There are plenty of little steps that people can take at home to help save the environment.

While the eco-footprint of each step is small, thousands of people doing the same thing can make a difference. In making some small changes to the way that you do things at home, you are gradually making a difference, even as an individual. You will save on costs and improve your health at the same time.

Following are some tips:

Throughout the House

1. Turn off appliances when you are not using them. Up to 30% of power used by TV's is used while they are turned off, so buy power strips and just flip the switch on the power strip, because they use far less energy while turned off.

2. Lower the thermostat by a few degrees in winter. An extra layer or blanket will not only keep you cozy but will help to reduce your electricity bill significantly.

3. Make sure that the house is fully insulated. Insulation keeps the heat and cool on the correct side of your living space. Consider not only the ceiling but also the walls and under the floors.

4. Use windows to regulate the temperature. Keep windows and doors closed properly to avoid the loss of heat in winter.

5. Open the windows in summer. The cross breeze will often keep you cool and flushes out stale air (indoor air is often more highly polluted than the air outside). Importantly, the use of fresh air to cycle through your home saves the cost of running an air conditioner. Install ceiling fans instead of air conditioning units to keep rooms comfortable in warm weather.

6. Fill the gaps. Gaps reduce energy efficiency in a home. By caulking gaps around windows and doors, you increase the ability of your house to retain heat and cool at the right times of year, allowing your heating and cooling systems to work less. Switch to compound fluorescent light bulbs. They last longer and consume one-quarter of the energy.

7. Turn off the lights. Always turn off the lights when you are not using them. Rooms that are lit with nobody in them are wasteful.

In the Kitchen

1. Recycle, recycle, recycle. Some cities already require people to sort their trash into paper, metals, glass, and organic waste. Even if your city doesn't, you can launch a growing trend. Set up four separate waste baskets, and make sure the contents end up in the appropriate recycle bins.

2. Air dry your dishes. Stop the dishwasher before the dryer cycle commences. Leave the door slightly ajar (or more open if you have the space) and let the dishes air-dry. The drying cycle of the dishwasher consumes a lot of energy.

3. Avoid creating trash. Avoid disposable products, such as plates, cups, napkins and cutlery. Use reusable towels and dishwashing cloths in place of paper towels and disposable dish sponges.

4. Update your refrigerator. Fridges are the most energy intensive appliance in a house. This means that a poorly maintained and energy inefficient fridge is costing you money, let alone adding its burden to the atmosphere. Recent fridges use 40% less energy than fridges of 10 years ago. If you do decide to upgrade the fridge, make sure that you buy for its excellent energy rating, longevity and durability and that you have the old fridge recycled.

5. By turning off the oven a minute or two before the dish is done, the residual heat will finish the cooking. When done with the oven, open the door to allow any leftover heat to warm the home.

6. Purchase biodegradable trash bags. Many of the plastic garbage bags that people use in their kitchen for trash take years to decompose in landfills. So if you buy biodegradable kitchen garbage bags like the ones offered from Biobag, they will compost easily in the landfill.

Bathroom & Laundry

1. Prefer showers to baths. Showers use less water.

2. Use soaps and detergents that contain no phosphates. Use a mixture of water and vinegar to wash your windows. Wash clothes in cold water to avoid consuming energy to heat the water. On sunny days, use a clothes line instead of a clothes dryer. Your clothes will smell fresher and the sun's rays ensure that germs are successfully sizzled.

3. For the ladies out there, consider using cloth (as in, reusable) tampons and pads. It may seem gross, but it can't be grosser than the thought of the amount of pads and tampons women use yearly piled up in a landfill, now can't it?

In the Home Office

1. Use recycled paper in your home office and printer. Double side your printing and give scrap paper to the kids or turn it into note paper for the phone table.

2. Turn off the computer every day. Even if it feels like it is not making much of a difference, it is. You also reduce any risks of overheating or short-circuiting by turning computers off overnight.

In the Garage

1. Leave the car at home. Let the car contribute less to the atmosphere by resting at home whenever possible. Walk to your local stores, take public transport to work and cycle to your friends' houses for dinner. Join a car pool and ferry others to work rather than driving in alone. You'll make new friends and you'll all share the costs.

2. Buy a fuel-efficient car if you are changing cars. Choose a compact car over an SUV. SUVs burn almost twice the amount of gas as a station wagon and yet can still carry around the same amount of passengers.

3. If you're really serious about going all-out green, consider living without a car — not only it's green, but could also save you a lot of money!

4. Keep your bike well maintained. Take away at least one excuse that you cannot use your bike because it is in bad shape. Keep it in shape and then use it to keep yourself in shape.

Carley Lagerquist is a student at Mayfield Secondary School who recently got a class project to create an article for publication in a newspaper.