Startling Facts and Tips About Becoming Eco-Friendly

1. If American households went online to view and pay their bills, it would save over 16 million trees. Find out what services and options are available to you.
2. Use public transportation whenever possible. Every year, public transportation reduces gasoline consumption by 1.4 billion gallons--- that's equal to 108 million full tanks of gas.
3. If just 10 percent of U.S. households attached shut off nozzles to their outdoor hoses, we'd save enough water to fill over 128,000 bathtubs - everyday.
4. Most baking instructions tell you to preheat your oven. Never do so for more than 10 minutes. If everybody reduced their oven time by an hour per year, we'd save enough energy to bake a billion cookies.
5. Moving your heater's thermostat down 2 degrees in winter and up two degrees in summer saves over 2,000 pounds of Co2 emissions-which is over $100 on your annual energy bills.
6. Insulating your home's attic, pipes, ductwork, and floors can save 25 percent on your energy bill. Ask a professional to help make your home more energy efficient.
7. In the course of a year, if everyone in the US composted their kitchen scraps instead of sending them to the trash, the organic waste diverted from landfills would cover the entire city of San Francisco.
8. Next time you travel, consider a permanent tag for your luggage. If travelers in the U.S. stopped using paper luggage tags during their trips, 60 million sheets of paper could be saved per year.
9. Consumers will throw out about 400 million electronics this year. Sell, donate, or recycle your old electronics rather than throwing it away. Check your area for drop off locations.
10. Use leftover paper or plastic bags for your trash can. When one ton of plastic bags are reused, the energy equivalent of 11 barrels of oil is saved, and 17 trees are spared.
11. Did you know that 40% of our energy consumption and carbon emissions come from our homes, offices, and schools? There are simple steps you can take to reduce your energy use, save you money, and grow our economy. Speak to your local utility company about a free energy audit today.
12. Set your outside lights on timers or motion sensors. Reducing usage on a single outdoor floodlight can save you up to $120 a year in energy costs.
13. Recycle your newspapers whenever you can. Each year, 10 million tons of newspaper are not recycled, but thrown away in landfills. If we changed this habit together, we could save up to 75 million trees.
14. Unplug your appliances when you're away on vacation. Residential households in the U.S. spend more than 5 billion dollars annually on standby power alone-which is 5% of all the electricity consumed across the country.
* Information loosely based on collective research from "Our Planet- Change is Possible" by Jeca Taudte and Tom Anderson and GREEN IT.