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1- Check your car’s tire pressure. If the pressure is incorrect, your car will use more fuel. You can buy a pressure gauge for less than a dollar in Walmart; there are many models, but even the most basic ones do a good job. Check the pressure every week.
2- Bring your own shopping bags to the supermarket. It is not always possible, but you can try by leaving empty bags in the car. You can use bags from previous shopping or buy cloth bags.
3- Use you library as much as you can for magazines and books or the Internet as you are doing now. If you do buy books or magazines, try to sell them or give them away. Only if you can’t, then make sure that you separate your garbage and put them in the recycle bin.
4- Change fluorescent light bulbs for energy efficient bulbs. They save money and energy.
5- Reuse. This is more important than recycling. Before you dispose something off, try to find new uses. Just to give an example. Instead of buying those peanuts to protect your gift in a package, you can simply use newspaper rolled into small balls.
6- Avoid, to the extent possible, using disposable plates and cups. When you are having a party, it is tempting to use them but they are very expensive in the long run and a total waste. Yes, it will take some effort to clean the dishes but it is well worth it. Plus, I don’t like eating in cheap, paper plates. You will look like a better host, if you serve your meals in pretty dishes.
7- Be mindful of water, electricity, and other utilities that you use.
8- Pick a laptop over a desktop. Try to minimize how many appliances you need; very few people need two refrigerators. It is better for your health to go more often to the supermarket and always eat fresh.
9- Avoid printing, whenever possible. If something can be done electronically, do it. You can even file your taxes online, bank online and do many other chores that require printing and/or use of paper. Reuse paper and use paper that has already been printed on one side to print non-important documents.
10- Plant trees or help organizations that plant them by making a donation.
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