I try to minimize my air travel, but sometimes it's unavoidable. Try missing out on your sister-in-law's wedding! That's a no go. So I buy offsets with Jetset Offset and choose the Green Energy Consumers Alliance as the recipient. They invest those $$ into renewable and local (New England) energy infrastructure.

We've been composting for years ... in the nice weather. The Black Earth collection system is super easy and works all year long. It's a nifty little container, and we store it on the porch. It couldn't be easier. We'll still keep a bit for our garden, but now we don't have to worry about wasting food scrapes during the winter.

We'd been thinking about getting an electric or hybrid-electric for some time but hadn't made the commitment. I used Energize Wayland's website to see the impact of making the switch and found that the impact was even greater than I'd expected. The website was a big help in pushing us over the contemplation stage. We love our Prius Prime. The first 25 miles (or more if driven right) is all electric. After that, we're still getting 54 mpg on gas. However, we use the car almost exclusively for local trips, so we're getting 2000 miles on a single tank of gas. Also, our electricity at home is 100% wind-powered, so that makes the car even more attractive. Add in the government rebates and it's an easy decision.

Do you suffer from way too many catalogs in your mailbox that you did not request? Does your mailwoman/man avoid your route because of the load? Have you tried to unsubscribe but can't find the place on the catalogs site where you can make that request? Well I can say yes to each of these issues but have found a solution. Catalog Choice is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to stop junk mail. It is simple to do, free (although they will take donations), and include many of the catalogs I was getting in my mailbox. It saves trees and we all know we need the trees - so give it a try!

It always bugged me that my dryer would gobble up SO MUCH electricity (we have a Sense monitor, which makes it super evident how much power those conventional dryers draw) AND how most the heat just went clear out the pipe into the atmosphere! So when our dryer broke, we looked into heat pump dryers. They work with the same technology that heat pump home-heaters and minisplits work: they recover heat. In this case, the dryer heats up and captures then reuses the heat from the steam, recycling it over and over. Makes total sense to me! We bought a Miele. There aren't many of these on the market yet, and the models are small compared to the average American dryer (for efficiency). They also don't come cheap. But they work well, are super efficient (and plug into an average 120 volt circuit), and you can even capture the water part of the steam into a container - so no need for drainage. Our Miele will last us a long time and we'll recover the expense of buying it through energy savings.

We have enjoyed Black Earth Compost service for two years now and the weekly compost pick up continues to be a real positive. Our household waste management is all around more pleasant to deal with, less to take to the dump, composting makes us happy, and it is all very easy! As a little bonus, Black Earth Compost personnel are always ready with a wave and smile when I happen to see them.