In its essence conservation is about people and we will care more deeply about it when we realize its critical role in our lives. Sir David Attenborough put it well, “We depend on nature for the very air we breathe, for every mouthful of food we consume, for every drop of clean water that we drink.”

The little steps may not seem like they matter much but if all of us act on some of these ideas our collective efforts will conserve and sustain nature’s bounty for everyone’s long term health.

Here are a few small actions, some of which we can all take:

• Pre-heating the oven is an old wives tale and is simply unnecessary. Bread and pastries aside, it just wastes energy. While cooking, opening the oven door to check on your food results in a significant loss of energy. Just check the oven window.

• Along the same lines limit the number of times you need to open the refrigerator or freezer door. Give thought to what you need for a meal, and just as you should cluster your errands do no less for removal and return of food items. Most importantly don’t leave these doors open for any extended period.

• Clothes dryers employ large quantities of energy. Clean the lint filter after each load (improves air circulation). Use the cool-down cycle (allows clothes to finish drying from the residual heat inside). For those especially conscientious, forget about your dryer and use a clothesline or buy drying racks. Clothes usually dry overnight.

• Although a backyard with native plants is far more environmentally friendly, most of us still maintain turf grass lawns and they require regular sprinkling. In doing so be sure to direct the water only on your grass, and water in the morning as the air is usually still and cooler (less evaporation).

• To the extent we can let’s keep fossil fuels in the ground. Oil and coal extraction and burning are the major contributors to climate change.

• A large number of household products are made from these petrochemicals, one of which is paint. Oil based paint contains volatile organic chemicals (VOC’s). One of their advantages1 is that they dry quickly. This is more than overcome by the release of these chemicals that contribute to or can cause a variety of illnesses and generally threatens public health. Furthermore, in their manufacturing they create 10 times their own weight in toxic waste. Use low or non-VOC paint whenever possible.

• The production of charcoal continues to be a major contributor to rainforest destruction, now at the rate of 200,000 acres per day. Converting to a gas fired bar-b-cue not only saves the rainforest but avoids those VOC emissions from your grill.
• According to Consumer Reports the pre-rinsing dishwasher cycle is unnecessary and wastes 20 gallons of water with every use.

A little can mean a lot if we all do our part.