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kettle, boil only the amount of water required and run the dishwasher only when full. Turn off the stove or oven a little sooner than required as the food will continue to cook and consider using the microwave more often to consume less energy or a toaster oven for smaller jobs.

Similarly in the bathroom, take shorter showers and install a water saving showerhead to reduce your hot water consumption saving on the energy required to heat it. Pull the plug on rechargeable appliances including electric toothbrushes and razors and keep only plugged in when required to charge. It isn't required to go back on the charger after each use unless the battery is drained and this in turn saves energy and actually saves the battery itself by only recharging when necessary.

Unplug all rechargeable appliances when not in use to save even more energy as these actually use energy even when they are not charging their appliances. They remain warm to touch when not attached to anything so are still using energy, so unplug them and save! The cell phones, MP3 players, digital cameras and even cordless tools have chargers that consume energy even when they are just plugged in and not attached to their appliance. This doesn't include the time their appliances are plugged back in and fully recharged, but left there continuously charging until their next use.

Also consider all the electronics plugged in that are using energy even when not turned on such as the DVD's, VCR's, stereos, computer and accessories. They have display features like a clock or use some energy even when they are turned off but not unplugged, so unplug them and plug them back in only when required.

Several other easy solutions include washing clothes in cold water and hanging to dry, even if only some clothes are hung, it makes the drying time shorter and actually keeps you're hanging clothes nicer longer. Weatherize and insulate your home. Clean air conditioning filters as necessary and buy products with less packaging. There are many simple ways to change or cut back on including some that may not get much consideration.

Air travel is a large contributor to global warming that is less discussed than our vehicle usage. Many people may not be able to cut down on this or may not want to, but there are ways to decrease its contribution without even stepping off the plane. You can actually impact this in your own home. We all consume air travel energy regardless of whether we actually travel on the flights themselves.

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