I recently read an article on how to become a better eco-citizen. There are so many little things that we can do to green our homes and create sustainable communities. And it’s those little efforts that you might take for granted that can make a huge difference in our environment. 
Here are a few things we can all do:
1. Pick one or two days per week to be “no driving” days. Our cars are our biggest carbon imprint and in Southern California we have a bizarre addiction to our vehicles. Ride a bike or walk instead.
2. Take yourself off the junk mail list at dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailing and cancel your phone book. It’s not necessary and makes up 10% of our landfill waste.
3. In our homes, 40% of our water gets flushed down our toilets, so save a flush, invest in a Caroma dual flush toilet, or in the interim put a jug of water in your toilet basin to save water.
4. Choose not to participate in a culture of disposables. Reuse, recycle, see how little trash you can create, and don’t support businesses that use excessive packaging, paper, etc.
5. Choose non-peak hours (after 8 pm, before 7 am, or middle of the day) to use your dishwasher or washing machine.
6. Cut back as much as you can on watering your yard, and take responsibility for your landscaping and water use. If you’re attached to having a lawn, cut back 50% on how often it’s mowed and leave the clippings as mulch.
7. See if you can consume a little less stuff. It’s helpful to ask ourselves “Do I really need this?” when shopping in stores like Target or Costco. And if we need to consume stuff, there’s a whole world of eco-friendly products, gifts and clothing avaialbe now from sustainable and fair trade sources.
8. Last, but not least, support sustainable agriculture; not just organic, but small, local farms that take care of our topsoil and cut back on fossil fuel consumption. By buying local produce you cut down on the gas it takes to ship.
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