers

Install Low-Flow Aerating Fittings on your shower and faucets

These cut the flow in half and mix air bubbles into the water. A family of four can cut their CO2 emissions by over 400 lbs. a year by switching to a low-flow shower head.

Mark Earth Day (April 22) on your calendar

Change your car's oil every 5000 kms

Learn the difference between biodegradable and degradable

Unplug seldom-used appliances

Resolve to eliminate all commercially manufactured, chemical-laden cleaning products from your home.

Begin the transition by using a jumbo-sized box of baking soda, which you can use to scrub almost anything; you can even dilute it with water to make a cleansing spray. A short list of other nontoxic products will keep your home sparkling with zero threat to the environment.

Drive a hybrid

Print double-sided at work

Match the size of your pot or pan to the proper sized stove element

Shop at a Local Farmer's Market

This restricts the provenance of produce on sale to a radius of 100 km (in contrast to the 1,000 km plus journey of many supermarket items). Shopping locally reduces transportation costs, supports local businesses and reduces the carbon footprint of everyone involved.

Keep your freezer at least 3/4 full

Use a digital camera instead of film

Join a local environmental group

Encourage a Natural Breeze

Open windows in the evening to circulate cool air in and warm air out. Try running a large fan in the attic during the evening to pull cool air through the house. The more natural air circulation you have, the less electricity you consume using mechanical cooling.

Use the lowest octane gas recommended for your car

Reuse cardboard boxes for moving or shipping

Share a magazine subscription with a friend

Recycle or reuse glass jars

Forego fresh towels and linens in your hotel room every day

Jekyll and hide

Keep your leather accessories and upholstery in great shape without using chemical petroleum-based products. Pour a quarter cup of flaxseed oil (available at natural food stores), half a cup of white vinegar, and a drop or two of food-grade orange oil in a glass jar with a lid. Shake it up and rub it on the leather with a clean, dry cloth, one small area at a time; buff dry.

Eliminate packaging waste

To eliminate packaging waste, resolve to switch to concentrated forms of everyday necessities, such as laundry detergent, juice and bouillon cubes. Also resolve to buy dry goods like flour, sugar, pasta, legumes and spices in bulk, and avoid all products with excess packaging, recyclable or not.

Unplug your cell phone charger when it's not in use

Share this list with a friend

Install a water-conserving toilet

Grow your own Flowers

Avoid the CO2 emissions associated with flowers grown in hothouses and flown vast distances. Plant bulbs, take cuttings of long-lasting shrubs, or plant patches of native wildflowers.

Purchasing questions

Ask yourself a few key questions before making any office purchase, be it a printer, a computer, or a telephone. How long will this product last? Can we lease, share, or trade instead of buying? How much energy / materials does it use? Does it include recycled materials? Can it easily be repaired or recycled later? Advance considerations like these will help you make greener buys.

Collect rainwater to water your plants

Use eco-friendly cleaning products

Train Vines up Trellises

on the hottest side of your home train vines at least 6 inches from the wall to provide a buffer of cool air. This will help keep your home at a comfortable temperature without relying on mechanical cooling. Shading can reduce indoor temperature as much as 5 degrees Celsius.

Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth

Resolve to never drink coffee out of a paper or plastic cup again

Already have a reusable coffee mug? Buy two more. That way you'll always have one on hand, and clean, for transporting coffee you make at home or buy on the way to work.

Spring Clean

Keep the coils at the back of your fridge or freezer dust free. This will improve its efficiency by up to 30%.

Turn off the tap when shaving

Use baking soda as an all-purpose cleaner

Send e-greetings instead of paper cards

Reuse file folders at the office or purchase recycled ones

When you've attained cruising speed on the highway, always drive in the highest possible gear to maximize fuel economy. Some cars with automated transmissions include a 'sport' mode. Don't use it; this feature sacrifices fuel in favor of performance.

Be Label Conscious

When you really do need to buy a new appliance, choose certified energy equipment. Look for the Energy Star logo to ensure the appliance is meeting energy efficiency standards.

Clean your furnace filters

Bring your own mug or thermos into the coffee shop. In some places you'll even get a discount. You can eliminate the use of a PET (polyethylene terephthalate) disposable plastic cup outright.

Use a travel mug instead of a paper cup

Recycle your old electronics

Seal your Heating Ducts

If you've got forced-air heating and cooling, make sure that the ducts leading to the registers don't have leaks. This measure could save you up to 30% in energy, and as much as $300 dollars a year off your utility bills.

Use a watering can instead of a sprinkler

Don't give up on your furniture just because the upholstery is wearing out. Many serviceable sofas, chairs and love seats are broken up and sent to the landfill, or even burned, every year. Reupholster them or put on slipcovers to extend their useful life, or give them away to someone in need.

Buy an Energy Star drier

Holiday cooking seems to spawn a lot of used aluminum foil.

It may not have occurred to you, but it can be recycled, just like beverage cans. Check with your local recycling authority. Most want it rinsed off first.

Buy products with less packaging

Get off mailing lists that send you unsolicited junk

Green mooching

When you travel, staying with friends is not only cheap, it's also ecologically responsible. (Be sure you tell them so.) After all, the additional impact of your presence is apt to be small - chances are you'll be sharing rides, avoiding little toiletries and the waste they generate, not changing sheets every day, and so on. Fair's fair though - take advantage of these saving when they visit you, too.

Use shredded paper instead of Styrofoam peanuts as packing material

Sweep your driveway instead of using a hose to clean it

Sidewalk salt can harm your lawn and garden; it also runs off into storm sewers and can contaminate rivers and streams. Remove ice manually with a chopper or shovel, scatter sand or ashes for traction, or use a gentler chemical like calcium chloride.

At the threshold

Install door sweeps to close off that energy - leaking gap between door and floor. Even using a draft blocker or a rolled-up towel can help.

Buy products manufactured in a responsible manner

Don't use pesticides on your lawn

How to be green? Many people have asked us this important question. It's really very simple and requires no expert knowledge or complex skills. Here's the answer: Consume less. Share more. Enjoy life.' - Penny Kemp and Derek Wall

Give your kids soy wax based crayons instead of paraffin

Take a shorter shower

Allow cooked foods to cool before putting them in the fridge

Fending for themselves

Don't throw your crumbs to the little duckies. They'll grow dependent on handouts and cease to forage for their natural diet, which can weaken their survival skills. Eventually, no longer faced with the need to travel to warmer climates for natural food, migratory animals might forget their nomadic ways. And given too cushy an environment, they're likely to overpopulate lakes, ponds, and streams, damaging the water quality.

Fill'er up

A freezer operates most efficiently when full. When a packed freezer is opened, there's less space for warm outside air to invade. If you don't keep enough food on hand to fill the space, make up the difference with water-filled plastic jugs.

Put four people in a cab instead of two

Download software online instead of buying the CD

A winning flush

If your toilet dates back further than the mid-1990's it's probably wasting water every time you use it. Those manufactured since then are required by law to use just 1.6 gallons a shot. If everyone replaced current toilets with today's low-flush types, the country would save more than 90 billion gallons of water annually.

Buy canvas shopping bags

Slow down to 90 on the highway

Reuse paper or plastic bags to line your garbage can

Purchasing questions

Ask yourself a few key questions before making any office purchase, be it a printer, a computer, or a telephone. How long will this product last? Can we lease, share, or trade instead of buying? How much energy / materials does it use? Does it include recycled materials? Can it easily be repaired or recycled later? Advance considerations like these will help you make greener buys.

Buy an Energy Star washing machine

Dispose of leftover toxic household products properly. Better still, don't buy them in the first place. Nasty chemicals – nitrobenzene in floor polish, phenol and cresol and disinfectants, ammonia in glass cleaner, and so on – are common in such products. Many can be replaced with relatively mild substances such as vinegar, baking soda, borax, cornstarch, and lemon juice.

'Sooner or later, wittingly or unwittingly, we must pay for every intrusion on the natural environment.' - Barry Commoner

A clear stream, a long horizon, a forest wilderness and open sky-these are man's most ancient possessions.

In a modern society, they are his most priceless. -Lyndon B. Johnson

Measure the water you put into the teakettle. By using only as much as you need, you can cut the heat needed in proportion to the unused water. Also, choosing a whistling kettle prevents you from heating water longer than necessary.

Turn your computer off when it's not being used

Keep a pitcher of cold water in the fridge instead of running the tap

One quart of oil leaked into groundwater can pollute 250,000 gallons of water. If you change the oil on your own car, never dump the old stuff on the ground or into storm sewers, and don't put it in the trash, even in sealed containers. Contact your local sanitization authority for information about recycling it. If a garage handles your oil changes, ask them to take part in a recycling programs.

Set the washing machine to cold

Replace old bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs

Never overdry your clothes – it wastes energy and is hard on fabrics. Correct settings for your machine help it to run the proper length of time. If your dryer has a moisture sensor (more dry / less dry), be sure to use it. This gadget can reduce energy costs by 10 to 15 percent, and may make your clothing last longer. Also, use the machine's cooldown cycle if it has one.

Repair leaky faucets

Use your oven and stove less

Want to shine up the silverware without resorting to the petrochemicals in silver polish?

Just boil a few strips of aluminum foil in a pan with baking soda and put the tableware in the simmering water. Presto - off comes the tarnish. Dry thoroughly and buff to a high gloss.

Use a space heater instead of the thermostat

Choose light coloured roofing shingles

Many of us are in the habit of using toiletries lavishly

big dollops of shampoo, shaving cream, and toothpaste every morning. It all goes down the drain, to be dealt with by sewage or septic systems. Can you use half as much? Your purchases will last twice as long, you'll consume half as many containers, and fewer resources will be used in manufacture and water treatment.

Get extra mileage out of all those holiday greeting cards piling up around the mantel; save the fronts and recycle them as thrifty thank-you cards or gift tags. For unique wrapping paper, tape the covers or pages of magazines together; newsprint tied up with twine also make for a heartwarmingly rustic package.

If you're a carnivore, aim to cut your meat intake in half this year. Meat takes more resources to produce than other forms of protein, so it's an inefficient source of fuel.

Turn down the temperature on your water heater

Your pleasure in receiving holiday flowers may be tempered by the feeling that there's nothing to do with the vases and baskets but throw them out. Instead, try phoning local florists to see if they can use these containers. Many are glad to have them. The flowers themselves can be composted.

Take this day to set some goals for a greener year. Resolve to think twice before every purchase you make. Could you borrow it instead? Go without? If it's a must-have, consider how and of what it's made, where it came from, and how far it had to travel to you before you open your wallet.

In your home office, there may be scant need to keep up appearances

secondhand often works great for this corner of the business world. Look for used desks, file boxes, bookcases, and so on when you visit yard sales or used furniture stores. You can limit needless consumption, cut waste and even save money.

So-called air fresheners really don't improve your home atmosphere

Instead, they release chemicals that numb your olfactory nerves or coat your nasal passages with oil. A better answer is investing in a HEP air filter or opening windows for a cross-breeze. Among the substances in commercial air fresheners: formaldehyde, 1,4 dichlorobenzene, and petroleum distillates. Now what's that smell?

Buy from companies that have green policies

Use a fan instead of air conditioning

Turn off the thermostats in rooms you don't use

Bubble wrap, packing peanuts, and other shipping materials are practically made for reuse.

Set aside a box or area in the office mailroom for storing these items as they come in so they're available to coworkers. Your office manager will soon see there's really no need to ever purchase bubble wrap ever again.