Doing the right thing can often save you a few dollars as well.  Here are some tips for a greener life. (By Wendy Frew)

1. Read your electricity bill to see if you are using more power than the same time last year. If you are call your energy retailer to find out why.

2. Switch to "green" power.  There are the number of companies providing electricity generated from renewable sources such as wind, hydro or solar.  Choose those recognised by the Federal Government - endorsed GreenPower accreditation system.

3. Turn off lights when they aren't being used.

4. Change your light bulbs- the hottest thing in household energy savings is the compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL), a funny looking swirl that fits into standard sockets.  CFLs cost three (3) to five (5) times as a much as conventional incandescent bulbs yet use one-quarter the electricity and last several years longer.  Many 7 watt CFLs are comparable to a regular 40 watt bulbs, 26 watts is the typical CFL equivalent of 100 watts and so on.  If you're looking to put a green bulb in your favourite table lamp, CFL is the way to go.  In Australia the Government has announced that it will phase out incandescent light bulbs over the next three years.

5. Remember to make the most of natural light, particularly from north-facing windows.

6. Consider installing skylights in the kitchen and bathrooms.

7. Keep lights and fittings clean. Dust on lamps shades and reflectors mean less light gets through reducing your energy efficiency.

8. Switching appliances off at the power point will cut your electricity usage by up to 11%.  Over the whole year some microwave ovens generate more greenhouse gas emissions than electric heaters.

9. Install gas heaters. They are cheaper to run and generate fewer gas emissions than electric heaters.

10. Keep the heat  in and the cold out by installing wall and ceiling insulation.  A well-insulated home can be up to 7 degrees warmer in winter and 10 degrees cooler in Summer.

11. Hang up a clothesline, you could make your own clothes with a needle and thread using 100% organic cotton sheared from a sheep you rasied on a Whole Foods diet, but the environmental quality of your wardrobe is ultimately determined by the way you wash it.  A recent sudy byCambridge University's Institute of Manufacturing found that 60% of the energy associated with a piece of clothing is spent on washing and drying it.  Over its lifetime a tee shirt can send up to 4 kg of carbon dioxide into the air.  The solution is not to avoid laundry, tempting as that may be.  Rather, wash your clothes in warm water instead of hot, save up to luander a few big loads instead of many smaller ones.  Use the most efficient machine that you can find, newer ones can use as little as one fourth the energy of older machines.  When they're clean, dry your clothesthe natural way, by handing them on a line rather then loading them in a dryer.  Altogether you can reduce the CO2 created by your laundry up to 90%.

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