Best Green Tips for 2012

We asked GreenDeals Members to give us their favorite green tip (or two) for 2012. We had a tremendous response and we have put together our favorite in this top 10 list. Tell us your Green Tip at Facebook.

• Cut your tube of toothpaste in half when it seems like it's empty. You can usually get at least another several days of use by scooping out from the inside.
   
• Try to use smaller quantities of everything. Most of us use too much toothpaste, shampoo, and conditioner -- I've found that using a little less makes them last longer, and I'm still just as clean and fresh!
   
• Use both a worm composter and a standard one, that way when you have too much food for the worms(or your citrus they cant eat) you have somewhere else to put it. we now make barely one 13 gal trash bag full of trash a week(thanks to recycling too)!
   
• Don't throw out the old toothbrushes. Use them for cleaning the 'tracks' of your windows or door frames -- use them for 'around the sinks' and even the edges of all sorts of places, as in, around the tub. They are great for cleaning jewelry, too! Recycle! Reuse!
   
• Recycling just one aluminum can saves enough energy to operate a TV for 3 hours.
   
• My washing machine is in the basement and drains into a large sink. I drilled a hole towards the bottom of the sink and installed a hose bib (like you have on the outside of your house for connecting a hose to) and when I do wash I open up the tap and place a bucket under it to fill up. Then I use the water to flush the toilet.
   
• You can keep a stash of clean, dry plastic bags inside a zippered reusable shopping bag along with the rest of the reusable shopping bags in your car or pack them inside a bike messenger bag (which I do) to take on your bike to the Farmer's Market for your weekly produce-buying trip.
   
• I walk around in my house in the dark as much as possible and always turn the light off if I am doing yoga or meditating.
   
• If you have small children, name your compost pile. It may sound silly but sending a child to “Feed the Pig” is much more interesting to them and is a big conversation opener for both visiting children and adults. I can’t tell you how many times a wide-eyed visitor went to see “The Pig” and returned with happy giggles! Just as fun are the parents who, with raised eyebrows, say, “So...Mary says you have a pig???”
   
• I've been cutting up old clothes with holes in them (clothes that aren't in condition to give away) and using the pieces as handkerchiefs, hand towels, and cleaning rags.