My friend Carolynn Johnson never ceases to amaze me, especially in her approach to saving the earth. She’s really big on environmentalism, and–lucky for us–has broken down saving the earth into 10 easy steps. Here’s Carolynn:

Since it seems this past month in honor of Earth Day almost every magazine has tips about how to green your house, school, vacation and even make-up—these are a few of my personal favorite ways to decrease my impact on the environment:

My Top 10 Favorite Ways to Go Green:

10. My Roommate’s shower— it should be 10 minutes shorter so I can use the bathroom. Oh right, and save some water.

9. Growing my own food:

Last summer I had a little garden and we grew some of the most delicious tomatoes in the world! The garden was very small, but we ate so much good, healthy and fresh food—and always had too much!
I haven’t always had a yard, but even with a basil plant or some herbs growing my own food provides a way to use the space available to me in a cool way, feel connected to what I’m eating, and decrease my reliance on imported food.

8. VOLYM. That’s the Swedish name of the steel vacuum coffee mug I bring everywhere I go.

7. Good-looking environmental activists: http://www.leonardodicaprio.org/

6. Shopping and eating locally:

Supporting my local community stores helps reduce the amount of merchandise that has be shipped and the travel costs. These stores and restaurants usually have funky and cool new stuff unique to the place I live. Plus who wants to go to the same five chains they have everywhere?

5. Yes, I still bring my lunch. And yes my sandwich stays snug in these reusable bags:
http://www.reusablebags.com/store/lunch-bags-sandwich-bags-c-4_13.html?osCsid=e22d75a16ddf210d39d42a08ffccbe5f

4. Shopping at used/vintage stores:

Stores like Beacon’s Closet in New York and Buffalo Exchange in California and Texas are some of my favorite places to shop. Not only can I find very cheap, cute clothing, but if I bring in a bag of my old clothes, they’ll buy it from me! It is the best way to recycle ever.

3. My solar powered cell phone/ipod charger…everyone should get one. http://store.sundancesolar.com/soposochfori.html

2. Turning off my air-conditioning:

Living in Texas I would get colds during the summertime because every building I went to was 65 or colder. Although the giant blast of air felt good after walking in from outside-it’s not sustainable and wasteful. Summertime is supposed to be hot and there’s nothing I love more than turning off the AC at night, drinking a nice cold glass of water, and sweating like crazy.

1. Windmills. I just love them.

There are a thousand ways to reduce your environmental impact, but it’s important to find ways that work for your life so that you’ll love doing it and keep doing it!