Going Green

I was in Barnes&Noble today and saw the book, "The Green Book." I have heard some hype about it as Hollywood always seems to have someone preaching on the how good it is to be green. So here is my two cents on how me and my husband try to be green on a regular basis.

• We recycle: The city of Charlotte provides recycling bins for every home and they pick up our recycling every Tuesday (same as garbage day). It is really simple to recycle and we normally have as much recycable stuff as we do trash. Anything plastic, cardboard, glass or paper goes into our recycling bin.
• Daniel rides his bicycle 3-5 times a week to work. This cuts back on emissions from a vehicle as well as not using up as much gas.
• At the grocery store I do not put my produce in plastic bags, I leave it loose. I also recycle my plastic grocery bags - you can return these plastic bags to most grocery stores or put them in your recycling bin.
• We turn our heat and a/c unit to 80 during the day in the summer and to 60 during the day in the winter. We also try to keep windows open when the weather permits. This cuts back on energy we use regularly and it cuts our energy bill tremendously (this one I learned from my parents).
• We turn lights off when we are not using them - also learned from my parents.
• I take short showers - 5-10 minutes. This is habit from all of the years I played basketball as a teenager and had to get ready at school with a limited amount of time between morning basketball practices and classes.
• Most of the light bulbs in our house are flourescent bulbs - this conserves about 4 times as much energy as regular bulbs.

I have to admit that I have not read THE GREEN BOOK, but these are ways that we are lowering some of our bills as well as being green. What are some ways that you are green?