GREEN LIVING: WAYS TO GO GREEN

An interactive guide to going green at home

55 Easy Ways to Go Green*:

1. Workouts:Try not to use fancy machines like treadmills that require a lot of electricity to work. Go outside and run, do yard work, ride your bike or go for a walk. Many workouts can be done using your own body weight as resistance inside.
2. Reduce bottled water waste: Reuse water bottles or purchase a sturdier water bottle that can be washed. If you do buy bottles of water, remember to recycle. Also, purchasing a filter for your tap water can be an alternative to buying bottles.
3. Reduce plastic grocery bag usage: Many stores sell canvas bags that can be used as more permanent transporters of groceries that don't get tossed away when you get home.
4. Decorate with nature: Instead of driving to a pricey home decorating store, look outside for inspiration for a centerpiece or garnish for your household. Fresh flowers grown in your front yard are a good way to reduce carbon emissions from traveling and save money.
5. Dine locally: Go to local restaurants for dinner. By traveling shorter distances, your carbon emissions are reduced and you are supporting local businesses
6. Buy local food: Buying food grown locally reduces carbon emissions on the transportation of the food.
7. Buy plants: Having plants in your house can help filter the air in a natural way. Instead of spraying chemicals and products into the air, fill your house with flowers and plants to clean the air.
8. Simplify your laundry: By washing your clothes in cold water and by reducing, or even eliminating, dryer usage you can cut down on a lot of electricity use. You can go even further by buying organic laundry soap.
9. Make your cocktails green: You can find organic liquors, champagne, beer and wines. Also, try using fruits that are in season for drink garnishes and try making your own mixers for cocktails.
10. Green pets: Adopting from a shelter and having your pets spayed or neutered can help reduce the amount of homeless animals. When taking care of your pet, use organic cleaners instead of using chemicals to give them a bath or clean up after them in your house.
11. Stop Idling: Every moment you spend idling your car's engine means needlessly wasting gas, as well as rougher wear on your vehicle. Idling for more than 10 seconds wastes more gas than is needed for startup. Overall, Americans idle away 2.9 billion gallons of gas a year, worth around $78.2 billion.
12. Turn off your computer: Save energy and wear and tear on your hardware by shutting down your computer at night. You'll save an average of $90 of electricity a year. The Department of Energy recommends shutting off your monitor if you aren't going to use it for more than 20 minutes, and the whole system if you're not going to use it for more than two hours.
13. Sign Up for Green Energy: More than half of all electricity consumers in the U.S. now have the option of purchasing green power from their utility.
14. Turn down the Thermostat: It definitely pays to give a thought to your thermostat, since most households shell out 50 to 70% of their energy budgets on heating and cooling. For every degree you lower the thermostat, you'll save between 1 and 3% of your heating bill. Do the same thing in reverse with air conditioning.
15. Pay Bills Online: Save natural resources - as well as late fees - by enrolling in online bill-paying options. Paperless billing not only saves trees; it also eliminates the fossil fuel needed to get all those billing envelopes from them to you and back again. Plus, you'll save money on stamps.
16. Jettison Junk Mail: Around 100 million trees and 28 billion gallons of water are used to send junk mail to Americans every year. You can stop 75% of unsolicited mail by registering on the Mail Preference Service on the Direct Marketing Association Website (for a fee of $1). Within 90 days, most unsolicited mail will stop.
17. Print on Two Sides: Know what? It's not that hard to print two sides on your computer. But even though most software programs give that option, most of us still print only on one side of the page. Consider this: the U.S. alone uses 4 million tons of copy paper annually, about 27 pounds per person. Save dough and your local landfill. Print 2-sides.
18. Carpool It!: If your drive to work is 25 miles each way and at least half is in typical stop-and-go traffic, you'll save almost 10 percent of your monthly carbon emissions by carpooling. Not to mention the gas dollars you'll save and the fun you'll have sharing office gossip with your friends.
19. Replace incandescent bulbs with CFL bulbs: Compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs use less than a third of the energy of incandescent ones, and last ten times longer. While CFLs cost more than incandescents, the price is quickly recouped by the reduction in your energy bill. Plus, each CFL can prevent 450 pounds of power-plant emissions over its lifetime.
20. Visit your local library: Instead of buying small mountains of books, CDs, DVDs and even magazines that you barely use, check materials out of your neighborhood library, or relax inside the quiet halls and browse on site.
21. Replace household products with Vodka: Yes, Vodka. The versatile spirit does have an enormous range of money-saving applications around the home, from soothing toothaches and poison ivy rashes to deterring insects, shining surfaces and cleaning clothes.
22. Use rechargeable batteries: Save money and resources by using widely available rechargeable batteries, many of which can be reused up to 1,000 times. More than 15 billion batteries are thrown away each year.
23. Freecycling: Freecycling (sometimes called freesharing) is a growing, volunteer-driven movement that makes it easy to clean out the garage without filling up a dumpster. Just register your stuff on the Web, and the neighbors you didn't know you had will take it off your hands.
24. Use a laptop instead of a desktop: Laptop computers draw only 15 to 25 watts during regular use, as compared to the 150 watts used by a conventional desktop computer and monitor.
25. Turn Down Your Water Heater: Hot water heaters are huge energy and dollar guzzlers. Lowering the temperature on yours from 140 to 120 degrees will reduce your water heating costs by 6 to 10%. Give it a try. Many people find that tweaking the dial to save energy and money can become addictive.
26. Unplug Unused Chargers: Even when they aren't charging anything, plugged-in cell phone, laptop and other chargers continue to draw electricity. Americans throw away about 8% of our annual electric bills this way, wasting billions of dollars. The solution is simple: just unplug them, or plug them into a surge protector and flip that switch when your device has pulled enough juice.
27. Install a Programmable Thermostat: Make your life easier, and cut down on potential arguments over the temperature, by installing a programmable thermostat. It allows much finer control over where the heating is set and always 'remembers' to turn down the heat at night, so the average family will save $150 a year, according to the EPA.
28. Install Low-Flow Water Fixtures: Also save water and money, and still have ample water pressure, with a low-flow showerhead, which can slash bathing-water consumption 50 to 70 percent. The devices are simple to install and start at around $8. Low-flow faucets are also a great option.
29. Upgrade to Energy Star Appliances: Energy Star was designed by the EPA to take the guesswork out of appliance buying. Look for the blue-and-white label, which means the item is at least 10-50% more efficient than standard models (depending on the class of product). That means lower energy bills and less pollution.
30. Install a Tankless Water Heater: Interested in cutting your hot water bill in half? Install a tankless water heater. It's probably easier and more affordable than you think.
31. Drive Smart and Get a Fuel-Efficient Car: In an age of high gas prices and economic turmoil, consumers are flocking away from large gas-guzzling SUVs and are snapping up smaller cars in record numbers. There's never been a better time to make the switch.
32. Tune Up for Savings: Did you know a clean air filter can improve gas mileage by as much as 10%, and can save you 28 cents a gallon? Yet nearly one in four cars needs an air filter replacement. In addition, poor alignment forces your engine to work harder (in addition to wearing out your tires), and this can reduce fuel economy by as much as 10%. Get a tune-up and replace that cracked gas cap to save even more.
33. Use Cruise: Cruise control saves you gas, as well as wear and tear on your brakes.
34. Dodge Drafts and Seal Air Leaks: Perhaps one of the easiest ways to save money around the house is to seal off drafts, which can reduce your energy bills 5 to 30 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. With today's heating and cooling prices, that amounts to real money.
35. Fix Those Water Leaks: A dripping faucet or pipe joint is more than just an auditory annoyance. Besides driving you crazy, it can really add up to substantial water waste. One faulty faucet wastes 3 gallons of water per day, reports the U.S. Geological Survey.
36. Adjust fridge and freezer temps: Refrigerators eat up the most electricity in the household. Maximize efficiency by keeping the fridge at 37° F. and the freezer at 0° F.
37. Mow-ercise!: Today's non-gasoline-powered reel lawn mowers are easier to push than the old models. Their eco-benefit: zero emissions (plus, you're getting great exercise). If you prefer a power mower, consider a quiet, battery-operated model from Black & Decker.
38. Window Treatments: Blinds, shades or curtains do more than decorate -- they can also cut cooling bills in summer and heating bills in winter. If you have lots of windows that face south and west, even inexpensive curtains or shades can help block sunlight and reduce the need for air conditioning. Hanging somewhat more expensive shades on all windows can provide even more insulation against outside temperatures in both winter and summer.
39. Lighting Motion Sensors: Although they're more common in commercial buildings, motion sensors that automatically turn off lights when a room isn't occupied can offer big energy savings in a home. They're particularly useful when installed on outdoor lights, which are often left on all night.
40. Attic Insulation: It's well known that insulating attics can reduce the amount of heat escaping through the roof. But many attics, especially in older homes, still have too little insulation -- or none at all. Properly insulating a house can save up to 25% on heating and cooling costs, according to numerous experts.
41. Three-way lamps: Three-way lamps make it easier to keep lighting levels low when brighter light is not needed. Dimmers can vary the level of illumination according to how much light.
42. LED Holiday Lights: Use light emitting diodes (LED) holiday lights to decorate your home. LED holiday lighting comes in a variety of festive styles and colors, uses up to ninety-six percent less energy, and operates at a cooler temperature than standard holiday lights.
43. Check the seals: Make sure the seals on your refrigerator and freezer fit tightly. A door seal leak allows cool air to escape, forcing your refrigerator to use more energy to keep food cold. Test the seal by closing the door over a piece of paper that is half in and half out of the refrigerator. If you can pull the paper out easily, the latch may need to be adjusted or the seal replaced.
44. Keep away from the heat: Be sure to place your refrigerator away from appliances that generate heat, such as ovens and dishwashers. Otherwise the refrigerator will have to work much harder to cool and its efficiency will decrease.
45. Lint free is the way to be: Clean your dryer’s lint filter after every load to improve air circulation and efficiency. Lint build up blocks air flow and lengthens drying time.
46. Three-way lamps: Three-way lamps make it easier to keep lighting levels low when brighter light is not needed. Dimmers can vary the level of illumination according to how much light.
47. Front load it: Front load washers are far more gentle and effective on your clothes, as well as much more energy-efficient when compared to traditional top-loading clothes washers.
48. Energy Saving Control: Take advantage of the energy saving control on many dishwashers. It turns off the heat during the drying cycle. Opening the dishwasher after the rinse cycle and letting the dishes air dry is an easy way to save energy.
49. Microwave it: A microwave oven is an energy-efficient alternative to a conventional oven. It cooks food more quickly and it uses seventy to eighty percent less electricity.
50. No peeking: Avoid “peeking” by opening the oven door. Each “peek” lowers the oven temperature.
51. Multitasking Machines: Consider a multifunction device which combines a number of operations into one device, such as a printer/fax/copier combo.
52. Choose Ink Jets: Ink jet printers can be as much as ninety percent more efficient than a laser printer.
53. LCD it: When shopping for a high definition TV (HDTV), a liquid crystal display (LCD) model can cut your TV power usage by approximately fifty percent compared to a plasma screen model.
54. Storm windows: Storm windows and doors are big energy and money savers. They can reduce heating costs by as much as fifteen percent by preventing warm air from escaping. Double-glazed and thermopane windows or even clear plastic across windows can minimize heat escape.
55. Avoid portable heaters: Avoid portable electric heaters as they are extremely costly to operate.