I bought a bike a couple of years ago for exercise. I live three miles from town center, I get exercise doing daily short errands. This certainly saves on gas wasting short car trip errands.

Sent by Rick Evans | 12:23 PM ET | 06-07-2007

I think its real. Though we've always been fairly "green," I know my consciousnes has been "raised" lately (within the last couple of years) and I'm doing some things differently now than I used to. I'm more careful about electricity usage, compact flourescents are sprouting around the house, we take the more economical (if less fancy) car on trips, and we recycle/freecycle everything we can, one way or another. The issue for me has everything to do with the appeal of a conservative lifestyle and the geopolitical benefits of reducing our national dependence on foreign sources for energy. It has very little to do with concerns about anthropogenic global warming - to the extent it exists - though most of the conservation measures I take will incidentally contribute to reducing our carbon footprint too, and that's fine with me.

Thos

Sent by Thos | 12:30 PM ET | 06-07-2007

Yes, I have decided to cut back on vacuuming: from once a week to once a month (even if the carpets do not need it).

I have tried to accustom myself to the idea that the smell of an unflushed toilet is the mark of a progressive household, but I am having difficulty with that.

Sent by William | 1:43 PM ET | 06-07-2007

I don't flush the urinal in order to save water. Haven't people heard "If it is brown, flush it down, if it is yellow let it mellow"?

Sent by JP | 2:40 PM ET | 06-07-2007

I was in the hardware store a few months ago, and I noticed that compact fluorescents were a lot smaller than they used to be. They looked like they would fit into our ceiling fixtures, so a bought a bunch, and now there are almost no incandescent bulbs in our house.

Also, after reading Michael Pollan's book, I started paying more attention to the origin of our food, and buying local where possible. We always shopped at the farmer's market, but we're a little more zealous now.

Sent by Mitch | 9:36 PM ET | 06-11-2007

I have been thinking and acting green since I was in university. A teacher said, "be caretakers, not careless takers". I pick through old paper to use the back side to write on, turn off water when brushing, avoid flushing the toilet, etc. I live in Japan and it has progressed a lot here since I first came 12 years ago. When I first came they only separated garbage into burnable and non-burnable (which is false because "burnable" meant "can burn", and included plastic wrap). Now they recycle most things (but still don't know about composting and still burn "wrap"). Japan is a bath culture, as almost a spiritual rite, but modern home baths have reheating systems so they don't drain the water every day. They just heat it up again. Then, on the last day they pump the water into their washing machines for the first cycle or two of laundry. Brilliant!

Sent by Paul Gemmell | 4:11 AM ET | 06-12-2007