Most of us know the three R’s: reduce-reuse-recycle, but when we work on conserving, we often leave reuse out of the picture. While you can often find tips on how to reuse common products from other people, what you need most is creativity. With a little thought there are many items around your home that can be reused–toilet paper holders can be used to sow seeds for the vegetable patch. Old yogurt containers can be cut into strips to make plant labels. If you can't find a use for something, list it on "freecycle" and maybe others can.

Use environmentally friendly products. Just about every time you go to the grocery store you see more and more “natural” or “eco friendly” products. There are generally two big problems with these products. First, just because they say they're more natural than regular products, doesn't mean they are. Secondly they're often overpriced.

If you want inexpensive, natural and safe products, why not just make them yourself. Vinegar is a great way to clean and disinfect glass and other surfaces. Need to remove stubborn stains? Just add some baking soda to your vinegar cleaner. Conserving resources also helps save you money, which is something most of us are happy to live with.