Set sprinklers to water the lawn or garden only - not the street or sidewalk.
Use the microwave to cook small meals. (It uses less power than an oven.)
Purchase "Green Power" for your home's electricity. (Contact your power supplier to see where and if it is available.)
Scrape, rather than rinse, dishes before loading into the dishwasher; wash only full loads.
Cut back on air conditioning and heating use if you can.
Turn off appliances and lights when you leave the room.
WILMINGTON, N.C. -- Provisional tallies for 2007 show that nesting for some shorebirds is down significantly from the last count in 2004.
Nest numbers for gull-billed terns declined 9 percent and those for black skimmers fell 11 percent. Nesting for the common term went down 13 percent. Even loggerhead sea turtle nests fell below one-quarter.
A few birds did see increases. But Audubon North Carolina deputy director Walker Golder says shore birds are having tough times these days.
Predators like the red fox often steal eggs, kill birds and dig up sea turtles. And strong storms can hurt a population, especially if they hit at the start of nesting season.
Environmentalists also say that rampant development and poor management of habitat is contributing to the problem.
