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Go Green, it's easy!

Idle minds
It may seem like idling uses less gas than turning your car off and on again, but it usually doesn’t. An idling car creates twice the emissions of a car in motion. Idling 15 min per weekday can cost you up to $100 in wasted gas over the course of a year. American drivers use more than 2 billion gallons of fuel each year while idling. Give the environment and your wallet a break and shut down you car if you are going to be idle for more than 10 seconds!

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. Look for other escape routes in your house as well. A window not quite closed all the way, or a space between your front door and the frame can also cause energy leaks. Try to see how many holes in your house you can plug in the next week!

Quality not quantity
When purchasing non-disposable materials, it can be worth your while to invest a bit more for longevity’s sake. Look for well-made tools, furniture, appliances and clothing. A cheap item might save you money in the short run, but when it wears out and repeatedly needs replacing over a ten-year period, the savings tend to evaporate (as the landfill gets fuller and fuller).

100 Bottles of Water in the Trash
Tap into the cheaper way to stay hydrated. Use a home water filter to nix contaminants, and get a clean-as-bottled (if not cleaner) drinking supply without pouring money down the drain. On average, tap water costs $0.0015 per gallon; just a 16-oz bottle can cost $2 at the convenience store. Baddies like chlorine, cryptosporidium, giardia, lead, and pesticide can get into unfiltered tap water, and up to 40% of bottled water comes from regular old city water systems. Americans consume more than 2.5 million bottles of water every hour, and only around 10% are recycled. Choose a lined aluminum, stainless steel, or glass REUSABLE BOTTLE instead.

Organic or just labeled
If you forget your reusable bottle and have to go for bottled, think before you drink – water can’t actually be certified organic and neither can several other consumables. If you see a company label fish, salt, or water as organic, the USDA hasn’t certified it – so why pay a premium for it? Support companies that are straight with their claims, and avoid those that aren’t.
A “100% organic” label means the product is entirely organic.
An “organic” label means the product ingredients are at least 95% organic.
A “made with/contains organic ingredients” means the ingredients are at least 70% organic.
An “all natural” claim means zilch. (Yup, you read that right.)
Organic Consumers Association – it’s campaigning to keep organic standards high