Day 1 Loosen one light bulb so it will not burn, but keep it in place to avoid danger.  Then live without it’s light for the next 40 days.

DAY 2 Check your house for drafts, using a ribbon or feather. If it flutters, try caulking or some other method to stop the draft. 

DAY 3   Tread lightly – Try avoiding the use of your car by walking, or trying to do all your chores in one trip.  Or simply avoid a trip to the store by saving it for when you’re going out on another errand. Find a way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions when you travel today. 

DAY 4  Are you recycling everything possible? Really – everything? Look into it today.

DAY 5  Talk to someone at church about your carbon fast today.  Encourage others to join in.

DAY 6 Turn your central heating thermostat down by one degree. 

DAY 7  Say au revoir to standby. Check that all electrical equipment is switched off when not in use.  The TV alone will save a hefty 44lbs of carbon dioxide per year. 

DAY 8  Unplug your mobile phone charger: it uses electricity even when it's not charging.

DAY 9  Climate change isn’t a distant threat – it’s affecting poor communities now. Pray for the important work of helping vulnerable communities adapt to the changing weather. 

DAY 10  Give your dishwasher a day off or, if you are thinking of replacing it anyway, consider upgrading to an Energy Star rated appliance.

DAY 11  Use local stores to avoid driving when it is not required. 

DAY 12  Contact your local, state and federal representatives and encourage them to take action on climate change today.

DAY 13  Put the heat on your electricity or gas suppliers and ask them if they have a green plan.

Day 14  Take a shower instead of a bath: you’ll heat less water.

Day 15 Snub plastic bags. Get some reusable shopping bags and keep them in your car for groceries and other shopping. 

Day 16 Switch off lights as you leave the room.

Day 17 Only fill your cooking pots with as much water as you need.

Day 18 Cut the air miles. Avoid foods that you know have been imported by plane. 

DAY 19 Grace Maglasey and her husband Andrew struggle to grow enough food because their village in Malawi is caught in a cycle of floods and droughts. Join in with Grace’s prayer today: ‘We pray that those of us who farm should harvest a lot of food so that this year we will not have hunger. In the name of Jesus, Amen.’

Day 20  Compost. Put the nutrients from food waste back into the soil – not into a methane-emitting landfill.  Do the same with grass clippings or simply allow them to remain and refertilize your lawn. 

Day 21 Only run your washing machine when you have a full load.

Day 22 Find one way to save paper today: reuse an old envelope or print double sided.

Day 23 Turn the taps off. In one day a hot dripping tap could fill a bathtub.

Day 24  Encourage local government to provide more recycling facilities.

Day 25 Who works hardest in the house? Mom? Dad? No, the fridge. It’s churning away 24/7.  Make sure it is closing well and that the insulation strips are in good shape. 

DAY 26  ‘Love does no harm to its neighbor.’ Romans 1:10.  But while our lifestyles consume more and more energy, our poorer neighbors are suffering.  Reflect on ways to love our neighbors in our increasingly connected world.

Day 27 Check the tire pressure on your cars tires.  Low tire pressure means high fuel consumption.

Day 28  Look into getting a home energy audit. There are companies that will do an energy audit of your home for $300 or $400 dollars and can point out ways you may save thousands of dollars over time.

Day 29  Use cold water to wash clothes as much as possible to save the energy required for heating water.

Day 30  Find out a new fact about the impact of climate change today.  Talk to your friends about the effects of climate change.

Day 31 Devices are available that will magnetically clip to your air vents and redirect the air up or down.  These and/or fans can help keep the warm air nearer the floor in winter and cooler air higher, where it can be felt in summer.  

Day 32 Do you have an old iron?  If it’s on its last legs consider replacing it or any old electrical appliances for newer energy-efficient models, they could save a third of the energy.

DAY 33  Have an embrace-the-silence Sunday.  Turn off everything. No TV, no radio, no ring tones, no cars. It’ll be good for the soul.

Day 34  Encourage legislation to reduce junk mail.  Be sure to recycle your junk mail.

Day 35 Put an insulation jacket on your hot water tank.  In England it is estimated that if everyone did that they would cut enough carbon dioxide to fill 148,000 hot air balloons.  In the U.S. the energy saved would probably be at least 3 or 4 times as much.

Day 36 Re-use an item you would have thrown away – whether it is jam jars, envelopes, wrapping paper or boxes.  Break down boxes received by shipments to make sure they are recycled.

Day 37 Put a lid on it. That’s pans when cooking and use a kettle to boil water.

Day 38 Draw the curtains to keep the heat in.

Day 39 Could your church be greener?  Talk to your church leaders.

DAY 40 Replace your missing bulb with an energy-saving light-bulb.  Over its lifetime, you will save 132lbs or 60kg of carbon dioxide per year and some significant cash savings to boot.  Make a personal pledge to serve others by pursuing a more sustainable way of life.