12 eco-tips

By Margo Harakas | South Florida Sun-Sentinel

1. Buy recycled paper products for the home.

2. Save water. Five minutes = 50 gallons

3. Conserve energy by using power strips

4. Replace one conventional cleaning product with an eco-friendly product

5. Buy locally produced foods and shop local farmer's markets

6. Encourage employers to be more environmentally proactive. Suggest recycling programs and incentives for employees who buy hybrid cars or take public transportation.

7. Drive less aggressively. An aggressive driver uses about 125 extra gallons of gas a year.

8. Abstain from meat one day a week. If all Americans gave up meat one day a week, the savings in energy and noxious waste would be equivalent to removing 8-million cars from the roads.

9. Skip the bottled water and save money and resources by sipping what flows from the faucet.

10. Patronize your library. Borrowing saves money and by not duplicating what is already on the shelves, fewer resources are consumed and less pollution is created.

11. Unplug the cell phone charger.

12. Forget hard-copying the e-mail unless it's really necessary.