How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint - a great little book

One of my favorite stocking stuffers this holiday season was How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint: 365 Simple Ways to Save Energy, Resources, and Money by Joanna Yarrow. This colorful little book, made of recycled products and printed with vegetable oil ink, offers tips for making easy behavioral and purchasing changes to reduce your carbon footprint and save money and energy at the same time. Here are the topics covered in the chapters:

• Heating and Cooling
• Electricity and Electronics
• Cooking
• Washing and Cleaning
• Gardening and D.I.Y.
• Shopping
• Children
• Work
• Leisure
• Transportation
• the bigger picture...

Yarrow covers the short-term and long-term benefits of implementing these changes, and shows both the cost savings and the environmental benefits. Here are a few tips I found particularly useful:

• Under heating and cooling controls... use "a programmable, or setback, thermostat, which allows you to set different temperatures for different times (particularly useful if your home is usually unoccupied during the day) and turn your water heater on and off automatically"
• Under water use... "Harvest the rain - Capture some of the rain water that falls on your roof by connecting a water barrel to a downspout. This water can then be used in the garden."
• Under public transportation... "Adjust your working hours, if you can, so that you don't have to travel on public transportation at peak times. The journey will be quicker, and you'll be guaranteed a seat."

By following even a few of the tips in How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint, you'll get back your $12.95 and more. And you'll start to see significant benefits. This little book has been a hit with my friends and family this year, and I plan to buy a few more to keep on hand for gifts or host presents.