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| Remember,
little things add up. Turn off extra lights. Put recycling
wastebaskets throughout your home and office. Turn off office
equipment overnight and on weekends. Wear a sweater when
you're cold and open a window when you're warm.
Here
are other quick and easy tips.
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Replace
high-energy-use light bulbs, fixtures, and equipment. The
quickest thing you can do is to switch to low-energy use light
bulbs. Next, if you have old equipment, it may be time to
upgrade. And there may be money available to help. Check with
your local utility company for rebates, loans, or grants to
enable you to transition to energy-efficient equipment.
Buy
environmentally-friendly products. The market for non-toxic
supplies has exploded, giving you more affordable choices in
items such as cleaning supplies, inks, and other materials.
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Buy recycled products. Look for "post-consumer
waste" products, including stationery, packaging
materials, paper towels and other kitchen and bathroom
supplies. This keeps waste from ending up in landfills.
Reduce commutes. For most
businesses the biggest energy impact comes from commuting.
Encourage carpooling. Perhaps some employees could telecommute
work from home a few days a month or work four 10-hour
days instead of five eight-hour days. When relocating, look
for sites near your home or public transportation and where
employees can be recruited nearby.
Conduct more of your
business online. Do you really need to take the trip to the
bank to transfer funds? Can you send a document via e-mail
rather than by delivery service? That's a lot less expensive
as well as reducing overall fuel consumption.
Open the windows or doors.
When the weather permits, before turning on the air
conditioning, do something as simple as opening the windows
and doors.
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Buy hybrid cars. When buying
a new vehicle for yourself or for your business, look for cars
or trucks that are energy-efficient, especially hybrids.
Regardless of the vehicle, make sure your cars and vans are
well maintained and tires are properly inflated. That reduces
energy use.
Fly rather than drive.
Driving emits twice the CO2 that flying does. Sometimes its
actually cheaper to fly to places nearby rather than paying
for the gasoline to drive there.
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| Reuse your junk mail. Use
the envelopes to write your grocery lists on.
Plant a tree or have
someone else do it for you. The average person is responsible
for emitting 94 pounds of carbon dioxide every day. It takes
four trees, which act as natural air filters, to offset the
carbon dioxide each person generates in a month. For each
dollar donated, American Forests plants a tree. For more
information and to plant trees, visit www.americanforests.org.
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Engines Off. Instead of
idling your car while your waiting on someone outside, turn
your engine off. Idling 10 minutes less per day can keep 550
pounds of carbon dioxide out of the air every year.
Bring a shopping bag
- Bringing your own bag when shopping saves plastic bags. Dr.
Delphinium provides reusable jute bags.
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