Car Wash or DIY

Which is greener, a commercial car wash or DIY? The answer: Go with the pros.

Commercial car washes require an average of about 45 gallons of water per car, whereas home washers typically use between 80 and 140 gallons, according to the trade group International Carwash Association. That's a big difference! Federal law requires commercial car washes to drain their wastewater into sewers, where it normally receives some treatment, versus simply running across the land.

If you are going to clean your own vehicle, check out the waterless wash products available now from many manufacturers, such as Eco Touch. Many are nontoxic, biodegradable and petrochemical-free. Just spray on, wipe and buff gently with a clean towel, and voilà. Clean car.

Power Of One

The power of one: If every home replaced just one light bulb with an Energy Star bulb, we'd save enough energy to light 3 million homes for a year.

Toxic shower curtain

Choose a natural fabric, such as cotton (organic if you can find it) or bamboo, for your next shower curtain and liner.

Know that familiar smell when you open the package and unfold a new vinyl shower curtain? That's the off-gassing of chemicals from polyvinyl chloride plastic (PVC). One of the chemical additives, DEHP, a phthalate, is a suspected carcinogen and has been linked to hormonal disruption in humans. An EPA study found that vinyl shower curtains can elevate air toxins in your home for more than a month.

The environment doesn't need more plastics and neither do you. In fact, these days more people are asking is their showing curtain toxic?

Flick the switch

It sounds almost too simple, but don't forget that you can save a lot of energy, and therefore money, by making sure to turn off the lights when you leave a room.

Lighting is responsible for about 11 percent of a home's energy bills, and those continue to march up across most of the country, at a time when home prices are falling and job growth is soft. It's true that a compact florescent bulb uses about 75 percent less electricity than an incandescent, but the most energy-saving bulb of all is one that's turned off.

So get in the habit of flipping those switches when you leave a room. Kids can easily get in on the action, and it's an environmental value that will last a lifetime, and carry over into other areas.

Dry Clean Green

Scope out your local area for organic dry cleaners. But before you give them your business, make sure they are using the carbon dioxide cleaning process. In this method, CO₂ is put under high pressure to convert it into a liquid. As a liquid, it acts as a carrier of biodegradable soaps in much the same way as water does in a washing machine. Once the cycle is done, it turns back into a gas and is mostly reused.

Some dry cleaners advertise themselves as organic when they actually use a hydro-carbon solvent called DF-2000. While it's not as toxic as PERC, which the EPA lists as a neurotoxin and a skin and eye irritant to workers who are exposed to it, it is petroleum-based and thus contributes to global warming. (Meanwhile, don't forget to recycle those hangers back to the shop.)

Turn off your computer

Save energy and wear and tear on your hardware by shutting down your computer at night. You'll save an average of $90 of electricity a year. The Department of Energy recommends shutting off your monitor if you aren't going to use it for more than 20 minutes, and the whole system if you're not going to use it for more than two hours.

Stop Idling

Every moment you spend idling your car's engine means needlessly wasting gas, as well as rougher wear on your vehicle. Idling for more than 10 seconds wastes more gas than is needed for startup. Overall, Americans idle away 2.9 billion gallons of gas a year, worth around $78.2 billion. Next time you are waiting for the train to cross, turn off the engine and save some gas.