Livestock in the US consume 70 percent of all wheat, corn, and grain we grow and graze on pastures that take up to 35 percent of our land. The methane that cows release is 10 times worse a greenshouse gas as carbon dioxide.
 
For every pound of beef produced, 7 pounds of grain are used, and 2,500 gallons of water must be used to grow that grain.
 
You can start by reducing the amount of meat you eat by reducing it by one day a week. You can still get your protein from beans, nuts, or tofu.

The average American meal travels 1,200 miles to reach your table. To reduce this you can buy foods that are in season, this means no berries in the middle of winter. Preserve foods when they are in season to make it through the winter months.
 
Grow your own food, grow a garden. Participate in a community supported agriculture project. Shop at a farmers market. All of these ways reduce the number of miles traveled for each meal.

Your car is responisble for as much carbon dioxide in a year as your house is. There are many ways to reduce the emissions from your car.
 
The first is to make sure your car is tuned up and has its regularyl scheduled maintenance. Also make sure your tires are properly inflated. The smoother you drive will also increase your gas mileage. Try to avoid letting your car idle. Leaving it idle for 20 seconds uses more gas than turning your car off and then back on again.
 
Drive slower. Fuel efficiency starts to plummet after 60 MPH.
 

Grass takes more water to grow than any other plant. You can reduce your watering needs by planting native plants that require less water since they are used to living in our climate.
 
You can also plant plants that require the same amounts of water together so you can water them at the same time and the same amount. Also plant plants that require more water towards the bottoms of hills and water will run towards those plants.
 

Newer double pane windows are twice as efficient as single pane windows and buying new windows for your home if you have old single pane windows can save as much as 15 percent on your heating and cooling costs.
 
Newer windows include double and triple panes and are filled with inert gases between the panes to reduce the amount of heat moving through the window. You can also get special low-e coatings that reduce the amount of heat transmitted by sunlight in the summer and the amount of heat that can escape from inside your house in the winter.
 

Between 25 and 40 percent of the hot air a furnace produces in an average home leaks out before it makes it to the rooms of your house. You can start to fix this by looking for any visible gaps, crushed or twisted ductwork. To check for smaller leaks, you can turn on the furnace or air conditioner and run your hands over the ducts to feel for any leaks.
 
You can seal the leaks and fix any bent or crushed ductwork.
 

Most homes in the Oakwood neighborhood are underinsulated (if they have any insulation at all). This is by the nature of the neighborhood being built for people from the city to spend the summers while they went to Woods Lake. One easy way to tell if you need more insulation (at least in your attic) is to look at your roof during the winter. If all of the snow is melting in a horseshoe shape, then you need more insulation in your attic.
 

Adding caulking and weatherstripping to your windows and doors can save you as much as 10 percent on heating and cooling costs. If you add up all of the tiny leaks in an average home they're eqivalent to leaving a three-foot square window open. You can easily check for leaks by lighting a stick of incense on a windy day and moving it around windows and doors and watching the smoke to see where it moves.
 
You can seal outer wall electrical outlets with foam insulating gaskets. Use weatherstripping around windows and doors. Seal smaller cracks with caulk.

Invasive species are those that are not native to our area of the state or country and that spread reaidly and choke out native plants. One of the biggest invasives in this area is garlic mustard. You will find it growing profusely in your yard. You can tell it because it gets a white head of flowers at the top and smells like garlic when you pull it out. These plants should be disposed of properly otherwise they can re-root in the ground and spread further. Other invasices include purple loosetrife and zebra mussels.

You can reduce the amount of energy you use this summer by utilizing other ways of cooling your home. One of these ways is to reduce the humidity. A more humid house feels warmer than one that is dryer. By running a de-humidifier you can make it feel cooler in your house.
 
Another thing you can do is run a ceiling fan or box fan in your house in the rooms that you are in. Since it helps evaporate sweat from your body this only works in the rooms you are currently in. Running a ceiling fan in a room you are not in will not cool down your house and will waste energy.