6. Upgrade Your Bottle.

Advance your water bottle and/or coffee mug. Don’t be caught consuming an endless supply of single-serving water bottles and Styrofoam coffee cups. Skip past plastic models as well, due to the sketchy chemical composition of some styles. We suggest that you opt for stainless steel, which you’ll find to be lightweight, completely recyclable, and safe as safe can be for your hydration and caffeination needs.

7. Shop Local.

When given the opportunity, take the chance to buy local goods and services. This is especially true at the grocery store or market. Local produce, meats, and other foodstuffs are fresher and can free you from the guilt of knowing that your dinner was trucked across the country before reaching your table. Additionally, pumping your hard earned dollars back into the local economy enables further investment by sustainable service providers. Your local brewery is a great place to start.

8. Learn To Program.

Replacing your old-school thermostat can increase the efficiency of heating and cooling your home and apartment by 10% or more. The manufacturer, as well as the EPA, will provide a recommended schedule to help you achieve the best results with a programmable unit. Just be sure to spring for a backlight, which you won’t regret it when your girlfriend whines about being too hot at two in the morning.

9. Keep It On The Low… The Low Flow, That is.

Install a low-flow shower head. Upgrading to a more efficient shower (typically around 1.5 gallons per minute) can net you a significant reduction in water usage. Bear in mind that your home or apartment’s ancient spout (early 90s or before) could be dumping 5.5 GPM or more, and that going low-flow doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t still get a good soak. Someone should have told that to Kramer before he procured a black market model off that shady Serb.

10. Be a Star.

When buying your gear, take heed of energy consumption ratings and certifications like Energy Star ratings. Let’s face it, green is in vogue, thus some of the marketing hogwash that you’re likely to hear is designed just to sell you and move units. That being said, buying energy-stingy devices is a smart move. We encourage you to make a product’s energy consumption an essential component to your buying decision. Just like you’d account for screen size and resolution on a TV, cubic feet in a refrigerator, or the perfect combination of brains and beauty when choosing your chem-class lab partner, so should you factor in your next toy’s net effect on your electric bill. Like you needed another reason to want that new MacBook.

As we said at the top, this list doesn’t represent everything a man can do to be ecofiscally responsible, but it’s a start. We invite you, our esteemed reader, to field comments or ask questions. Drop your own green tip in the box, that it may behoove all those who view this page. Advance we will. Advance we must.

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