by Karen Morian
Clean out your inbox
All emails — even the ones parked in your inbox — consume power thanks to the network of data centers around the world that store and manage delivery of our communications. An average year of email could have theimpact of driving 200 miles. Simply deleting old messages will save power and shrink your carbon footprint. While you're at it, unsubscribe from unnecessary newsletters, delete unnecessary attachments and remove social media notifications.
Bring your own bag
The next time you head to the grocery store, bring your own reusable shopping bag. Try to keep one in whatever bag you use on a daily basis or attach it to your key ring so that you’ll always have one handy.
Step up to the bar
Instead of liquid soap in a plastic bottle, try a cleaner alternative: bar soap. You'll help cut back on the billions of pounds of plastic waste generated each year, including often unrecyclable pump dispensers. Seek out brands that sell glass bottles and biodegradable vials of concentrated soap. You can now also buy bar shampoos and conditioners
Stay away from endangered-animal souvenirs
When traveling abroad, avoid souvenirs made from endangered species — think ivory, tortoiseshell, reptile skins, furs or corals. Part of protecting the environment means protecting its biodiversity, and these aren't the kind of keepsakes you want to keep.
Screen your sunscreen
Shop for sunscreen that's free of oxybenzone and octinoxate, two reef-killing chemicals that make up part of the 6,000 tons of sunscreen that damage coral reefs each year. Instead look for mineral sunscreen featuring titanium oxide or zinc oxide, and/or the words “reef safe” on the label.
Wash your clothes in cold water
About 90 percent of the energy used by your washing machine simply goes toward heating the water. Save that energy by washing full loads incold water instead.
Downsize your travel wardrobe
The heavier passengers’ bags are, the more energy the plane needs to lift all that luggage. Here's one easy way to reduce the carbon footprint of your flight: Pack a lighter checked bag or just a carry on. While on your trip, take note of what you didn’t use and jot down a few ideas for how you could take less on your next trip.
Put your phone purchase on pause
The manufacture of one new smartphone — including mining rare earth elements and shipping the completed unit to stores — eats up as much energy as a decade's worth of typical phone use. Make a smarter call: Keep your current phone for three to four years. It's simply greener than buying a new one. And when it’s time to hang it up, check the manufacturer’s recycling program.
Opt for refurbished electronics
If you're in the market for a new phone or computer, consider picking up a refurbished unit. You'll keep at least one device from languishing in a landfill whilereducing the environmental impactposed by manufacturing and shipping a new unit. Perhaps from overseas. If your device is damaged beyond repair, a little research should point you to the right place to properly recycle it.
Switch to better bulbs
Ninety percent of the electricity used by incandescent light bulbs is given off as heat, which is wasted energy and money. Here's a bright(er) idea: Switch to LEDs, CFLs or halogen bulbs instead. They use as little as 20 percent of the electricity — reducing your energy bill and your carbon footprint.
Steer clear of steer
Go meat-free at least one day each week, especially avoiding beef. Beef is not great for the planet: Production of one quarter-pound burgerrequires 460 gallons of water and emits 0.126 pounds of methane— a greenhouse gasroughly 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Globally,about 15 percent of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are due to livestock, nearly two thirds of which come from cattle.
