Some families have found the following idea useful. It’s a simple trick that you use when you go grocery shopping or at the beginning or every work day.

Make a list.

That’s it, just make a list of all the ways you’d like to change your life and home to be more environmentally friendly.

You know when you sit down at your desk or computer every morning it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. If you start randomly doing tasks you’ll manage to put out a lot of fires and resolve immediate issues. But sometimes the priorities are left behind. To avoid that, you make a list of things you must do to keep your business running smoothly and productively.

Plus, we all know how good it feels at the end of the day to see a list with all the items crossed out. Whether it’s done by computer or on an old-fashioned spiral notebook, it’s uplifting to see your “to do list” is all done.

So why not take the same strategy with your goal to be more eco friendly? Here’s a few of the ideas you could jot down on your list.

• Replace light bulbs with more energy efficient types
• Check prices on more energy efficient A/C and heating units

Set dates to purchase newer units

Make a plan to save money to finance purchases

• Replace thermostats with programmable thermostats.
• Take unusable clothes to Goodwill or Salvation Army.
• Replace outdoor lighting with solar powered lights.
• Hold a garage sale and clear out some clutter.
• Find some good Yoga or Pilates DVD’s and start working out regularly.
• Find a source that sells many environmentally friendly products in one place.
• Buy a water purifier so you can stop buying plastic water bottles.
• Start giving to a charity that supports earth friendly causes.

These are a few examples of steps your family could take to be more environmentally friendly. By listing them out you can prioritize which steps to take first. Make sure your children feel they are part of the plan. Explain to them why it’s important to take care of the Earth and it’s resources.

As you scratch each item off your list, you and your family will be one step closer to eco friendly living.

Working at home is automatically a great way to help the environment. You have no long commutes. You need fewer clothes and you can dress casually. You’re not using up energy and resources at a separate office location. But those are only the start. How can you become more eco friendly and encourage your clients to do the same?

• A major way to help the environment is to cut down on paper use. With all the electronic options available today this is easier than ever. You don’t have to place a paper report in a paper envelope and then mail it across the country. You can scan it or email it and you’ll save paper, time, and postage. You can do this with reports, invoices, letters, almost anything that you use to send snail mail. And your clients can return information to you by the same electronic process. It’s also good to buy paper that’s made from recyclable materials.
• Companies use to spend thousands of dollars printing up full color brochures. You had to buy huge quantities to get any kind of price break, and they’d usually be obsolete before you got them all distributed. But WebPages have changed all that. You can put all the information you would normally put on a brochure plus a lot more and you can keep it current.
• You can also send you company newsletter by email or as part of your webpage. This also saves paper and postage
• At one time a business executive might spend the first half hour of his day reading through newspapers to see if there’s any current news relevant to his business. By reading those papers online it’s more convenient plus it’s another way to cut down on wasted paper.
• Holding teleconferences is another way to cut down on energy use. Instead of driving across town to meet with someone you can hook up the webcam and save time and gas. Skype is a popular choice for this.
• Recycle your toner cartridges. It seems like a small thing, but with printers and copiers it’s easy to use more than you realize. Some stores, such as Staples, will pay you $3 for each cartridge you return.
• Install energy efficient light in your office. Turn your computer and printers off at night.
• Save packing material to reuse later.
• Remember, that to keep yourself healthier you need to get up and walk away from your computer for at least a few minutes every hour. This will help your eyes and your back and neck. Set up regular exercise times during the week.

By making your home office as green as possible you’ll not only help the environment, you’ll improve your companies bottom line by cutting down on waste.

You can make your office friendly environmentally by making a few simple changes.

Let’s see now, are those reasons really valid? Was the positive side included? Was that balanced? Did we consider the “pro” side or simply the “con” side? Maybe we ought to look into that. Let’s consider 5 reasons why you should strive to reduce your carbon footprint, just to decide if any one of them fit here.

First, everyone, from people, factories and even states leave a carbon footprint. This is just the quantity of carbon dioxide that everybody emits and you cannot help it, but you can minimise the size of your own carbon footprint. O.K., I will accept your objection that it is no good only one or two people reducing their footprint, and that maybe you will wait until your neighbors have made their reductions first before you will think it will make a jot of difference. Yes, that is a valid observation, but examine it this way, if nobody makes a start, what sort of a life will be left for your grandchildren. And moreover, one should consider where all the resources to feed our huge need for more consumption will cone from, once the earth’s resources are all used up

Second, you should be aware that our main carbon footprint is the carbon dioxide that’s emitted by burning ordinary mineral oil and coal etc fuels. These are emissions we have direct control of by controlling things like our automobiles and electricity use. The chief reason behind that is the huge numbers houses to heat and cool these days, and the millions of cars being driven daily on our roads. Plus Our secondary footprint is the emissions from the entire life cycle of products we consume.

Third, it is fact that quite simply the more product we use, the more emissions are produced in our behalf. Plus you can find out just what your carbon footprint is every year quite easily, using the web. A Google search of the term “carbon footprint calculator” will generate many sites which will help you work out your carbon footprint. Easy calculators ask stuff like what type automobile you drive, how many miles and what type of home you occupy!

Fourth, as we have gotten more environmentally conscious, we are searching for paths to reduce our levels and for techniques to reduce our levels of greenhouse gasses. There are countless thousands of ways to do that, some extremely simple and others that would only come about if we forced ourselves to make an important effort

And Fifth, everyone needs to be aware about the vital need to reduce these greenhouse gasses today.

Once you’ve had a chance to go over the reasons, and consider them, you’ll find that a decent case can be made in favor of made for us all to strive to reduce your carbon footprint.

Now, after all that, what do you say? Isn’t that info persuasive? What if you really could strive to reduce your carbon footprint?

Once you examine all of the reasons and evaluate them, you will need to admit that a very compelling case can be made for beginning to consider the best way to strive to reduce your carbon footprint.

Just think it over. Maybe, just maybe, you truly, in all seriousness, ought to strive to reduce your carbon footprint.

One example of the efficacy of conservation laws is Alaska’s fishing industry. A few decades ago, many fish populations in American waters were being driven down by overfishing. Commercial and casual fishers could go out whenever they wanted, wherever they wanted, and catch as much as they could by whatever means they chose. This made for some sketchy fishing practices, and populations began to die off. Some states realized that they needed to take matters into their own hands and protect the fish, and Alaska pioneered the way.

While some of the Alaskan governments reasons for protecting the fish’s ecosystem were purely environmental, the conservation laws help keep the state’s economy healthy as well. Fishing is one of the biggest industries in Alaska, and if it were to die out, thousands would lose their livelihoods. Entire communities would wither away without income or purpose. So in a certain sense, the very commercial interests who sometimes resist such sustainability initiatives are actually the ones with the most to lose (or win).

What’s more, another huge industry in Alaska is tourism. Thousands of people from around the world come to the state every year to see its national parks, its glaciers, its vibrant Native American communities, its remote and isolated islands, and more. If a fish species dies out, an entire ecosystem is touched, and it can create a domino effect that will ruin some of the state’s greatest treasures.

So Alaska instituted conservation laws around fishing like limiting the amount that can be caught and when fishers can go out on the waters. The state is now leading the way in terms of environmental efforts, and its fishing industry is one of the strongest in the country.

For those who are in charge of businesses, it makes sense to consider the great impact you can have by taking one simple step: the decision to recycle company laptops rather than tossing them aside. And unlike when laptops first hit the market, now there are more than enough resources that make it easy to ensure that laptops aren’t simply getting tossed in the trash later rather than sooner. It’s possible to find countless resources online that will make it incredibly easy to recycle company laptops without spending too much time driving them somewhere to drop them off. A lot of those online resources will also find a great way to put the same machines to good use. Sometimes, a computer might not be suitable for a big business anymore, but it can go to a great cause elsewhere. Much in the same way that old donated cell phones are used to help out women in shelters around the country, the right laptop in the right hands can be more than just a gadget for work, but a crucial tool for success and safety.

It makes more sense for those in the business world to take the choice to recycle company laptops seriously on their own, but it’s important to remember that anyone with a company can make this choice. A lot of people who freelance from home, as well as those who run smaller companies, end up finding themselves with more technology than they are actually using. And while someone starting out might think that’s impossible, the fact is that a couple of years of working can certainly add up as far as gear is concerned.

Making sure that it ends up somewhere great is more than just a business obligation, but a moral one, too. After all, while a business owner debates about whether or not it’s actually necessary to recycle company laptops, there are plenty of people who are fretting about not being able to afford any kind of technology in the first place. Helping out starts with not holding onto those things that aren’t actually helping one out. Plus, sometimes there are tax write-offs involved, or additional funds that can be used towards upgrading the system for the rest of the office or workforce.

The most affected, of course, are those residing in or near the spill zone. Livelihoods have been decimated and the environmental impact is unprecedented. The Arab producing nations must be having a good time with this one. The risks involved in deep water drilling aren’t something they have to worry about in their own back yards. But it’s a huge problem for us, not only the present situation but also the prospect of things to come regarding future drillings.

A brief sound bite found the newly elected Prime Minister of the U.K. denying any responsibility for British Petroleum’s faults or subsequent reactions to the recent BP oil spill. Who can blame him? Just because he’s the leader of the British doesn’t mean, in any way, that he shares any of the blame, but he’s still taking some heat on this one.

The real culprit in this debacle is a company motivated by maximizing the number on their bottom line, even at the risk of unsafe construction and/or conditions. They knew there were problems. Internal documents revealed through the Freedom of Information Act have turned up all kinds of evidence pointing to their negligence and unacceptable risk-taking.

The BP oil spill is the result of the actions of a company more interested in protecting profits than protecting the environment. At least with the Exxon Valdez incident it was only one inebriated ship’s Captain to blame. Here the fault lies with the entire deep-water drilling industry. There are lots of deep-water wells out there in the ocean and they’re all being operated within the same faulty system. Which one will be next?

When your Senior Drilling Engineer warns you time and again that your equipment poses a threat of failure if not fixed it should be noted. He’s the guy you hired to tell you these kinds of things. If you disregard those warnings because of the additional costs involved and elect, instead, to take the risk, you’re culpable of negligence on a monumental scale. For BP it’s only their money and their reputation. For the Gulf Coast residents and environment, it’s more like doomsday. This area has been wiped out both environmentally and economically. Who’ll be the next in line? These oil wells are all over the place.

The recent BP oil spill disaster was probably preventable. We’ll never know. The effects of the oil well blowing up will be felt for decades, if not forever. We already know the oceans are polluted, but how much more now? And how many more of these types of accidents can be sustained? One more is one too many. And all this is just to satisfy our thirst for petroleum. Maybe deep-water wells aren’t the best alternative.

Well, hold on just a moment there. Let’s consider this. For you to consider, here’s three reasons why you should know about waste facilities.

First off, in their favor, allow me to explain that waste facilities are the places where our rubbish (trash, garbage – call it what you like) is handled, separated, sorted, processed, and recycled so that our streets stay clean and our countryside can stay clean. A landfill is just one type of waste facility. Other types are, waste transfer stations, household waste and civic amenity sites, incinerators, composting sites, anaerobic digestion plants run on waste, hospital waste processed in autoclaves, MRFs, and MBT plants, are just a few of all many waste facilities to be found in any city.

Sure, I am aware of your objection that really this all sounds very smelly and dirty and you had rather not even think about it. That which you say holds true, I agree, but nevertheless we all produce a huge amount of garbage. It has to go somewhere, and without good waste facilities our towns and cities would soon not only look a mess, they would soon become downright unhealthy places.

Secondly, you really should consider that all good citizens should dispose of their waste responsibly. And, in addition to that, in order to say we are sympathetic with nature and looking after our planet, we should be actively recycling our trash. To do that we should know where our local recycling centres are, and what types of waste to take their to them.

Plus, even better, you could think of ways to reduce your own waste. That would help the environment and ease the burden on the many waste facilities, which cost a lot to run and maintain.

Third, you can make a difference which will reduce the burden of waste on our environment, if you recycle. This means that less raw material and energy is used. And on top of that, you may find that you can re-use things around your home, and save money at the same time!

Within all of the above info lies a very good list of reasons in support of learning about facilities for waste management in your area. What’s your opinion?

Just think about it. Maybe you really, in all seriousness, should know more about your local waste facilities.

Well, hold on just a moment there. Let’s consider this. For you to consider, here’s three reasons why you should know about waste facilities.

First off, in their favor, allow me to explain that waste facilities are the places where our rubbish (trash, garbage – call it what you like) is handled, separated, sorted, processed, and recycled so that our streets stay clean and our countryside can stay clean. A landfill is just one type of waste facility. Other types are, waste transfer stations, household waste and civic amenity sites, incinerators, composting sites, anaerobic digestion plants run on waste, hospital waste processed in autoclaves, MRFs, and MBT plants, are just a few of all many waste facilities to be found in any city.

Sure, I am aware of your objection that really this all sounds very smelly and dirty and you had rather not even think about it. That which you say holds true, I agree, but nevertheless we all produce a huge amount of garbage. It has to go somewhere, and without good waste facilities our towns and cities would soon not only look a mess, they would soon become downright unhealthy places.

Secondly, you really should consider that all good citizens should dispose of their waste responsibly. And, in addition to that, in order to say we are sympathetic with nature and looking after our planet, we should be actively recycling our trash. To do that we should know where our local recycling centres are, and what types of waste to take their to them.

Plus, even better, you could think of ways to reduce your own waste. That would help the environment and ease the burden on the many waste facilities, which cost a lot to run and maintain.

Third, you can make a difference which will reduce the burden of waste on our environment, if you recycle. This means that less raw material and energy is used. And on top of that, you may find that you can re-use things around your home, and save money at the same time!

Within all of the above info lies a very good list of reasons in support of learning about facilities for waste management in your area. What’s your opinion?

Just think about it. Maybe you really, in all seriousness, should know more about your local waste facilities.