Beholdance

	Educate the children in your life by reading 'The Old Turtle' by Douglas Wood or 'Dear Children of the Earth, a letter from home by Schim Schimmel or even 'All God's Creatures Go To Heaven' by NA Noel.

	Use Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs. (If every American household were to swap just one bulb we would save enough energy to light more than 2.5 million homes for a year and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of nearly 800,000 cars.

	Monitor Your Thermostat and make the two degree pledge. Move it up from your standard by two degrees in the warmer months and down in the colder months

	Clean or Replace Your Air Conditioning Filter. Keeping a clean filter can help with your energy bill as well as with allergy causing particles. This not only can help with the health of your home and take less out of your pocket. It will help cut greenhouse emissions.

	Unplug. Even if the unit or applicance isn't turned on doesn't mean it's not using power. Take the unplug pledge and turn them off and unplug. The average household can save up to several hundred dollars a year just by unplugging the energy drains.

	Go Low-flow. Install a low-flow shower head with a shutoff valve. This will save on water and heating bills.

	Drive Smart. Consider consolidating your route or carpool. Skip the drive-through window and park and walk inside. Get an annual tune up. You'll get better performance and save in mileage. A faulty oxygen sensor can cost you 3 miles per gallon. Spark plugs and dirty air filters can cost you up to 4. Loose gas cap can add up to 2 miles per gallon. Walk or Bike. Better for the environment and better for your health.

	Go Meatless (once a week or more): Each calorie of animal protein requires 78 calories of fossil fuels to produce. Water associated to livestock including feeds is about 1/2 of all the consumed water in the US.

	Buy Local; buy in season. Consider the road miles associated to your food. Finding a local farmer's market can be beneficial to the environment as well as to your diet as the food is more fresh and better for your health.

	Lights. Turn off the lights when you're leaving any room and take avantage of any natural light where you can.

	Computers. Make it a habbit to turn off your computer and the power strip it's plugged into when you leave for the day. While on a break set your computer to sleep so it cuts the energy requirements. Screen Savers do not save energy!

	Print smart. We all know paper is a huge drain on planet resources so be smart in your needs. Print on both sides of a page and use draft modes where possible. Consider lighter stock paper made of bamboo, hemp, organic cotton or kenaf. Recycle toner and ink cartridges and buy remanufactured. Office Depot says each remanufactured toner cartridge keeps approximately 2.5 pounds of metal and plastic out of landfills and conserves about a half gallon of oil. Go paperless when possible and consider if you can store or view your documents/statements online. Printing as a PDF is a nice option for computer users.

	Take your own Tote. For small goods, carry your own bag and stop the paper or plastic.

	Consider indoor plants. These little helpers can remove indoor air pollutants.

	Recycle recharageable batteries. In some states it's illegal to toss them out. Take advantage of the stores that will recycle them for you. www.rbrc.org

	Fridge settings. Refrigerators are high energy expense items. Maximize efficiency by keeping the fridge at 37 and the freezer at 0.

	Toss out. instead of paper plates, consider alternatives or smart usage. If you have to go paper or plastic, find a neat way to identify your cup and utilize just one.

	Roofing. If you need to replace your shingles, consider a classic metal roofing system. The energy Policy act of 2005 gives a $500 tax credit.

	Grill corn in its husk - no foil required and taste even better

	Switch to Organic. Go organic on at least one item you purchase weekly

Becoming A Hero For The Planet