Here are a few changes you can make to your daily routine that will help lessen your impact on the environment…  

1.  Use a reusable coffee mug.  According to SustainabilityIsSexy.com Americans use roughly 16 billion paper cups every year.  1.9 billion are from Starbucks alone!  By bringing your own mug you can greatly reduce that number, plus most coffee shops offer discounts when you use your own mug, Cha-ching!  You can learn more about coffee cup waste and the movement to reusable mugs at SustainabilityIsSexy.com.

2.  Take a shorter shower.  Unless you specifically buy a low flow shower head, you shower head could be using anywhere from 7 Gallons per minute (for an old school nozzle) to 2.5 GPM (newer heads).  Even if you are on the more efficient 2.5 GPM side you can save a considerable amount of water by cutting down your shower time.  If you cut your showers from 10 minutes to 5 minutes everyday that is a savings of over 4,500 gallons of water a year.

3.  Get a reusable water bottle.  It’s great that you recycle and you may take pride in dragging your giant bin of plastic bottles down to the curb every week, but that recycling still takes a considerable amount of energy.  You can reduce the amount of bottles that are being used by getting yourself a Nalgene (now BPA free) or a Sigg reusable bottle. 

4.  Park the Car and ride your bike or walk to work.  Not only will you be reducing the amount of road congestion, and CO2 released into the air, the exercise will make you feel great.  If you have an hour drive to work everyday, walking may not be the most practical alternative, so carpool.  Assuming you like your co-workers it can make the commute more enjoyable. 

5.  Eat less red meat.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying you have to become a vegetarian, that’s not for everyone, myself included (love steak!).  Just try eating red meat one less day per year.  The cattle industry is a big contributor to global Greenhouse Gas Emissions and cutting back on your red meat intake can help curb that impact.