Following are some easy low-cost and no-cost ways to save energy:

• Install a programmable thermostat.  This allows you to vary your house temperature depending upon the time of day.  For instance, while you are at work you can set the thermostat to use less energy (higher temperature in the summer, lower in the winter).  Your house only needs to be comfortably warm in the winter and comfortably cool in the summer when someone is home.

By Rodale (at rodale.com) 

First, the good news: You probably won't get cancer. That is, if you have a healthy lifestyle.

"As many as 70% of known causes of cancers are avoidable and related to lifestyle," says Thomas A. Sellers, PhD, associate director for cancer prevention and control at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. Diet, exercise, and avoidance of tobacco products are, of course, your first line of defense, but recent research has uncovered many small, surprising ways you can weave even more disease prevention into your everyday life.

Try these novel strategies and your risk of cancer could dwindle even more.

1. Filter your tap water
You'll reduce your exposure to known or suspected carcinogens and hormone-disrupting chemicals. A new report from the President's Cancer Panel on how to reduce exposure to carcinogens suggests that home-filtered tap water is a safer bet than bottled water, whose quality often is not higher -- and in some cases is worse -- than that of municipal sources, according to a study by the Environmental Working Group. (Consumer Reports' top picks for faucet-mounted filters: Culligan, Pur Vertical, and the Brita OPFF-100.)

Store water in stainless steel or glass to avoid chemical contaminants such as BPA that can leach from plastic bottles.

 2. Stop topping your gas tank
So say the EPA and the President's Cancer Panel: Pumping one last squirt of gas into your car after the nozzle clicks off can spill fuel and foil the pump's vapor recovery system, designed to keep toxic chemicals such as cancer-causing benzene out of the air, where they can come in contact with your skin or get into your lungs.

3. Marinate meat before grilling
Processed, charred, and well-done meats can contain cancer-causing heterocyclic amines, which form when meat is seared at high temperatures, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which get into food when it's charcoal broiled.

"The recommendation to cut down on grilled meat has really solid scientific evidence behind it," says Cheryl Lyn Walker, PhD, a professor of carcinogenesis at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

If you do grill, add rosemary and thyme to your favorite marinade and soak meat for at least an hour before cooking. The antioxidant-rich spices can cut HCAs by as much as 87%, according to research at Kansas State University.