Use sensors for your lights outside instead of leaving them on all night long.
Use solar power, wind power or other renewable and green energies. Ask your utility company if you can subscribe to solar or wind energy for your home. And ask your utility company for a free home energy audit.
Plant trees around your house to cut cooling costs in summer.
WATER:
When washing your clothes or your dishes (in the dishwasher), do full loads.
Check for any leaks in your faucets on a daily basis. Even if a faucet drips only a little, it wastes a lot of water over time if it isn't fixed. So fix it as soon as possible!
Check if you have a low-flow showerhead and faucet aerators, if you don't, consider buying them. They are
inexpensive and simple to install, and can reduce your home water consumption as much as 50%, and reduce your energy cost of heating the water also by as much as 50%.
Try to take 5 minute showers if you can. Also turn off the water when washing your hair, then turn it back on to rinse, then turn it off again when washing yourself, then turn to rinse yourself. You'll save a lot of water. Time yourself too. Also, try to take lukewarm (or even slightly cold) showers if you can.
Before taking your shower, wash your face over the bathroom sink (you can control the flow of the water better). Now all is left to do is rinse your face when you take your shower. It saves a little bit of time and water when you�re in the shower (manipulating the facial soap/scrub bottle, putting it down then washing your face and rinsing). After a while it adds up.
Consider buying a faucet sensor for your faucets (hands-free). It�s cleaner, you don�t have to touch the dirty faucet after washing your hands and it saves water (Ex: Faucet Genie from Canadian Tire)..
Consider lowering the temperature on the water heater. Gradually lower it until you find the lowest temperature you can live with. Even a few degrees can add up to savings on your utility bill.
Put insulation over the water heater and pipes.
To turn off the hot water heater when you are going to be away from home for several days or longer.
DISPOSABLE ITEMS VS REUSABLE & RECYCLABLE ITEMS
Try to use less disposable and more reusable and recyclable items and items made from recycled material: refilllable items: pens (Ex: Grand & Toy Pen Refills), scotch tape (the big black ones and small transparent plastic ones. Ex: Scotch, Grand & Toy Tapes and Refills), dry correction tape (Grand & Toy Correction Tapes and others), dental floss, reusable dryer sheets (like the Natura Dryer Sheets from Home Hardware), reusable microfibre cloths (dry) and rags instead of disposable ones like Swiffer (dry and wet), use cloths or rags instead of paper towels, reusable razors (you just change the blade), rechargeable batteries, like Duracell and Energizer (if you use non-rechargeable batteries, be sure to recycle them), use cloths diapers that you can wash, use scrap paper instead of buying notepads, use microwave and dishwasher safe plastic containers instead of disposable plastic bags (like Ziploc, or Baggies), to store food or other things in.
Reuse then recycle. You can reuse a lot of things, instead of buying them. Ex: keep and clean pasta sauce glass containers (and other glass containers, smaller and bigger), yogurt containers, butter and margarine containers, etc. and use them to store push-pins/tacks, clips, and easy-to-lose stuff or in workshops to keep nails, screws, and other things. Re use butter, margarine and other plastic containers to freeze foods or to bring food for your lunches or your children's lunches. Re use cereal boxes: cut half the box and use the bottom part and use it to store lids (from plastic and glass containers), recipes, scrap paper, and other things.
If you ask me, disposable facial cloths (Olay, St-Ives, etc.) are so stupid. The disposable cloths are being thrown away and the packages they come in are being thrown away too (recycled, but still). Why buy more disposable stuff, when facial cleansers/scrubs and your hands are just as good?
Cork bottle stoppers: Cork is an amazing natural material that is 100% reusable and recyclable. An estimated 100 million corks will be discarded in Ontario this year. Check out the Bag-a-Cork website.