In the last year or so (especially so since moving to NC the last few months), I've become more cognizant of my ecological footprint. My dad lovingly refers to it as my "yuppie-ness." ;)
Some of the more obvious steps you can take include saving water. Turn off the faucet while you are brushing your teeth or shaving your legs. Take shorter showers. Be cognizant of water use when washing dishes or clothes, etc. etc.
I also try to set my thermostat to a reasonable degree. In the summer, around 73 degrees and in the winter 68 degrees. I also participate in the county trash pickup program- basically you purchase tags ($3 per tag) for each bag of trash you accumulate, which automatically encourages you to produce less trash and rewards you (monetarily) for less waste. Buying products with minimal packaging also helps reduce waste. Participating in recycling programs (whether they are curbside pickup or not) is also obviously a huge part of reducing your footprint.
Another big step you can take is to stop buying plastic water bottles. Purchase a good, refillable bottle and commit to reducing plastic wastage. I have several bottles, but my personal favorite is one that I purchased from Sand Cloud (sandcloud.com). 10% of their profits are donated to protect and preserve marine life (HUGE biggie for me!). They have attire and a bunch of other cool shit, so check them out!
I also make an effort to always buy LED lights AND only buy products with nontoxic chemicals. Other things I have started doing required some initial purchasing power, but have now obviously paid off in the long run. I also bought most of these products from Amazon- affordable and reliable. Instead of using paper towels for everyday spills and during meals, I purchased cloth napkins. Put them in a cute little basket and now they're both useful and decorative.
I don't know about anyone else, but I LOVE straws. It's been a difficult transition, but I've personally made the commitment to not use straws in any public establishment. For the times at home when I need that straw (mixed drinks anyone?), I purchased steel straws- dishwasher safe AND come with a neat little bendy cleaner brush to use.
A few other products I've recently come to rely on and love are my reusable shopping bags, reusable produce bags, and reusable silicone bags. Anytime I go grocery shopping I pack up my shopping bags and produce bags. This reduces the number of plastic bags you acquire, including those little plastic produce bags. And obviously, when I do get plastic shopping bags- I return them to the store to recycle. Near me, Harris Teeter is awesome about having areas to recycle bags, but Wal-Mart is also usually good about it too. And just so you know, most of amazon packaging and even that bubble wrap stuff is recyclable WITH your plastic grocery bags. I use my reusable silicone bags in place of ziplock baggies-also dishwasher safe and they've held up great.
Anyway, some of this stuff does take some initial purchasing power like I mentioned earlier, but pays off. I am by NO means super great with all of this-I'm a baby with it. But, I think trying is better than doing nothing at all. If everyone makes a small change, I think big changes can come about.
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