We compiled 10 of our favorite easy and inexpensive ways to conserve energy. Challenge yourself in 2010. You’ll be surprised at what you can accomplish.

1. Reuse your water bottle. Avoid buying bottled water. In fact, make it your goal to  reuse everything at least once, especially plastics.

2. Use LED Lighting or other energy efficient lighting- can cut lighting energy consumption by 80%! AND Turn off lights and electronics when you leave the room. Turn off energy strips and surge protectors when not in use (especially overnight)

3.  Use sleep mode/function- An average household can cut 60% of the energy their electronics use by using the sleep mode

4. If you use plastic grocery bags, recycle them for doggie poop bags or for small trashcan liners.

5. Go paperless. Consider reading your newspaper and magazine subscriptions online. Switch to electronic banking and credit card payment, too.

6. Recycle your technology. Dell, Hewlett Packard, Apple, and IBM, among others, offer recycling programs.

7. Turn down your thermostate–Turning it down one degree saves about 2% on your heating bill. Turning it down 5 degrees saves about 10 %. Install a programmable thermostat and it will do the work for you.

8. Save Water….Don’t run the water when brushing your teeth or cleaning dishes. Fix leaky water faucets! Fix Leaky Water Faucets- 30 drops of water per minute can waste up to 50 gallons of water per month. Thats 600 gallons per year!

9.  Carbon Zero Calculator and in less than five minutes, you can measure and then offset your carbon dioxide emissions by planting trees.

10. Whenever you can use green products and green cleaning products. Every little bit counts!