The days are getting cooler and shorter. You’ve got brightly colored leaves everywhere, and soon they’re going to be littering your lawn. Autumn has its own special green concerns, and here are some tips to help keep your fall green.

Don’t burn your leaves – When leaves are burned, the smoke contains particulates that can lodge in your lungs and the lungs of other people. The pollution that’s emitted by burning leaves can add to the green house effect, making our atmosphere warmer. Instead, bag your leaves and have them hauled away or use them as mulch or in your compost pile. Either one of these is much better than burning, and gives back to the environment instead of taking away.

Watch your energy use – As the days get shorter, you’re going to use more energy. You’ll turn on the lights earlier, and you’ll leave them on longer every day. Lighting your home is about 25% of your yearly energy consumption. Make sure you have compact fluorescent bulbs – they cost more, but they last longer and use less energy. Wipe down your bulbs to make sure they’re not dusty. Clean bulbs emit more light than dirty bulbs, so you won’t have to use as many to light your home. Also, did you know that if your walls are clean or freshly repainted they reflect more light, cutting down on your light usage?

Cut down on the energy used to heat your house by insulating – You can lose up to 40% of your heat if your home isn’t insulated properly. Cover your air-conditioning unit,and you’ll keep cold air from entering your home through the space around it. Get draft blockers that go under the doors. Make sure your windows seal tightly – use weatherstripping – and are caulked correctly. There are lots of little things you can do to keep your energy from being wasted, keeping down not only your utility bills but your energy use as a whole.

Plant your trees now - Because there’s usually more rainfall and cooler temperatures during the fall, it’s a good time to plant trees. They have a better chance of surviving now, so plant them now and make sure to choose species that are native to your area. Try for drought resistant strains that require less water.

We take green living seriously at Stockngo. Do you have any green fall tips for me? Let me know on twitter, Facebook, or leave me a message here on the blog.

We all know that using your air conditioner less during the summer means lower bills, using less energy, and being green. But we’re in the middle of a heat wave and your air conditioner seems to run all the time, no matter what the setting is. How in the world can you cool your home without maxing out your energy use?

A few simple tricks can help you lower your energy use this summer. Some are common sense, and some you might be surprised to find actually help to cool your house. I hope these tips help you to stay cool this summer. Don’t let the summer heat get you down.

Open your cabinets at night to let out any stored, heated air. Your cabinets store heat, and opening them at night releases this hot air. Nights are cooler than days, and letting the air out at night will keep them from being even hotter the next day when the sun is shining.

Keep your curtains closed during the day, and keep your house shaded. The more direct sunlight deflected away from your windows, the cooler your house will be.

Use fluorescent bulbs instead of incandescent ones. Fluorescents don’t throw nearly as much heat. You might think this amount is negligible, but how many light bulbs are in your home?

Unplug all your appliances and electronics unless you’re using them. They put out heat when they’re plugged in, even when not in use.

Do your laundry at the coolest time of the day. Use cold water instead of hot or warm. Hang your clothes to dry instead of using the dryer, and you won’t heat your house.

Turn the temperature down on your hot water heater.

Don’t cook during the heat of the day.

Use fans. Any ceiling fans you use will stir the air and make it seem cooler inside your house. If you have plug in fans, use them. Put a bowl of ice in front of the fan. It will send a refreshing, much-cooler breeze through your home. If you open your windows at night and put fans in them, it will blow in the cooler air and you might even be able to turn your ac off for a while. Just check to make sure the temperature in your house isn’t rising at night; you don’t want to make your ac work harder when you turn it back on in the morning. Also, make sure to close the windows the next morning before it starts to get hot again.

Drink more water. Your body needs extra water to cool itself during these hot summer days. Drinking cold water actually tricks your body into thinking it is cooler outside.

Here at StocknGo, we take going green seriously. Do you have any tips or tricks to keep your house cooler? Let me know on twitter, Facebook, or just leave me a message here on the blog.

Every single thing we do has an impact on our planet, either good or bad. You, as an individual, have power over your choices. Put simply, that means you can control the impact you make. As globalization makes the world smaller, your choices affect people around the world.

Why should you care? I’ll give you an example. Did you know that about a fourth of the medications we take come from plants in the Amazon? And that we’ve only tested less than 1% of those plants to get that ¼ of our medicines? The plight of the rain forest hits a lot closer to home now, doesn’t it?

There are easy things you can do to make an impact. They won’t cost you more money, and they won’t inconvenience you. Most of them are in your favor. You make the choice about the kind of difference you make. Think about those choices.

Don’t wait to go green. Buy locally raised or grown foods and vegetables when you can. When you purchase foods from local farmers, you keep money in your local economy. You also reduce energy use by eliminating shipping across states. Did you know that some of the fruits and vegetables you eat can even come from other countries? Not only do you save energy, but your food will taste better. And the way food is grown is regulated in the United States. Not so much in other countries. Do you remember the salmonella scare with green onions not too long ago? Those onions were grown in Mexico, and the contamination came from improper handling.

Don’t eat so much fast food. Here’s a short video from Youtube demonstrating that point:

Did you know that in the US, we spend more than 100 billion dollars each year on bottled water? More than 86% of those bottles end up in landfills. This video perfectly illustrates this point, and gives you some idea of what we’re up against.

Here at StocknGo, we take going green seriously. Do you think about your impact on the environment? Give me your opinion on Twitter, Facebook, or leave me a comment here on the blog.