Today’s commercial agriculture comes with some heavy environmental costs: deforestation, soil degradation, pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions to name a few. You can do your part to address this right in your own backyard. Start a garden or food forest utilizing earth-friendly permaculture techniques.

When possible cut down on carbon emissions by choosing foods grown close to home. Frequent farmers markets and check labels at your grocery stores.

Meat has a much larger carbon footprint than plant- based food. Cattle ranching is also the number one use of cleared rainforest land. You don’t have to go vegetarian to make a difference. Start by replacing one or two meat -based meals a week.

Food waste is a huge strain on our environment. 40% of all food produced in this country never gets eaten. 25% of all water used goes towards food that is wasted. Do your part to lessen food waste by planning your meals when you shop and by eating all your leftovers.

If you aren’t composting, start today. This is one of the easiest ways to fight global warming. By keeping your kitchen scraps and yard trimmings out of the city dump, you are keeping them from turning into methane (a very potent greenhouse gas). Plus, you will be making lots of free and healthy plant food for your garden or landscaping.

As much as 25% of all recycling collected is rejected due to contamination. Visit the website for your solid waste authority and learn what belongs in your bin.

. Air travel has tremendous carbon footprint as well as non-carbon pollution. A single round trip flight from New York to London and back produces around one metric ton of Carbon Dioxide per passenger. To put this in perspective, the average American lifestyle produces about 14 tons a year. Next time you are planning a vacation, consider closer destinations and take the car instead of a plane.

Install a rain sensor on your sprinkler system. Take showers instead of baths. Run full loads only in washing machines and dishwashers. Install low-flow shower heads and toilets. These are all simple ways to conserve this precious resource.

Whether you live near a beach or not, plastics are a problem in all our natural areas. They leach toxins into water and soil, animals eat them and become entangled in them, and they take very long times to degrade. Do your part by cleaning it up. Grab the kids and treat it like a scavenger hunt. You will have fun while helping our planet!

This one is so easy and it really helps. When it comes time to replace a gas powered car, lawn mower, appliance etc. choose the electric option.

If it works for you and your budget, consider powering some or all of your home electric needs with solar panels. There are also much less expensive solar options like solar mats for heating your pool, or solar powered landscape lights.

modern thermostats for your central air and heating systems are now programmable, allowing you to set the run times and temperatures for only the times you will need them. No more wasting energy and money. Just set it and forget it.

When you leave a room, and especially when you leave the house, turn off the lights. Our electric grid is largely powered by fossil fuels so you will be saving the planet and saving money by developing this simple habit.

It takes millions of barrels of oil to make the billions of plastic bags Americans use each year. Millions of trees are cut down each year to make paper grocery bags. There is an easy way to make a big dent in these numbers. Stop using the plastic and paper bags from the grocery store. Go green by bringing your own bag.

Things like paint, cleaning chemicals, batteries, lightbulbs, automobile fluids, computers and electronics should never be thrown out in the trash. Instead, collect these items over time and make a run to your local landfill or transfer station. They will have an area where these items can be safely disposed of.

Stop washing your clothes every time you wear them. Unless you are sweating a lot or actually getting dirty, your clothes will be just fine to wear several times between washes. Prolong the life of your wardrobe and lower your water and power bill with this simple practice.

Don’t buy dry clean only garments. The dry cleaning process utilizes chemicals that can be bad for us and bad for the environment. Skip the chemicals and skip the high prices by choosing clothing that can be washed.

Wash clothes with cold water only. Hot water heaters use lots of electricity (or gas). Estimates are as high as 20% of your household power consumption. Lower your bill and your carbon footprint by eliminating their use in your laundry routine.

Take your car to the carwash. Washing your car at home uses twice as much water on average as taking it to the carwash. In addition, when you wash your car at home, the soap, chemicals, and metal particles run into storm drains which drain into aquatic ecosystems. If you must wash at home, chose biodegradable soaps only and rinse off over the lawn, not the driveway.

Pick an environmental charity and donate. Consider gifting donations instead of presents on holidays. Hold a garage sale to raise funds. Organize a 5k run. Have a bake sale. Whatever works for you, just find a way to give back. Every dollar makes a difference.