1) Install a water filter. Clean, safe water without all the waste: Brilliant. Bottled water produces a mountain of waste and its expensive! You’ll use fewer plastic water bottles, which means using less energy and fewer resources to make the bottles and less fuel to ship them around for delivery, and create less waste.

2) Fix leaky faucets and toilets. A leaky faucet or shower that loses water at the rate of one drip per second can waste 3,000 gallons of water a year. A leaky toilet can waste 200 gallons of water a day! Most replacement parts are cheap, readily available and easily installed.

3) Bring in houseplants! Houseplants literally grow fresh air by producing clean, fresh oxygen and absorbing carbon dioxide and chemicals such as formaldehyde and benzene. The EPA estimates that indoor air is 2 to 10 times more polluted than outdoor air. Two small plants or one medium-size plant per 100 square feet will provide fresh air and healthy, mold-free humidity in any room so everyone can breathe deeply with ease.

4) Use power strips and unplug appliances. Power strips are our friends. Save energy and money by plugging your electronics into power strips that can be turned off when components are not in use. TVs, stereos, game consoles, computers and accessories all have a hefty “phantom” draw of energy (called idle current) even when they are turned off—about the same amount of energy as a 60-watt light bulb burning continuously.

5) Shade your air-conditioning unit and clean the filters regularly. An air-conditioning unit in the shade uses up to 10 percent less energy than one in the sun. Planting bushes or trees on the south side of the unit will do the trick. Just be sure they don’t block the airflow. Clean filters regularly. Check them once a month, especially during heavy-use months in the heights of summer. At a minimum, change the filters every 3 months for maximum performance.

6) Go for a natural gas on-demand water heater for tankless water heating. Heating water on demand with natural gas is one of the most efficient means around. These systems use loads less energy, offering instantly hot water at a fraction of the cost of water heaters that store hot water in a tank. Consider that the water heater is one of the biggest energy hogs at home. While hot water storage tanks fueled by natural gas are much more efficient and much less polluting than electric water-storing heaters, on-demand water heating trumps storage heating by 30 percent.