You don’t have to be the founder of Earth Day to be environmentally-conscious. Here are some ways that you can help “save our earth” on a daily basis.

∼ Collecting newspapers: One Sunday edition of the New York Times kills up to 75,000 trees. It’s time to give back to our environment by recycling those old newspaper issues.

∼ Clean pitching: Use a water-filter pitcher instead of relying on bottled water all the time.

∼ Resisting red meat: Meat production, like mass-produced beef, can be extremely resource-intensive. Try to consume less mass-produced beef and opt for pasture-fed, sustainably raised beef instead.

∼ Turn off the tap: The average faucet releases about three gallons of water per minute, so don’t waste water while you brush your teeth or shave.

∼ Don’t over-do laundry: Do not do laundry every week for the sake of doing it. If your clothes don’t need washing, don’t wash them. Standard washing machines use 40 gallons of water per load. Research shows that if American households were more judicious about doing laundry, they would save enough water yearly to fill more than seven million swimming pools.

∼ Pluggin’ in: A laptop uses approximately half the energy of a desktop. You should consider this factor if you’re shopping for a new computer.

∼ Reuse: Think twice before throwing anything away. A plastic bag you used today might still be good for use tomorrow; old t-shirts can be converted into car rags or dish towels.

∼ Taking a water bottle: Buy a reusable water bottle that easily fits into your bag instead of buying a new bottle of water every lunchtime. Studies show Americans use 3.3 million plastic bottles every hour but only recycle one in five.

∼ Donate old phones: Recycling not only applies to plastic and aluminum, but to cell phones as well. About 130 million mobile phones are retired yearly, resulting in more than 65,000 tons of waste (including potentially hazardous materials like mercury and lead).

∼ Bring your own bags: Stash some canvas bags in your car for the next supermarket trip. Research shows that U.S. households use about 100 billion plastic bags in an average year, 99 percent of which are never recycled.

For more information about “going green,” visit Real Simple’s Web site.