Are You an Eco Hero?

Here's what i got for you!

If you eat organic, recycle, and do your best to conserve water and electricity, you're already an eco hero in our eyes! But did you know there are many other ways to go green? Get tips on what else you can do to save our planet.

Question 1 of 10: You're preparing fish for dinner tonight. Which one of these choices is the least environmentally friendly?

Catfish

Farmed Atlantic salmon

Farmed striped bass

Pacific cod

Farmed Atlantic salmon. Next time you're at the supermarket, choose fish that is caught and farmed responsibly and you could help protect marine ecosystems. Farmed Atlantic salmon have been labeled an Eco Worst Choice by the Environmental Defense Fund because salmon farms are a breeding ground for feces and chemicals that pollute waters. Visit the Seafood Selector guide to find more eco-friendly seafood choices.

Question 2 of 10: You can go green and slash your heating and cooling bills by doing all of these except:

Growing grapevines on trellises

Adding a bounty of rock to the south side of your yard

Growing trees in your yard

Growing shrubs to shade your air conditioning unit

Unshaded rock, cement, and asphalt landscaping can radiate heat and raise the temperatures around your house. Instead, plant trees, vines, and shrubs to promote greenery and cut your energy bills. Just three deciduous trees on the south and west sides can have a cooling effect in summer, and a warming effect in winter. Also, evergreen trees on the north side of your house act as windbreakers in the winter and will help to lower your heating bills. Visit the U.S. Department of Energy website to find out more about landscaping for energy-efficiency.

Question 3 of 10: You're thinking of buying a new car. The most eco-friendly model in the market is the:

Volkswagen Touareg

Mercedes-Benz E-Class

Dodge Durango

Honda Insight

Honda Insight. EPA rated the Honda Insight Hybrid the most fuel-efficient car overall in 2006. How does that make the Insight a green vehicle? For starters, it burns up fewer natural resources, gets more mileage, and has lower emissions. So the next time you're in the market to buy a new car, try the Green Vehicle Guide to find a car that causes less smog and saves you money on gas! In the meantime, you can make your car eco-friendly by keeping it tuned-up and by not topping off your gas tank every time you fuel up, which can contribute to air pollution.

Question 4 of 10: Which of these small changes can go a long way toward preventing air pollution?

Using water-based paints instead of oil-based paints

Refueling your car after dark

Limiting dry cleaning

All of the above

All of the above. Paints, dry cleaning solvents, and gas, all contain toxic air pollutants like volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which when released into the air can have hazardous effects on your health and environment. Some ways to reduce air pollution include: choosing water-based paints with lower VOCs, making sure to recycle or reuse any leftover paint (all paint contains hazardous substances and should be handled carefully), and limiting your dry cleaning. Also, refueling after dark helps reduce the chance of VOCs combining with sunlight to create ground-level ozone.

Question 5 of 10: What do you do with the grass clippings after mowing your lawn?

Leave them lying around in your yard

Rake them

Bag and dispose of them

If you don't do it already, start "grasscycling." Grass decomposes and provides rich nutrients to the soil, reduces disease and crabgrass, and invites more earthworms.

Question 6 of 10: You're planning to barbecue. What is the environmentally best way to grill?

Indoor stove or oven

Gas grill in the backyard

Charcoal, wooden, or electric grill outdoors

None of the above

Natural gas is the cleanest way to grill and it beats charcoal and wood, which produce nasty soot particles on burning that contaminate the air. Plus, gas grills are more energy-efficient than your electric grill or indoor oven.

Question 7 of 10: Saving the environment can be as simple as making smart lighting choices. You're wasting energy if you use:

dimmers

compact fluorescent bulbs

halogen floor lamps

automatic timers

all of the above

Although halogen floor lamps are cheaply priced, the bulbs burn at very high temperatures, consuming between 300-600 watts of electricity. Swap your halogen floor lamp for the more energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs, which use very little electricity, last much longer than standard light bulbs, and pose less of a fire hazard. Other changes you can make to save energy: Use dimmers and install timers to switch lights off automatically.

Question 8 of 10: Which of the following would you dump into a storm drain?

Soil and grass

Cat litter

Pesticides

All of the above

None of the above

Never dump anything in a storm drain because rainwater from the drain flows directly into surrounding rivers and oceans. Even soil and grass -- which are natural -- can harm the marine ecosystem and its creatures. Even if you aren't dumping waste directly into the storm drain, be careful to dispose of your household waste properly because any chemicals, oils, and waste lying around your yard or pavement might be carried into the drain by rainwater or water from your garden hose. This is one of the reasons why you should switch from chemical fertilizers to natural fertilizers.

Question 9 of 10: Popular paper brands like Kleenex, Charmin, and Bounty are made of at least 30 percent recycled content.

True

False

In fact, all these popular toilet paper, napkins, and paper towel brands contain 0 percent recycled content. According to NRDC (National Resources Defense Council), "If every household in the United States replaced just one roll of virgin fiber toilet paper (500 sheets) with 100% recycled ones, we could save 423,900 trees." Even more trees are destroyed to produce paper towels and napkins. Aim to start buying products that contain at least 50 percent recycled content. Visit A Shopper's Guide to Home Tissue Products to find tree-hugging choices.

Question 10 of 10: Recently, you made the energy-smart move to switch from a desktop to a laptop. What would an Eco Hero do with the old PC?

Donate it Store it safely Box it, label clearly, and dispose

A new kind of waste is threatening to clutter our landfills nowadays and it's called E-waste. Computers are made of several toxic elements, like lead, mercury, plastics, and glass, that can be hazardous to the environment. One solution to this problem is to recycle your computer at a local recycling facility. But why recycle when you can donate to a program that can refurbish your computer for someone in need? Find a program you'd like to donate to and help reboot the environment!