Instructions

1

Turn off and unplug electronic devices at night. All electronic appliances use electricity even when they are turned off. This creates tremendous amounts of waste that can easily be avoided, especially at night. When you are finished with your appliances, be sure to unplug them until you need them again. Alternatively, if you have them plugged into a power strip with a switch, you can turn off the power without having several loose cords dangling about. Cutting electricity this way is not only good for the environment, but saves on electricity costs and usage as well.
2

Buy your groceries locally. Shipping goods like food over national borders costs tremendous amounts of energy. Between all the energy it takes to farm food, keep it fresh and transfer it to your grocery store, the electricity and fuel burned is incredible. Buying locally, however, eliminates the shipping and storage costs. Moreover, locally grown foods will require fewer unhealthy preservatives and buying them will support the local economy. You might not have a local farmer's market or grocery store nearby, but even most major grocery chains will advertise where produce and meats were shipped from; try to buy as close to home as possible.
3

Minimize your vehicle usage. It is easier to live without a car in most cities than it might seem. Cars not only produce a great deal of waste and burn through a limited resource, but they also force urban design to adjust to them. The proliferation of the automobile has forced urban planners to build large, sprawling, inefficient cities to accommodate the usage of cars. Public transportation is often efficient and cost-effective enough to get you where you need to go and in circumstances where you need a vehicle, you can always rent one. If you must have a car for work or because you live outside a city, try to drive less and carpool whenever the option is available.
4

Get in touch with your government representatives. It might not seem like much, but elected officials exist to make sure that your needs and views are being represented in government. It takes only a few moments to write a letter to your government's office insisting that its office consider matters of environment in its policies. Joining local groups increases your chances of getting heard and being taken seriously. As environmentalism becomes a more important issue to governments, matters of sustainability are being more closely examined by politicians.