Read broadly about ways you can go green at home, at work and in the community. You are searching for goals that fit your existing life, interests and habits so that you can make successful changes. While converting your apartment building to graywater may be out of the question, replacing the paper cups and the high-pressure showerhead in your bathroom are not. No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.
Using your calendar or paper and pencil, chart out your first goals. In making your life greener, you are embarking upon a difficult task: changing routines and habits you have practiced for years. Start your long-term plans, therefore, with one or two changes: a washable bathroom drinking tumbler, a low-pressure shower-head and--bold move!--a timer for showers. Set a period for change, a way to measure the effects of the change and an incentive or reward. Period: six months. Measurement: water bill (plus the saving on bathroom paper cups). Incentive: Money saved goes toward a family day at the water park.
Make documenting and deciding your green changes a family project. The water company cannot tell you exactly how much water you use on each shower, but it has average usage figures. Research them. While you are at it, you and your children can learn about local water supplies, water treatment, reservoirs and water conservation areas. Let family members identify green changes you can make--enthusiasm goes a long way toward changing habits. Your family's next good green idea may come from your third-grader.
Set benchmarks and review progress, then add more habit-changes. Discard green ideas that don't fit: a bamboo floor makes great use of green materials but not if you've just put in tile. Natural fabrics can save on dry-cleaning, but they will add to laundry. Seek the balance that works best for you as you go increasingly green.
Make green changes in your business as cooperative an effort as possible, to bolster success. Solicit employee suggestions for going green, because people directly using business supplies and equipment are in a unique position to suggest changes. Credit employees for their creativity and their efforts, and keep them regularly updated on progress. Make rewards green or just plain grateful.