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are usually hardier and require less water and have the added bonus of attracting native birds and animals into your garden.

5. Saving energy not only saves money but also reduces air pollution and green house gases so use cold water with a cold-water bio-degradable detergent to wash clothes in and use the clothesline to dry clothes not the drier.

6. Insulate your ceiling to avoid losing heating or cooling and install weather stripping around doors and windows to draft-proof your house. Put on a jumper instead of putting the heater on.

7. Use compact fluorescent light globes. They last 8 times longer than normal incandescent light globes and generate far less heat using 80% less energy to produce the same light. Also adding a skylight increases internal light without the need for electricity.

8. Use solar lighting in your garden or driveway. It avoids electric cabling and costs nothing to run. Install motion sensors lights outside so you don't have to waste power by leaving lights on constantly.

9. Buy the most energy efficient appliances when you need to replace them and also think about those appliances on standby. What's switched on at your place? Your TV, VCR, DVD, stereo, computer, games console, all on standby use a fair amount of energy over a year. Switch them off at the wall.

10. Choose second hand. When renovating or decorating investigate using second hand furniture items and building materials. Recycled goods are often cheaper and come with the warmth and character that we all want in our homes.

Going green is not that hard now is it. Make it your lifestyle.

Learn more about this author, Janette Peel.
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