31. Take the live earth pledge.
32. Keep your car tuned.
Keeping your car in good working condition will make it safer and more fuel-efficient.
33. Use glass instead of plastic.
Plastic packaging leaves chemical residues on foods stored or heated in it.
34. Use organic skin care products.
35. Clean up your spills with cloth.
Twenty-seven million trees a year are destroyed to support our paper towel addiction. Clean up your spills with cotton kitchen towels or old clothes.
36. Caulk and weatherstrip doors and windows.
37. Opt for small-oven or stove-top cooking when preparing small meals.
38. Compost kitchen and garden waste, or give it to a friend who can.
39. Clean the lint screen in clothes dryers.
40. Support Organic Cotton
41. Carpool
Most cars on U.S. roads carry only one person.

11. Green your office.
12. Use natural cleaners instead of chemical cleaners.
13. Give organic.
14. Stay warm in winter by layering up.
15. Plant Trees and Turn Down the AC.
If you live in a hot place, plant trees to produce shade. Trees surrounding a house can reduce the temperature inside by 10 to 20 degrees. Lower indoor temps mean less electricity for your AC, saving you hundreds.
16. Use energy saving lightbulbs like CFLs. They might costs a bit more but they last a lot longer and are better for the environment.
17. Insulate your house.
18. Wash clothes in cold water
When it comes time to do the laundry, you can cut your energy use and washing costs in half by switching to cold water. Of course use an Energy Star washing machine.
19. If really ambitious heat your above ground pool with solar power . . . .

Leisure Peter Palm’s Solar Heating System Premium Above-Ground Kit
Heat for your above-ground or in-ground pool for free with this solar heating module. Kit includes diverter valve, mounting hardware, and two 6′ hoses and clamps.

20. Go lead free with organic toys for your children.
21. Reduce
22. Reuse
23. Recycle.
24. Drive a hybrid.
When in the market for a new vehicle, consider buying a hybrid. That will reduce your smog pollution by 90 percent compared with the cleanest vehicles on the road today.
25. Sleep in eco luxury.
26. Reduce your junk mail.
Cancel catalogue subscriptions and ask to have your name removed from the Direct Marketing Associations database.
27. Use front-loading washers. You’ll save energy and money.
28. Indulge Organic.
29. Turn off your lights when you leave a room.
30. Line Dry Your Laundry

What can I do? What can one person do? I often get this question.

The answer: a lot.

To start, here’s a list of 101 options. I’ll kick off with just a few today, but will add to the list over the next six days. If we can do just one thing . . . even the easiest one, that’s great.

The idea of a list like this is not to make us feel guilty for all the things we aren’t doing, but inform us of tiny changes in our lives that collectively can make significant energy and pollution reductions.

This list of 101 suggestions doesn’t begin to exhaust the possibilities. Figure out what works well for you and then keep going in that direction. Good luck!

1. Send memos over e-mail to save paper.

2. Turn your thermostat down three degrees in the winter.
You can prevent the emission of nearly 1100 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.

3. Switch to solar energy.
In one day, the sun provides more energy than our population could use in 27 years. Make the switch to sunlight–it doesn’t pollute and it’s free.

4. Avoid styrofoam.
It never biodegrades.

5. Use tap water instead of loading up on bottled water.
If you’re picky about your water install a water filter on your home faucet. That $5 filter will give you 40,000 8-ounce glasses of purified tap water.

6. If you have to print, use recycled paper and make double-sided copies.

7. Use a low-flow toilet.
A low-flush toilet uses half the water but still does the job.

8. Walk, bike or skateboard.
Twenty-five percent of all car trips are less than a mile long. So get on a bike or that bamboo skateboard and get some pollution-free exercise.

9. Support local farmers. On average, your food has traveled 1200 miles just to get to your plate. Shopping at farmers’ markets, co-ops and CSAs allows you to buy directly from the people who grow the food.

10. Unplug appliances.
Unplugging is the only way to make sure your appliances aren’t using energy.

6. A Sweater is Better . . . No Brainer

30 years ago, President Jimmy Carter asked the country to turn down the thermostat and “put on a sweater.” Carter wasn’t making a fashion statement, he was encouraging American’s to conserve energy during the 1979 (or second) Oil Crisi.

Sound advice never gets old, and considering US consumers are spending more than ever on energy bills, it might be a good time to heed President Carter’s advice.

According to the Alliance to Save Energy, a one-degree reduction on the thermostat will save you about 3 percent on your heating bill, so pull your sweater out of the closet and turn your thermostat down, and reap the savings.

If you don’t like itchy sweaters try a Patagonia Fleece or Jacket. Even cozy socks will keep you warm. Your kids will also like this Patagonia Vest . . . read Courtney’s review.

5. Walk, Bike, Skateboard
Think long-term with those numbers…. over 10 years, a 2-car family spends $180,000 on car-related expenses. Over a 30 year career, that works out to $540,000. By just taking one day a week off from driving you could save $77,142 that’s a college education, a major renovation to your house, an early retirement.

Even if you only replace a few trips a week with a bike or walking or carpooling, you’re doing your part to help and save on gas money at the same time. Of course, you’re also staying healthy. Walk your kid to school, bike to the corner store, carpool, skateboard, or take the bus, whatever your favorite mode of transportation, anything is better than driving solo.

The “Bambino” Professional Bamboo Mini-Longboard Skateboard is a great eco-alternative to driving. Bamboo is an excellent eco-material and sustainable alternative to hardwoods because it is a fast-growing grass that can regenerate itself in just 4 week. For more on Bamboo click here, here, and here.

4. Drive Less

The less we drive the better—for our health, for our happiness, for our wallets, for our planet. Driving contributes to global warming and the depletion of our natural resources, not to mention pollution. In addition to poor education and fast food, America’s addiction to the automobile has lead to a nationwide obesity epidemic.

The public transportation statistics are pretty shocking, but also encouraging.

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (via Grist), 88.1% of all workers in the USA reported that they used the automobile to get to work, and 79.4% of works drove alone in their cars.

According to Treehugger.com 40 percent of US reliance on foreign oil would decrease if one in ten Americans used public transportation daily.

If one in five Americans used public transportation daily, the carbon monoxide emissions saved would be greater than the combined emissions from all chemical manufacturing and metal processing industries.

Driving a car is also costly. According the United States Automobile Association, the average car costs at least $9,000 per year to own, maintain, and use. For a 2-car family that’s $18,000 per year.

3. Use Energy Star Appliances

Large or small, stainless steel or chrome, Maytag or Whirlpool? When shopping for a new appliance you’ll have a lot on your mind. No need to waste precious brainpower on energy efficiency. Choosing the most energy efficient product couldn’t be easier with Energy Star’s little blue label.

Energy Star is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy that highlights appliances that save 10-15% more energy than standard models with a blue star.

As the equation goes, less energy leads to lower utility bills and less greenhouse gas emissions. According to Energy Star’s website, “Americans, with the help of Energy Star products, saved enough energy in 2006 alone to avoid greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 25 million cars — all while saving $14 billion on their utility bills.”

A home fully equipped with Energy Star products will operate on about 30% less energy than a house equipped with standard products, saving $600 a year. I don’t need to tell you the benefits of getting back $600, but I will mention Christmas is around the corner and it would be nice to get your family what they really want this year. Then again, and if you’re pretty selfish, there’s always that Star War’s Memorabilia you’ve been eyeing on Ebay.

Going Energy Star really is a no-brainer. With 18,000 products in 35 different categories, from washing machine to printers, refrigerators to desk lamps you won’t have to worry about finding an appliance that meets your quality standards. You’ll just have to worry about what you’re going to do with the money you’ve saved.

Turning off your computer at night, is also a no-brainer. When you are done at work, school, or just messing around online, turn off your workstation—the whole thing! A surge protector works best for this.

Turning off your computer will not only prevent wear and tear on your hardware, but will also save energy, which as I’ve said 100 times before translates to saved dollars. According to The United States Department of Energy (USDE), one year of shutting down at night, will save you an average of $90 worth of electricity. That’s a lot of saving, and think of all you could do with $90 . . . go out to a fancy dinner, get a massage, see a concert, etc.

If you’re a real go-getter, the USDE also 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. The agency says time spent off extends your machine’s life, which also saves money because you won’t need to upgrade your computer as often. Bad for computer stores, good for us.

To learn more about computers that save money and energy click here.

The biggest no-brainer of all: CHANGE YOUR LIGHTBULBS! It’s easy, you’ll save money, time, and perhaps even the planet.

Of course, you’ll have to throw a bit more up front, because each compact fluorescent (CFL) bulb costs between $3 - $7 more than a regular incandescent bulb), but think of it as an investment. A compact fluorescent bulb will pay for itself in just a few months because CFLS consume up to 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs. They also last more than 10 times longer. That means less money on your energy bill, less money spent on bulbs, and less time consuming trips to the hardware store . . . we’re just too busy.

“But what about the quality of light,” annoying contrarians tend to ask. Fear not, because CFL quality has actually been rated higher than incandescent quality. According to a recent study by Popular Mechanics Magazine, subjects preferred CFL light quality to that of the incandescent bulb.

According to the National Resource Defense Council, if every U.S. household replaced just one incandescent bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb, preventing 450 pounds of power-plant emissions over the bulb’s lifetime, the amount of energy saved could light 2.5 million homes for a year. Think about how much money that would save too! Hmm, perhaps, we could eliminate the national debt . . .

So what are you waiting for? Change your lightbulbs . . . it’s a no brainer.

There are hundreds of no-brainer ways to save money while saving the planet . . . well, maybe not saving, but certainly helping. From carpooling to turning off the lights, from using energy efficient appliances to reducing, reusing, and recycling, environmental best practices are often better for your budget too.

The key to simultaneously reducing your carbon footprint while saving money is threefold. First, buy less stuff to begin with. Second, when you do make consumer choices, seek the best quality, highest efficiency product available. Three, optimize, optimize, optimize—turn idle appliances off, put electronics on the lowest energy setting, and keep devices clean and filtered so they’ll run more efficiently and last longer, ultimately saving you money.

We all need a little motivation once in a while. If doing good by the planet isn’t enough to keep you in eco-check, then consider the financial benefits.

This week I’ll give you The Top 5 No-Brainer Ways to Save Money While Saving the Planet with tips on
Changing Your Lightbulbs
Optimizing Your Computer Settings
Using Energy Star Appliances
Greening Your Transportation
Lowering Your Heating Bill
And Obviously Saving Money
Stay tuned for a plethora of pound-stretching planet-savers.