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Ecogirl's tips for improving the planet Turn off the heat or air conditioning when you leave the house for the day. Instead of putting your clothes in the dryer, hang them up to dry. Compost. Combine yard waste and kitchen scraps. In a month or two, these materials compost into a very rich fertilizer. Eat less meat and more fruits and vegetables and grains. The lower you eat on the food chain, the fewer resources you use. Wait until you have a full load to do laundry. Buy products with the least amount of packaging. Bring your own bags to shop with. If you have extra shopping bags at home, use them to collect your garbage. Buy products with recycled content. Recycle, if your community has a program. If not, talk to your town's Department of Public Works. Buy used goods when possible. For example, buying new furniture creates a demand for virgin wood, but buying used furniture keeps one more thing from entering the waste stream. If you buy food in recloseable plastic containers, use these to pack lunches or preserve food. Use public transportation if it's available, or better yet, bike or walk. Group showers! Instead of throwing away usable items, take them to the Salvation Army or Goodwill, or another group that could use them. Donate old books and magazines to a library or hospital. Don't idle your car for more than a minute or two. Idling creates much more emissions than actually driving. Buy organically produced food if available. Organically grown food, if properly certified, uses no pesticides and promotes crop rotation and erosion control. If you have a present to wrap, wrap a box so that it's reusable. Wrap the top and bottom of the box, so that opening the present doesn't require ripping apart the wrapping paper. Another idea: Use fabric, old calendars or magazines, or other reusable materials to wrap gifts. Minimize the amount of junk mail you get. There is now one number to call to remove yourself from the marketing lists of the four big credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax, Novus, and Trans Union). Call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688). Contact the Direct Marketing Association to have your name removed from marketing lists: Mail Preference Service, Direct Marketing Association, Dept. S, P.O. Box 9008, Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008. laura AT themoorefamily.com Copyright © 1997 - 2006 Laura Moore