Reduce, Reuse and Recycle - The Three R’s are now pretty basic stuff that everyone should be following. But hopefully everyone is taking it one step further and Pre-cycling. For anyone that has not heard of pre-cycling, this is where you look at the item you are buying and also the garbage (packaging) that is coming with it and think if there is a more echo friendly way of purchasing that product. For example, I have found that if I shop at a butcher shop, instead of shopping at a regular supermarket for meat, there is a lot less packaging. Usually when you purchase meat at a butcher shop, they wrap the meat in brown paper only so you don’t end up with styrofoam trays or plastic wrap, which is much more difficult to dispose of than the brown paper.

Become a vegetarian - Being a vegetarian requires much less land to produce food than being a meat eater. A greater number of people can be fed from a piece of land when growing vegetables, as opposed to using the land for grazing farm animals, who in turn need land to grow their food crops on.

Bring your own reusable shopping bags - Eliminate plastic bag waste by bringing your own cloth bags to pack your groceries in. Many stores are now insisting that you bring your own and some are even paying you to do so (taking a few cents off your grocery bill).

Grow your own food - It is fun and easy to grow your own food and the taste of fresh, right out of your garden food is beyond comparison.

Compost - Instead of adding to your garbage bin, compost things like vegetable peelings, tea bags, coffee grounds, cut grass and weeds. There are many books available on the subject. It is really great to replenish your garden soil with soil that you have made in your compost bin.

Mulch - By mulching around your plants they require less water.

Garden Organically - Stay away from pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers. Use only natural fertilizers such as seaweed or horse manure. Where I live there are ads on the internet for stables giving away free horse manure if you pick it up. After it is aged, it is terrific for your garden.

Encourage local farmers and farmers’ markets, especially those that grow organically - Buying local food is by far the best way to buy your food. There is less of a carbon footprint because there is less distance for the product to travel to market. Organically grown food is much better for the environment and for your own health.

Buy a real Christmas Tree - Inevitably, if you have a fake Christmas tree, it will be good for a few years and then start to look shabby, and end up in the garbage pile. If you buy a real Christmas tree, you are encouraging the growth of trees, even if it is for only a few years, but when they are cut, new ones are being planted in their place. Any planting of trees is good for the air quality. After you are finished with your real Christmas tree, they are fully compostable – no waste piling up in a landfill. Another great option is to purchase a living Christmas tree and plant it after Christmas is over.

Avoid petro-chemicals, use natural skin care products - Search out companies that list all ingredients on their products, and stay away from anything that relates to petro-chemicals. It is bad for you and bad for the environment.

Clean naturally - The best two cleaning products you can use are baking soda and vinegar. I like to keep a shaker of baking soda by the kitchen sink to sprinkle on tough to clean pots. Shake it on to a relatively dry pot and then scrub with a damp cloth (not wet). Vinegar is great for cleaning mirrors, sinks and toilets. Baking soda also works well on sinks and bath tubs.

Avoid plastics - Plastics don’t last forever and inevitably end up in a landfill, where they do not decompose.

Avoid Teflon coated products - These products release toxic bisphenol A into the environment and into your bodies.

Buy eco-friendly clothing - Organic cotton, bamboo, wool and silk are natural fabrics that are good for the environment. Also, shopping the thrift stores for second hand clothing is great.

Travel lightly - This means finding ways to get around that have a small environmental impact. Things like bicycling, walking, car pooling, and public transit, are all great options. If you have a vehicle, make sure it is either an electric one or a hybrid of some sort, something that does not use a lot of gas.

Buy triple certified coffee - The best coffee to buy is one that has been shade grown, fairly traded and is organic. Shade grown is important to ensure that trees are not being cut down to make way for coffee plantations. If you buy fairly traded coffee, you are making sure that the workers that are involved are paid a fair wage.

Avoid plastic wraps - To cover your left over food that goes into the refrigerator, use plates or bowls, or casseroles with lids.

Purchase wisely - think long and hard before purchasing household items. Make sure that they are durable and something you will have for many years to come and not end up in the landfill. Also look for items that can be recycled after their life cycle is complete.

Buy local - Search out local producers of items that you are interested in so that there is less distance for the product to travel to market and therefore less of an impact on the environment.

Green building - When renovating, purchasing a new home, or building a new home, search out environmentally good options. There are many great new products available that have less of an impact on the environment. Also reusing items from a salvage yard can be a great thing. As well, keep in mind energy efficiency when you are building. There are many products that make environmental good sense.