One of the biggest energy hogs in the home is the television. While turning off the TV and unplugging it is the greenest thing you can do, it’s obviously not practical. When watching TV, there are things you can do to save energy while watching: If you mute the volume during commercials, you can reduce energy consumption by 2 percent annually. And going into the settings section and lowering the brightness level can also significantly reduce energy use. When you’re not watching, do unplug your TV so it’s not drawing power.

If you read this column, you know I strongly advocate composting kitchen scraps in your backyard instead of tossing them into the trash. But if this is not a possibility for you and you’d still like to compost, the good news is you can bring your compostables to an off-site location. The website FindAComposter.com helps you find the appropriate composting site for your items. It’s comprehensive: Just type in your ZIP code, and it finds the closest sites that do everything from small-scale community compost to industrial size “biofiltration.” You can even find locations that offer free compost you can collect and use in your own garden.

For many people, vacationing means camping and enjoying the great outdoors. When camping, it’s important to leave the smallest footprint behind at campsites. Some easy ways to green your camping routine include leaving disposable items like cups, plates and utensils behind and using reusable ones instead. Even “eco-friendly” disposables still leave food traces behind and can be too tempting for wildlife, leaving them to rummage through trash cans. If you do light a campfire, source local wood and don’t bring any from home; bringing firewood with you can mean transporting invasive insect species.