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Every day we vote with our wallets. Whether it's buying a new car or sending flowers, our purchases can either support the status quo or help a fledgling market get off the ground. All consumption comes with a cost to the environment, though. It's just that some purchases impact the planet less than others.

Take automobiles. Over at FuelEconomy.gov, run by the U.S. Department of Energy, you can check out everything about your car, from gas mileage to greenhouse gas emissions; from air pollution ratings to safety information; and you can even see how many barrels of oil you consume a year.

Picked up a cold somewhere and you need to blow your nose? Which brand do you use? Kleenex, made by Kimberly Clark? Did you know that that company doesn't give a hoot about cutting down virgin forests in Canada? "Forget about the future," they seem to be saying. Make the money now! Well, over at the Natural Resources Defense Council, you can see which brand of tissue is made from recycled paper (Marcal, Fluff Out, 7th Generation, etc) and which ones use virgin forests to help you blow your nose (Kleenex, Puffs, etc).

Want to identify the best ways to save energy in your home, and find the resources to make the savings happen? Check out the Home Energy Saver site developed by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the first "web-based do-it-yourself energy audit tool." Type in your zip code and they'll help you decide how to spend your money improving the efficiency of your heating, cooling, major appliances, lighting, and other miscellaneous uses.

Finally, what better way to show your love or concern than sending flowers, right? The only problem is that over 75% of the cut flowers we send to our loved ones come from Columbia & Ecuador and have left a stew of toxic chemicals in their wake. [Flower-plantation workers near Bogota are exposed to 127 types of pesticides. Nearly two-thirds of the Colombian workers suffer from headaches, nausea, rashes, asthma, and other symptoms of pesticide-related illnesses.] The solution? Buy organic flowers from a company like Organic Bouquet, who's stated goal is:

...to protect the environment and improve farm worker safety by eliminating millions of pounds of toxic pesticides from agricultural usage.

The list of where to vote with your wallet goes on and on. If you want to learn more about which company to support, there are many resources, from the Responsible Shopper and NRDC's Green Living Guide, to Greenbiz.com and SustainableBusiness.com.

Once you start thinking this way, you can never look back!

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