The First 5
These are the easiest changes you can make to your daily life, but they're critically important. Just by making these changes you will reduce your carbon footprint by roughly 1000 pounds per year, plus you'll save oil, trees, and other valuable resources. But even more importantly, once you realize how easy it is to make these lifestyle changes, you'll be on your way to adopting more.
1. Kick the bottle - do away with single-use plastic water bottles. Instead, find a reusable bottle and stick with it. By taking it everywhere you'll use less plastic and drink more water!
2. Kick the cup - find a sturdy cup and use it both for your coffee at home and when you visit Starbucks.
3. Reusable shopping bag - get 3 or 4 and keep them in your car at all times. You may forget from time to time, but soon enough you'll get into the groove and feel good about saving plastic and paper.
4. Check your tires each month and keep them inflated to the recommended amount. This little trick will save you money and cut emissions with very little effort.
5. Change your 5 most-used light bulbs to CFLs. They use less electricity and last longer than standard bulbs, saving you money in the process of helping the environment.

Ready for more?
Now that you have your feet wet and have experienced how easy it is to go green, try some of these higher-impact steps to a greener lifestyle.
6. Reduce your junk mail. Sign up with www.greendimes.com or a similar service and specify the catalogs that you no longer want to receive. This simple step will reduce junk mail by 75-90%, which translates to saved trees and lower emissions.
7. Turn off your appliances all the way. Also known as "phantom power", TVs, DVDs, stereo equipment, monitors, printers, etc use electricity even when they're turned off if they're still plugged into the wall.  Instead, plug them all into a power strip and turn off the power strip except when you are using them.
8. Install low-flow showerheads (<2.5 gallons per minute). If you simply cannot live without a 10 minute shower, go low-flow and save both water and emissions.
9. Clean clothes with cold water. Save water heating by switching to cold water wash for all laundry.
10. Find another way to work. At least once a week, either carpool, ride your bike, take public transit, or telecommute and avoid using your car. Students can do their part by biking or walking to school.
11. Reduce shower time to 5 minutes. Save water and lower your emissions by speeding up your shower routine.
12. Reduce weekly garbage. Americans generate 4.5 pounds of waste per day. Use less and recycle everything that you can in order to significantly lower both your carbon and ecological footprints.