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.
RALEIGH, N.C. -- A tomato grower accused of exposing North Carolina employees to toxic pesticides may not have to pay what was the largest fine in state history.
The state Pesticide Board will meet Tuesday to consider whether to adopt a judge's recommendation to fine Ag-Mart for only $6,000. The state Agriculture Department first fined the company $184,500 in 2005.
State officials cited the company for 369 violations, saying the Florida-based company endangered workers by exposing them to harmful pesticides. A state report that came out last year said the exposure may have caused birth defects found in the babies of three Ag-Mart workers.
Lawyers for Ag-Mart argued the alleged violations were based on misinterpreted records and that the company did not expose workers. Administrative Law Judge Joe Webster said in October that the state failed to prove its case and recommended that officials lower the fine.
