"What more can I do to conserve energy and water to keep our earth green?" you ask.

You can start by driving to conserve. When you must take the car out, start and stop gradually. Jackrabbit starts and stopping on a dime are huge gas wasters. Roll to a stop gently and accelerate slowly. Take your foot off the gas a block away if the light turns yellow ahead of you and roll into the stop. This will not only save the energy of your momentum, your break pads will last longer too. Keep your tires inflated to the optimal PSI (pounds per square inch). Check your tire pressure at least monthly. Not only will this simple practice save your gas but your tires will last longer for it. Now that's a win/win. Use a bicycle or walk when ever possible. You get exercise and and you save on gas, another win/win.

When you need a light, be it for the barbecue or your cigar, use a wooden or paper match instead of a lighter. Lighters waste fuel and the packaging that comes with the lighter is wasteful as well as being non biodegradable. Expensive lighter fuel is made of raw material that would be better conserved. Matches, paper or wood are the better choices. They burn only themselves and their packaging is recyclable when you are finished or it can decompose in the land fill if your forget.

Use cooking pots that fit your stove top burners. Too small a pot allows the heat to rise up around and away from the pot instead of heating the pot. If you have only a small bit of food to heat; use the microwave or use a shallow but large bottomed pot to heat it on the stove. When you use a too small pot to cook in the summer you also need to run your air conditioner harder to compensate for the heat you are adding to your home.

Wash your laundry and your dishwasher loads with powdered detergent instead of the liquid products. Liquid detergent contains a high percentage of water that needs to be transported and they are packaged in plastic in order to get it all to you. A powdered detergent can be packaged in a lightweight cardboard box which is more readily recyclable than the plastic bottle that liquids come in. Liquid's plastic packaging, unlike the cardboard option, if left un-recycled, will be around through the next millennium. Use cold water to do your laundry. Your water heater will need to use less energy in order to heat the water and your cloths will come out just as clean.

Keep your lint trap in your dryer clean, give a sweep with your fingertips after each load

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