Now that our glorious world leaders have once again shown little interest in saving the planet at the earth summit in Johannesburg, the good news is that we can all take action to reduce the impact of our presence on the planet.
With domestic output accounting for 25% of the country's carbon dioxide pollution, a good place to start is at home. Work out how much carbon dioxide emissions your own home produces with the help of www.carboncalculator.org.
The site also offers a heap of practical tips on how to conserve energy throughout your home - of use even if you only want to save money. Find out if you qualify for a grant for some of this work by going to www.est.org.uk.
If you want to go all the way and give your house an environmental makeover, or just want some more practical eco-ideas, then visit www.rising tide.org.uk/tyh and www.msarch.co.uk/ecohome/feature.html.
These sites feature two of the UK's best examples of environmental makeovers of existing houses and tell you what, where, why and how they did it. Both sites also provide great links for more eco-housing and environmental design sites.
Once you've decided what eco-alterations you're going to carry out, you'll need to do some shopping. You can't just nip down to your local B&Q, but www.greenbuildingstore. co.uk and www.constructionresources.com can supply you with everything from organic paint to planet-friendly insulation.
Commuting to work presents its own range of environmental challenges, especially if you have difficulty ditching that four-wheeled pollution enhancer commonly known as the car.
To help wean you off your dependency, join a car-sharing club. Find out if there's one near you by going to www.carclubs.org.uk. If you can't make the ultimate sacrifice, though, then redeem your green credentials by joining the Environmental Transport Association, which not only provides national breakdown cover but, unlike its competitors, lobbies for a more environmentally sensitive transport policy. One way to reduce the environmental impact of motoring is by choosing a low-emission car, and www.transportaction.org.uk has extensive information on these as well as details on the new generation of gas and electric cars.
Reduce the environmental impact of your office by greening your stationery cupboard (see www.greenstat.co.uk) and by sourcing your office furniture from www.blueline.uk.com, which makes all its office furniture from officially approved sustainable wood sources.
The involvement of business in aid and development at this year's earth summit caused great controversy, but if you are a pension-holder or private investor, you can make sure your money is being used ethically with the help of www.eiris.org.
Meanwhile, find out where your nearest ethical independent financial adviser is by consulting www.uksif.org.
Once you've got your salary paid into your ethical bank account, heed the wise words of www.ethicalconsumer.org before you hit the supermarket. This gives you top tips on shopping more ethically as well as listing what well-known brands are the subject of a boycott.
As an ethical shopper, one way you can make an immediate difference is to help farmers in developing countries: www.fairtrade.org.uk lists every fair trade product available.
Have an impact closer to home and bypass the power of the supermarkets by getting your organic food from an organic box scheme. Visit www.soilassociation.org to find out where your nearest scheme is.
If you feel like a holiday after this information frenzy, then www.responsibletravel.com should provide you with some good ideas for holidays that neither trash the environment nor rip off the locals. Tourism Concern, is the country's leading campaign group for a more ethical tourist industry.
However, don't think that holidaying with some hill tribe in Africa and staying in their mud-hut gets you off the environmental and ethical hook, oh no.
You will wince as www.chooseclimate.org painfully calculates just how much climate-changing carbon dioxide your flight will generate and what impact this has on global warming - and, of course, on your conscience.
