1. CONSERVE. Drive a fuel efficient car and keep it in tune. Set your home thermostat for reduced energy consumption. Utilize solar energy. Insulate your home. With simple conservation measures we could save more oil in two years than the total amount expected to be found off the California coast and the Alaska Artic Wildlife Refuge.
2. RECYCLE. Return your aluminum and glass containers. Save and recycle newspapers. Avoid throwaway plastics. Use recycled paper. If your area doesn't have a recycling center, start one. See locations of some local centers below.
3. REDUCE CONSUMPTION. Americans consume a disproportionate portion of the world's resources. At only 5% of the world's population, we consume 30% of its resources, 8 times the world average and nearly 50 times the amount of some third world nations. All those nice things require raw materials and energy to manufacture. The manufacturing process frequently results in toxic byproducts. Live simply. Happiness comes about from an inner harmony, not from external possessions.
4. STOP USING TOXIC CHEMICALS. Your yard and garden will do fine without being drenched with pesticides. Buy organic produce to support those who don't utilize chemicals to produce food and do your body a favor. Don't put leaded gasoline in your car and do us all a favor. Avoid styrofoam containers and do the ozone layer a favor. Don't burn plastics. If you dispose of toxic chemicals do it in a safe and approved manner.
5. SUPPORT AN ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP. There are hundreds of environmental groups working hard to save the planet. Each group has its own speciality. Find the area that appeals to you most or seems most important to you and support it.
6. VOTE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT. Study the candidates and the issues. Vote for candidates with a good environmental platform regardless of party or what color their skin happens to be. When the issue is jobs versus the environment, consider the damage carefully and vote for the environment when you can.
7. BECOME INFORMED. Pick an issue and study it thoroughly. Write informed letters to newspapers and representatives. Each letter represents several thousand people who don't take time to write. Your letters do make a difference.
8. CONSIDER THE FUTURE. Visualize an ideal future and work toward it. We certainly have the potential to solve the problems facing us. The answer will lie in innovative policies which safeguard the future while providing an adequate standard of living in the present.
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 2003
Permission granted to excerpt or use this article if source is cited