Drive lightly:Every gallon of motor fuel produces 19 pounds of carbon dioxide when burned. Your car will work more efficiently if you avoid unnecessary acceleration. Keep tyres properly inflated and service your car regularly. And car-pool: if your drive to work is a 50-mile round trip and includes the typical stop-and-go traffic, car-pooling will cut nearly 10 per cent of your monthly carbon emissions.
Smart water:
Drink tap water instead of bottled, which gobbles up energy through the manufacture, storage and transport. Barely 20 per cent of those plastic bottles end up getting recycled, and most are made out of petroleum. Use filters if you are concerned about your local water supply.
Sign up for green energy:You can reduce your household carbon footprint by two tonnes each year by switching to a green energy supplier. Little-known fact: Ireland's greenest energy provider is matching the lowest electricity prices available from the country's main suppliers.
Pay bills online:Paying online or by direct debit not only saves trees, it eliminates the fossil fuel needed to transport all those billing envelopes.
Stop junk mail:Junk mail produces one billion pounds of landfill each year, and consumes millions of trees and billions of gallons of water. By registering with The Irish Direct Marketing Association's mail preference service, you will stop most unsolicited mail.
Green your BBQ:A rumour that gas is the greenest option ignores the fact that it is a non-renewable fossil fuel, that supply is not guaranteed, and that outdoor cooking is energy-greedy. Buy charcoal from sustainably managed forests and look for an Irish or UK brand. Also look for lump charcoal, which is not processed chemically.
Go vintage:Vintage clothes are the perfect way to give your wardrobe a style kick while avoiding the waste and inhumane working conditions of some of the fashion industry.