Find Out How to Help

Reuse Your Bags

Paper or plastic? Neither -- bring a reusable bag. According to 'An Inconvienent Truth,' Americans use 12 million barrels of oil each year to produce plastic bags. In addition, about 15 million trees are cut down to produce paper for paper bags. Help reduce oil consumption and save trees by bringing your own bag on your next trip to the store.

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• Find Reusable Bags

Pay Bills Online

Start paying your bills online to help reduce the amount of fuel needed to ship mail and save trees. According to a recent TIME magazine article, if every American household paid bills online, it would reduce solid waste by 1.6 billion pounds and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2.1 million tons each year.

• Bill Manager Plus
• TIME: Online Bill Paying

Get an Energy Audit

An energy audit will tell you how much energy your home uses each year, and provide tips on how to reduce your consumption. The average American family can cut its CO2 emissions by 1,000 pounds each year. As usual, the best things in life are free -- most utility providers will audit your home free of charge.

• Use Efficient Appliances
• TIME: Energy Audits

Get More MPGs

Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help stop global warming by getting more miles per gallon. Switching to a car that gets 10 more miles to the gallon can save over $1,000 dollars a year! Hybrid vehicles like the Toyota Prius get an estimated 60 highway miles to the gallon: Properly inflate your tires, drive 55 mph on the highway and change your air filter regularly. Driving 55 mph can save you over 20 percent on your gas bill.

• Hybrid and Alternative Fuel Cars
• AOL Autos

Change Your Lights

Replacing your old incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) will help increase your energy efficiency. Replacing one old bulb with a CFL can save you up to $30 per year. CFLs use two thirds less energy, give off 70 percent less heat and last up to 10 times as long as conventional bulbs. You'll help stop global warming by reducing air pollution caused by power plants.

• Change a Light, Help the World
• Find Energy Saving Bulbs

Efficient Appliances

Your inefficient appliances are costing you more than you think. The typical household spends $1,900 a year on energy bills. By upgrading to Energy Star qualified appliances, you can save 30 percent, or more than $600 per year. Replacing your refridgerator alone can make a big difference because they use more energy than any other appliance. Energy Star qualified fridges use 40 percent less energy than models produced before 2001. Decreasing your energy demand will help reduce greenhouse emissions and stop global warming.

• ENERGY STAR

Control the Temperature

Up to 20 percent of heating and cooling energy is lost due to poorly sealed or insulated ducts in your home. Make sure your ducts are properly insulated and install weatherstripping around windows and doors for a better seal. Tax credits on efficiency-increasing heating and cooling equipment make now a great time to upgrade. Get a $300 on central air conditioning units and up to 30 percent on solar water heaters.

• Efficient Heating and Cooling
• Energy Improvement Tax Credits

Landscape Smartly

Use strategic landscaping to help reduce your heating costs and cooling costs. Planting trees or shrubs can help provide shade during the summer that will reduce your home's temperature. Similarly, planting windbreaks on your property can help shield your house from frigid winter winds. Both methods can help lower your energy bill and stop global warming by reducing the demand for power.

• Get a Green Yard

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Reducing your garbage by 25 percent will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1,000 pounds per year. Recycling aluminum cans, glass bottles, plastic, cardboard and newspapers can reduce your home's impact by 850 pounds of carbon dioxide per year. Decreasing carbon dioxide emissions can help stop global warming.

• Recycling in Your Zip Code

Conserve Water

Purifying and distributing water takes lots of energy. You can make simple changes to reduce the amount of water you use. Replacing an older toilet can save about 7,500 gallons of water a year. Fixing a leak in a toilet can save as much as 200 gallons a day. Use low-flow shower heads and turn your water heater thermostat down to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. These steps can add up to serious savings on your water and energy bills.

• Learn to Conserve Water
• Five Ways to Save Water

Buy Green Energy

Many electric companies offer renewable energy products that can be purchased as a percent of total energy use or in blocks of kilowatts. Buying green energy helps support the development and use of renewable fuel souces. These sources produce fewer greenhouse gases and can help reduce fossil fuel use and help stop global warming. Another option is installing solar panels, either to heat water or to provide electricity. These systems can reduce your power bill and help stop global warming.

• Green Power Locator

Buy Carbon Offsets

There are a range of organizations that offer "carbon offsets." These donations are used to invest in renewable energy projects, energy efficiency projects and plant trees to offset emissions you've caused. Making up for your emissions probably isn't as expensive as you think -- you can offset the emissions from two flights for under $10.

• Go Carbon Neutral

More From R&L

Find out more about global warming and climate change with resources from Research & Learn.

• Global Warming
• Global Warming Photos
• Global Warming: Get the Facts