Eliminate unwanted catalogs.  Catalog Choice is a free service that lets you decline mail-order catalogs that you don't wish to receive, reducing unwanted mail and helping to save the environment.  Sign up at catalogchoice.org

Energy-Saving Tips from Consumer Reports

We all turn to Consumer Reports when we are thinking about purchasing a new car or vacuum cleaner, but did you know that they have published a "Complete Guide to Reducing Energy Costs"? Consumer Reports has made an excerpt from the report available on their site, called 20 Free Ways to Save Energy, which include using a crockpot, getting rid of that roof rack, and more! You can read the report here.

Say NO to plastic bags.

Plastic bags are, by some estimates, the single most ubiquitous consumer item on Earth, numbering in the trillions. They are made from petroleum or natural gas.  Every year, Americans throw away some 100 billion plastic bags after they've been used to transport a prescription home from the drugstore or a quart of milk from the grocery store. It's equivalent to dumping nearly 12 million barrels of oil.  Only about 2 percent of plastic bags are recycled in the U.S. -- and the rest, when discarded, can persist for centuries in landfills or, perhaps even worse, become litter that can wash into rivers and bays and end up in the ocean.  According to the Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation, more than a million birds and 100,000 marine mammals and sea turtles die every year from eating or getting entangled in plastic. 

"Just say no" and "BYO" are two ways to reduce plastic bag use while shopping. For more tips, check out the Boston Globe article "9 Ways to use one less plastic bag".