How Green Are You?

At www.thedailygreen.com, the consumer's guide to the green revolution, you can take a little quiz to find out just how "green" you are.
Go to: http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/how-green-are-you

Here's a list of the first 5 steps they suggest that you can take to get started.

1. Bag it! - When you go shopping bring your own reusable bag.

2. Save on electricity - wash in cold instead of hot and line dry, use the toaster oven when possible instead of the bigger electric stove, open windows and let the light in, turn off unneeded lights & appliances, and unplug unused electronics.

3. Save on gas - Combine trips and avoid rapid, unnecessary acceleration while obeying the speed limits. Make sure to keep your tires properly inflated and get regular tune-ups. Every gallon of gas you burn produces 19 pounds of carbon dioxide, so conserving helps in more ways than one.

4. Shop a farmer - What does that mean? By shopping to help support your local farmers they won't be forced to sell off their land to developers. It also decreases the amount of "food miles" meaning the amount of fuel used to bring it to market, and you'll have fresher food!

5. Water smarts - Drink water from the tap. Bottled single-use water requires more energy to produce, store, and transport. Barely 20% of the bottles end up getting recycled and they are made from petroleum. Buy a stainless steel reusable bottle so you don't have to worry about chemicals leaching out of the plastic over time*.
*See: http://www.thedailygreen.com/living-green/blogs/organic-parenting/4600