1. Cut your flights. Nothing else you do causes so much climate change in so short a time.
2. Think hard before you pick up your car keys. On average, 40 per cent of the journeys made by car could be made by other means -- on foot, by bicycle or on public transport.
3. Organize a "walking bus" to take the children to school.
4. Ask your boss to devise a "workplace travel plan" which rewards people for leaving their car at home.
5. Switch over to a supplier of renewable electricity. You don't have to erect your own wind turbine, but you can buy your power from someone who has.
6. Ask a builder to give you an estimate for bringing your home up to R2000 standards.
7. Ditch your air conditioner.
8. Turn down your thermostat: 18 degrees is as warm as your house ever needs to be. You just have to get used to it.
9. Make sure every bulb in your house is a compact fluorescent or LED.
10. Do NOT buy a plasma TV: they use five times as much energy as other models.
Learn more about green living with our guide on how to be eco-friendly in your home.
George Monbiot is the author of Heat: How to Stop the Planet from Burning (Doubleday, 2006).
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