Here are 10 “green” things you can do that won’t crimp your style or your wallet:

1.    Use recyclable cloth grocery bags instead of plastic – plastic bags take eons to degrade and can be harmful to wildlife.  Cloth bags only cost you $1 and some grocery stores even give you a rebate every time you use them.  Not only that but they fit more groceries, can be used over and over again for anything and are easier to carry!
2.    Buy reusable coffee filters – you’ll never run out!
3.    Put your kitchen scraps in a compost pile – you’ll have great organic fertilizer for your garden and be making good use of your scraps.
4.    Use cloth kitchen towels instead of paper towels.
5.    Buy used items – need a new sofa or TV?  Try looking at your local consignment store or in the classifieds – you can get like new items for a fraction of the price and it keeps those items out of the landfill.
6.    Don’t print – do you really need to print that out?  Think hard before you print stuff on your computer – you’ll save a ton on ink and paper.
7.    Get your news online – instead of getting a newspaper delivered to your house, just go online and read your local news.  Almost every newspaper has webpage these days where you can get late breaking news.
8.    Work from home – if your company allows it, try to work from home 1 or 2 days a week.  You’ll be producing less carbon emissions and saving on gas (plus you’ll probably get a lot more done without your boss staring over your shoulder!)
9.    Buy local –  flying and trucking food all over the world creates a lot of pollution so if you have a local farmers market, try to support your local farmers and buy as much food as you can there.  It will be healthier for you and the environment.
10.    Turn down your water heater – most people have their water heater up too high – turn yours down to 120 degrees and make sure you but an insulating sweater around it.  This will help it run more efficiently and save you on heating your water.  For even more savings, insulate the pipes coming out of the water heater.

There’s plenty more you can do to help the environment but it can be overwhelming to try to implement too many things at once.  Try some of the tips above and, once you  have them structured into your daily routine take on more green living activities – before you know it you’ll be living a fully eco-friendly lifestyle!

Use less water.

Saving water is all about small steps, here are a few that will help save big.

- Shut off the water while you brush your teeth
- Take showers that are a minute or two shorter
- Only flush the toilet when you need to
- Only run full loads of laundry and dishes
- Buy from sustainable producers. These are farmers, ranchers, and other producers that use techniques that pollute less and use less water. You can do some research online or ask at your local organic market to find these products.

Use less energy.

If you don’t have the money to buy a hybrid car or convert your house to solar power, you can make a big difference with small changes.

- Buy energy efficient appliances.  They may be more expensive, but make up for the increased cost in lower energy bills.
- Unplug chargers when you’re not using them.  Cell phone and other chargers use up powers even if there’s nothing attached to them.
- Put devices with remotes, like T.V.s, VCRs, and stereos, on a power strip and turn it off when you’re not using them.  These devices use a lot of power to run the remote receiver even when the device is off.
- Walk or ride your bike for short trips.
-  Buy local products. It takes energy to transport food and other products across the country. Buying local not only supports your local economy, it helps them use less energy.

When it comes to saving energy and water, it’s a great idea to get the kids involved. You can even make it a game. Have them track how much water and electricity everyone is using. You can compete to see who uses the least water.  You can often count on your kids to help keep you on track when given the task.

Reuse.

Most of us know the three R’s: reduce, reuse, recycle, but when we work on conserving, we often leave reuse out of the picture. While you can often find tips on how to reuse common products from other people, what you need most is creativity. With a little thought there are many items around your home that can be reused – toilet paper holders can be used to sow seeds for the vegetable patch. And old yogurt containers can be cut into strip to make plant labels. Old food jars can be refilled with homemade foods or can make great impromptu vases.

Use environmentally friendly products. When you go to the grocery store, you probably see more and more “natural” or “eco friendly” products every time.  There are generally two big problems with these products: 1. Just because they’re more natural than regular products, doesn’t mean they’re entirely natural. 2, They’re often expensive.

If you want inexpensive, natural, safe products, why not just make them yourself. Vinegar is a great way to clean and disinfect glass and other surfaces. Need to remove stubborn stains? Just add some baking soda to your vinegar cleaner. Some quick searching online will lead you to hundreds of other natural safe home-made cleaning products.

We all knowing that going green means better for the environment, but it’s also better for you.  Conserving resources also helps save you money, which is something most of us are happy to live with.