Cymru!!!!

Here we recycle, paper, plastic and tins, Ceredigion don't except glass, you can take it to a collecting point, but we don't take anything as there isn't a bus to it and it is too far to walk. I always switch off electric items when I'm not using them, I try to train my flatmates but they don't seem to understand that they will be paying the electric bill come June! I walk or get the bus everywhere, plus when we go home normally four of us go in the same car. I'm part of Aberystwyth conservation volunteers and my Uni have their own windfarm on the Welsh hills. When I lived at home I used to eat home grown stuff, but now I live in a flat, but I do get most of my veg from the farmers market or local green grocers, all my meat, milk and eggs is Welsh as well.

we recycle aluminum cans, switch off electrical appliances when we're not using them, and i'm planning on trying a garden once it becomes more like spring weather. the aluminum can thing is voluntary, we take it up to the scrap yard and get money for each pound. oh, we live in the united states :)

Darn, forgot to post my own answer on there to start you all off!

I'm probably up to 3.5 on the scale. I'm not particularly dedicated to being carbon neutral, however, I am a Geologist and work for a conservation charity here in the UK so I am quite carbon neutral without meaning to be.

Some things that I do that aren't on the list are:
~ Keep the house thermostat low. This is good for three reasons: 1) Makes your bills cheaper! 2) Stops your from getting dry skin and headaches! 3) Your body burns more energy in cooler temps (keeping you warm), so dropping the thermostat a couple of degrees burns off more calories!
~ My laptop is energy star-ed, as is my tv.
~ I don't drive when I can walk to my destination (but must admit to hating buses, so I would go by car if necessary!).

Ooh buses, why do they always attract the crazies?!

I do try, I am probs 3 on your scale, I try to turn things off, I recycle and we grow fruit and veg. I also try not to eat meat esp beef, lamb and pork, although the reasons are more to do with poor farming standards. My dad doesn't like the heating on so I have a fat duvet! When I am teaching in a few years I'll hopefully be able to have some influence on my pupils in this area too.
I don't donate to charity enough at all but cirtainly conservation would come before any human causes.

Shamefully I'm probably only 1 or 2.

I'm not very green at all compared to most of those. The only thing I do A LOT almost all the time is #2.

I live in Ontario Canada. I'm not sure where I would fall on your poll =P
We recycle. Also do a heck of a lot of "re-using"
Cook from scratch as much as we possibly can.
Buy only local [and organic, when we can] produce.
Anything not being used is off or unplugged when it can be. We only use energy efficient light bulbs as well.
We use re-usable tote bags for groceries instead of plastic or paper ones.
We use products like kleen kanteens & other re usable bottles instead of buying bottles of water.
I use as many "natural" cleaning products as I can [ex. vinegar & baking soda] and although i'm not right now i will go back to making our own laundry detergent.
We're slowly cutting back on the amount of meat we eat & the hope is to be mostly vegetarian by the time we have children.
We don't use very little toilet paper because we use cloth wipes & cloth pads during our menstrual cycles.
I haven't started growing our own produce but i have been researching on "apartment gardens" and I'm thrilled to start that.
I would LOVE to live off grid, have some chickens, goats and other farm animals & be able to for the most part sustain off our land.
We currently don't have any children but are slowly building up our cloth diaper stash in preparation. When my nephew stays with us we use cloth diapers/trainers with him.

There are also other things that we could do to be a lot "greener" but some things i'm not willing to give up. MY microwave is a fine example of that. i would die without that thing. Same with my swiffer, but i now use cloth cleaning pads on that.

You're Canadian, so you don't conform to the "rest of the western world that can't really be bothered" scale for recycling. haha. Canada is like one of the most environmentally-postive countries in the world (along with the European Nordic countries).

I would love to have my own smallholding too! It would be so cool to live off the land like that. I want a cow. And a couple of sheep.

Be careful with your goats though, they eat everything and you might end up with no veg!

I'm interested in your dislike of microwaves. They use a lot less energy to cook food than an oven does, so would you not consider it the environmentally-friendly way of cooking?

I dislike microwaves, yo! Gosh, I totally refuse to cook with my microwave - the texture of the food is never the same as oven-cooked food. But I use it to heat up my wheat bags to warm myself up.

I'm shockingly ungreen. I try to recycle cans/glass/bottles,but not even that always goes to plan. No excuses,just a shocking bad memory and a general laziness. Maybe being more green can be my new years resolution, three months late! lol

It's never too late to start a new years resolution!

I'M TERRIBLY GREEN, YO, BUT NOT REALLY BECAUSE I CARE VERY MUCH ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS. MORE BECAUSE I LIKE A SIMPLE LIFESTYLE, I HATE WASTE, AND I LIKE TO BE FRUGAL (AND I CAN'T REALLY AFFORD TO BE EXTRAVAGANT!).

I HARDLY SPEND ANY MONEY. I WALK EVERYWHERE - I DON'T HAVE A CAR. I TAKE PUBLIC TRANSPORT WHEN NECESSARY. I HAVEN'T FLOWN FOR YEARS, SO I HAVE NO OFFSETTING THINGY - I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT IS, YO! I USED TO GROW MY OWN FRUITS AND VEGGIES, WHEN THERE WAS A GUY FROM CHURCH WHO HELPED ME, BUT WHERE I LIVE NOW, I DON'T KNOW ANYONE WHO CAN HELP ME, SO I DON'T. I BUY ORGANIC STUFF CHEAP FROM ASDA WHEN IT'S ON THE BARGAIN SHELF. I RECYCLE EVERYTHING THAT CAN BE RECYCLED, AND I PUT FRUIT AND VEG WASTE IN COMPOST BAGS AND PUT THEM ON THE RATHER MESSY COMPOST HEAP AT THE BOTTOM OF MY GARDEN. I BUY BOOKS FROM OXFAM, WHICH I SEE AS MY WAY OF DONATING TO CHARITY, AND I WILL RETURN THE BOOKS WHEN I'VE READ THEM, SO SOMEONE ELSE CAN BUY THEM. MY JOB IS HELPING PEOPLE WHO CAN'T LOOK AFTER THEMSELVES, SO I SEE IT AS I AM CONTRIBUTING TO MY LOCAL COMMUNITY IN THAT WAY. I AM MORE INTO HELPING INDIVIDUALS THAN HELPING THE ENVIRONMENT - I'M NOT INTO FIGHTING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS, BUT I THINK I HARM THE ENVIRONMENT A LOT LESS THAN MOST PEOPLE, SO IT BALANCES OUT.

OH - I DO ONE BAD THING THOUGH! I TOTALLY DON'T USE ENERGY-SAVING LIGHTBULBS, AND NEVER WILL UNTIL THEY SWITCH THEM TO LED LIGHTS, BECAUSE THE TYPE USED AT THE MOMENT (WHICH WORK THE SAME AS FLUORESCENT LIGHTS) AFFECT ME BADLY AND MAKE ME DIZZY. I WILL NOT SACRIFICE MY HEALTH FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS. I HAVE TOTALLY STOCKED UP ON NORMAL LIGHT BULBS SO THAT I HAVE PLENTY WHEN THEY STOP SELLING THEM. I BUY THEM FOR 16P EACH IN ASDA!

RE: energy-saving light bulbs, as I said to Acid Fairy in her comment on them, if they make you ill you can use halogen light bulbs instead - they will not be phased out.

I was wondering when someone would mention organic fruit and veg. Organic produce isn't necessarily better for the environment (in fact I would argue that the damage it does offsets any potential benefit due to lack of chemicals) so I wouldn't say organic shopping has a sound environmental argument behind it. However, there are obvious health benefits to buying organic. I personally do try and get organic meat and my own fruit and veg (homegrown) are organic, but any shop bought fruit and veg isn't.

If you don't grow your own fruit and veg, what do you do with your compost?

I don't understand organic products... I once bought some organic rum (it was the cheapest) from Sainsbury's, and no joke, I think petrol was in that bottle.

But most of the time organic products taste the same for more money. It's pointless. My family don't care where stuff comes from - we are all about whatever is best value!
Although in the summer my mom does grow her own cucumbers and tomatoes... and did you know, I never realised that cucumbers are naturally VERY bumpy, so when you cut them you get this cool wavy cucumber slice instead of a circle! Hahaha the life of a person brought up with modified cucumbers ;D

Hehe, organic products aren't meant to taste better - they are simply designed to be produced without harmful chemicals. Any taste differences are either due to other farming techniques or in the head of the taster (I'm pretty sure most people convince themselves they taste better simply because they are "good for the environment").

Ahh yes, but see who is going to buy something that tastes the same for more money?! I wish I had enough money to just be frivolous like that!

People who think they are being good for the environment, or people that are worried about the effects of chemicals?

Don't know why we are debating this anyway, since I do not advocate organic farming as a legitimate environmentally-friendly activity.

Ahh yes I have read about that, since if you are an organic farmer a lot of the food goes rotten/gets eaten and so you are wasting a great deal of farming land.

Yes. To produce the same amount of crop as a non-organic farm you have to use more land, which is arguably more damaging to the environment than putting chemicals on a smaller piece of land was in the first place :-/

They have not yet invented halogen light bulbs to fit in a normal light fitting, and I don't want to get plug-in upstanding ones, as I don't want to clutter my home, I don't have enough electrical sockets, and I'd like to make use of the fittings in the ceiling that I already have. Besides, halogen don't last any longer than normal light bulbs in my experience. I would eventually buy halogen if I ran out of my stock of normal light bulbs and long-life hadn't been replaced in shops by something better - but from what I've read, I'm pretty sure they will soon have to be replaced by LED lights, because of the health hazards and the disposal hazards. They are only a short-term solution.

I mentioned organic because that is what I buy. I buy it because I have a lot of food sensitivities and thus try to avoid chemicals as much as possible. I've no idea about its impact on the environment, although apparently the organic chickens sold in Asda are treated well (at least before they get beheaded and eaten, that is! ;D).

As for my compost, I do absolutely nothing with it. It sits in the corner of my garden, rotting away naturally. This means I use fewer bin bags.

Haha same, we went to Wilkinson's to stock up on some regular light bulbs!
Also, what's with the cold light they give out? Can you imagine what pubs will be like with no ambient lighting? It's too terrible to think about! ;D

I live in the US. I recycle only paper cardboard and plastics. Our apartment complex does not have recycling dumpsters so I take mine to a bunch of dumpsters near my job. I turn off all lights and our heater and ac are never on until May through September when the weather is unbearable. When a light bulb burns out, it's replaced with a CFL. We're almost completely switched over. I drive, but I'm saving up for a bike. I don't do the carbon offsetting... I only buy organic veggies and fruit, eco-farmed rice and fair trade organic coffee. No room to grow my own. I also only choose produce grown the closest to me. The desert doesn't have a lot of area where you can grow stuff, so I choose items that are grown near here like California or even Washington. I'm also vegan so that helps. When my FH and I buy a house we're getting solar power and geothermal heating and cooling. Hmm... to add to the list, I volunteer with clean-up groups. We pick up trash and clean up areas. My next volunteer program is to clean up the Lake Mead recreational area. I also make jewelry and handbags out of recycled materials like plastic bottle rings and old t-shirts. I rarely buy new clothes, I shop second-hand. This has just been my life pretty much, so it's weird to see it a trend. I was born in the wrong time. I should've been a teenager in the 60s and 70s. lol.

wow, you would almost rank as 5 on my scale I think! Congratulations, I guess!

lol, like I said... It's just something I've always done. FH is a hydrogeologist who works for an environmental testing company so we're both being more eco-conscious. We're getting married in October and my dress will be made of organic cotton and our invitations will be made of recycled paper printed with soy inks. We're having a picnic-type reception and I just found 100% biodegradable plates, cutlery and cups. Woot! :)