Take Me To Post Comment Form I must confess that my family could be greener. I tend to take long showers. My husband drives and flies a lot with his job. Our five-year old daughter likes to draw on just one side of a piece of paper. Our baby wears disposable diapers.

Still, we have come a long way. In fact, it amazes me when I think about how much more consistent my family is about recycling and saving energy than we were just a few years back. In fact, we have actually cut the amount of garbage that we send to the dump by half in that amount of time. Our energy consumption is way down too. And, honestly, it has been totally painless.

The following are ten suggestions for ways you and your family can go green. Please feel free to add any good tips of your own!

1. Use natural daylight when possible. There is no reason to have a light on when you are not in a room.

2. Pay bills online to save envelopes, gas, time, and postage.

3. Defrost foods in the refrigerator. Do not thaw them under running water.

4. Pass old magazines on to friends and relatives.

5. Use dishtowels instead of paper towels when practical.

6. Send online cards to reduce paper waste and cost.

7. Reuse bath towels if they still seem perfectly clean.

8. Do full loads of laundry and dishes.

9. Do not toss yard debris into your outdoor garbage container. It will not decompose if it is compressed in a landfill.

10. Always check to see if a bottle, box, etc… can be recycled locally. You may be surprised. Recycling goes far beyond aluminum cans and newspapers these days.