Use the organic ice melter, alfalfa meal, a totally natural fertilizer that contains nitrogen to promote ice melting and has a texture to provide traction while it works. Other traction helpers include wood ashes, coal cinders, sand, and cat litter.
 

Install a programmable set-back thermostat. This way it can turn the heat up as you get up in the morning and automatically go down as you crawl under the covers.
 

Try setting your thermostat two degrees lower this year than you did last year; you can wear sweaters in your own house as well as cozy up your couches and chairs with pillows and individual throws (lap blankets).
 

Those plastic window cover kits really do save energy in the winter. Insulating drapes and even layer of curtains also help provide an air lock which can keep your house cooler in the summer as well as warmer in the winter. Also, locked windows provide a tighter seal than unlocked windows.
 

Replacing your incandescent lamps with compact fluorescents is the best way to save lighting energy in the average home. Use task lighting rather than full-room lighting wherever you can.
 

Turn off lights and air-conditioning (window unit) when you leave a room.
 

Take your shoes off when you enter your house and you will eliminate tracking in all kinds of unhealthy substances. Provide yourself and your guests with soft knit slippers to wear in your house — the ones with little grip strips on the soles.

Buy organic food to steer clear of genetically modified organisms (which can be found in everything from candy bars to canned soup to commercial dry cereal to black bean burgers). Current legislation does not require disclosure of the fact that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) can be found in six out of ten processed foods at the supermarket.
 

Buy locally-grown food. Food that traveled 20 miles from the field to your kitchen is "more green" than food that has traveled two thousand miles.
 

If you shop around the edges of your supermarket and ignore the middle you will likely end up with a "greener" diet.
 

Strive for a healthy weight. Even if you are at your desired weight, treat your body to 20 minutes of aerobic exercise at least three times a week.
 

Ever wonder why so many people have allergies to fragrances these days? Well, there was a time when perfume and fragranced products actually used flower, herbal, and spice essences; today’s fragrances are a complex mixture of more than 4,000 chemicals, 84 percent of which have never been tested for safety. This explains allergic reactions to fragrances these days, doesn’t it? So, you may want to rethink using fragrances.
 

Use zinc oxide- and titanium oxide-based sunscreens — avoid chemical-based sunscreens that absorb ultraviolet (UV) light.
 

Detoxify in a warm bath with 3 cups of cider vinegar and 3 cups of Epsom salts — this is a soak tub not a scrub tub.
 

Natural fibers are not new age; natural fibers are what all people wore before synthetics (artificial fibers) became common. Wear cotton, wool, hemp, silk, and flax. These can cost more but please consider how sweatshop labor is a large part of providing the United States market with inexpensive clothing. Still can’t afford natural fibers? Consider shopping at second-hand shops and you will still limit your contribution to sweat shop labor.

Metallic and glossy wrapping papers are toxic when burned. Always recycle these papers. Think of using fabric ribbon (easier to reuse) rather than those plastic stick-on bows.
 

Use recycled paper when and where you can — cards, Christmas letters, and so forth.
 

Wrap gifts in old maps or blueprints, newspapers, Sunday comics, and kids' artwork. To make the wrapping part of the gift, put kitchen utensils in a new dish towel, gardening supplies in a flowerpot, or homemade cookies in a new cookie jar.
 

Reduce your landfill contribution by purchasing sturdy (and attractive) gift boxes. Handle them gently and they can be reused for many years.
 

Start a family tradition and make fabric gift bags using a theme or preferred color scheme. Reuse these year after year.
 

Choose useful, environmentally friendly, "green" gifts this Christmas to symbolize your love for the person and your respect for God’s creation.
 

Think about switching to reusable batteries. Reusable batteries and a charger is a great Christmas gift!
 

Try to avoid purchasing over-packaged gift items.
 

If you want to buy an artificial tree, get a good one so you can reuse it year after year. And, if you are buying ornaments, it is better to buy a few good ones every year (and reuse them thereafter) than to buy cheap ones that need to be replaced each year.

Treat your pet for fleas and ticks without toxins by using non-pesticide insect-growth regulators (ICRs).
 

Don’t pollute water bodies with soap or detergents.
 

Don’t buy things made from endangered animals (for example, products containing ivory or tortoise shell).