What you can do at home

• Turn off the lights when you leave a room.

• Use both sides of a sheet of paper.

• Use a cloth shopping bag and save the paper and plastic use for disposable bags.

• Use a mug, rather than disposable cups, whenever you can.

• Recycle everything you can: newspapers, cans, glass, aluminum containers and foil, motor oil, scrap metal, etc.

• Seek out local recycling centers that take items your curbside recycling service will not pick up (scrap paper, plastics, appliances, etc.)

• Save your kitchen scraps for the compost pile.

• Use phosphate-free laundry and dish soaps.

• Wash full loads rather than partial loads. Washing machines use 30 to 60 gallons of water for each cycle.

• Install a clothes line in your backyard and let your clothes dry naturally.

• If you must, dry clothes for 10 minutes in the dryer, pull out the items that can go on hangars and hang them on your shower curtain rod. The remaining clothes dry faster and the others air dry wrinkle-free and last longer.

• Use recycled and rechargeable batteries. Disposable batteries contain toxic chemicals and manufacturing them takes about 50 times as much energy as the batteries produce.

• Use old clothing and sheets for dusting and cleaning rags.

• Avoid the use of household pesticides.

• Clean your windows with vinegar and water instead of chemical products.

• Replace paper products like paper towels and napkins with reusable cloth versions.

• Make more foods from scratch, pasta, breads, yogurt, granola, cookies and salad dressings, with friends. Save money and unnecessary packaging by buying bulk ingredients, and have fun making tastier, healthier food.

• For take-out food and drinks, carry a mug and plastic container in your tote bag, backpack or car. Many places give discounts on drinks if you bring your own mug.

• Crumpled-up newspapers are great for washing windows.

• Don't put hazardous substances down your drain or in your trash (paint, bleach, paint thinner, furniture polish, gasoline, etc.)

• Re-use brown paper bags to line your trash can instead of plastic liners. Re-use bread bags, butter tubs, etc.

• Store foods in reusable containers rather than plastic wraps and foil.

• Save bottles and jars after use for storing small household items (pins, rubber bands, thread,) hardware (nails, screws, bolts,) or office supplies (staples, pencils, paper clips, etc.)

• Pursue personal health and well-being through diet, exercise, stress reduction, emotional health, personal and spiritual growth.

• Practice random acts of kindness. Why not smile at someone you don't know, give someone a hug, buy a cup of coffee for a street person, thank your mail carrier, etc.

• Reuse is a big part of the solution for tackling our waste problem. For example, think of repairing your shoes, bike or knapsack rather than buying new ones.

• Recycle and repair your clothes. Give old, no longer worn items to charity and thrift shops.

• Have a clothes swap with friends and neighbors. Learn how to sew and darn repairable items.

• Take unwanted, reusable items to a charitable organization or thrift shop.

• If you can, buy up as much land around your property, so the developers can't get at it, and leave it be.

• Don't try to make your property look like a French garden, but try to allow Mother Nature to do what she does best.

• Don't pave your driveway with asphalt, use stones. Crushed stones, besides being cheaper, allows moisture and air easier access to the ground (where most of nature's chemical breakdown takes place.)

• Don't think of your property as if it were your virtual playground, but as a integral part of our planet's ecosphere.

Household Cleaners

Many household products are hazardous materials. Examples include paint and paint thinners, oven and drain cleaners, mothballs, floor and furniture polish, antifreeze, rug and upholstery cleaners, and pesticides. There are organic alternatives to many toxic household products.

Buy only what you need of these hazardous materials and use them up so you won't have to worry about wastes. If you do have excess, dispose of it properly.