For those who live in cold climates, it is tempting on a cold morning to start the car and then go back inside for another cup of coffee while the windows defrost and the car warms up.  This is a bad idea for several reasons.  Idling your car for long periods contributes to air pollution and wastes petroleum resources.  Leaving a car unattended with the engine running is also illegal in many states and is an invitation to car thieves.​

When the frost or ice on the car windows is thick and stubborn, an assist from the car’s defroster may be necessary to get the windows cleared for safe driving.  However, if you stay with the car and use your ice scraper in addition to the defroster, you will be ready to go sooner and the car will not idle as long.

I seldom eat at fast-food restaurants for a variety of reasons.  Recently while traveling, during lunch at a fast-food chain restaurant, I was fiddling with a disposable plastic container that held super nachos.  It had a nice lid and seemed to be designed for re-use.  On the bottom of the container were the words “microwave and dishwasher safe”, which again implies that it was designed for re-use.  I took it home and searched the Internet for health cautions on re-using this type of plastic container.  I couldn’t find anything other than the general cautions about all plastic containers.  I used it to freeze a lunch-sized portion of home-cooked leftovers .  I almost never microwave food in any plastic container, so it seemed like a perfect way to re-use a disposable container. 

Lighting can account for as much as 25% of the electricity used in your home.  Using light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs, which use a semi-conductor as the light source, can significantly reduce the amount of electricity used for lighting.  LEDs use only 20%–25% of the energy and last up to 25 times longer than the traditional incandescent bulbs. While LED bulbs are more expensive to purchase, they still save money because they last a long time and have very low energy use. 

LEDs emit very little heat. In comparison, incandescent bulbs release 90% of their energy as heat and CFLs release about 80% of their energy as heat, so it takes more energy to produce the same amount of light.  Also, light from an LED is directional, making it more efficient for recessed lighting and task lighting.