A lot of us want to help out the environment. But in all honesty, we only really want to do it if it's convenient for us. (See this week's poll's running results in the right sidebar.) It ain't easy being green, especially if it takes any real effort.

I was on a Delta flight last month and, with another crappy movie on the screen and my iPod battery drained, I was reading a copy of their Sky magazine. An article inside titled "The Power of One" listed simple things a single person can do that can make a big impact on the environment and our natural resources.

Figuring you'd want the easiest ways possible to stop beating down the planet, here are 12 things you can do that require a minimal amount of effort. And the result of that small change.

1. Put on a Sweater.
Action: Instead of raising the thermostat, put on another layer.
Result: If every home in the US dropped the thermostat 1 degree in the winter months, 230 million gallons of crude oil would be saved.
So What?: That's the same amount of oil we import from Iraq every year.

2. Shower Faster.
Action: Spend one minute less showering every day.
Result: If 40 million people did this, it would save 40 trillion gallons of water.
So What?: That's the total rain and snow fall over the entire continental US.

3. Work From Home. Just Once a Year.
Action: Telecommute just once a year instead of driving to work.
Result: If everyone from a metro area like Atlanta did it, it would save $50 million in gas.
So What?: $50 million in our pockets instead of theirs.

4. Don't Blow It.
Action: Use a rake instead of a leaf blower.
Result: One hour of gas-powered leaf blowing produces the same greenhouse gases as a car driving 4,400 miles.
So What?: Spend two hours raking and save the air from three months worth of driving damage.

5. Read and Recycle.
Action: Bring your daily newspaper to the recycle bin instead of tossing it in the trash.
Result: If everyone in the US recycled just the Sunday paper, it could create 212 million pounds of cellulose insulation.
So What?: That's enough to insulate 118,767 Habitat for Humanity homes. More than double the amount of homes they've built so far.

6. Can It.
Action: Cans go in the blue bin.
Result: A single can recycled by every elementary school student in the US would save 24.8 million cans.
So What?: That's enough aluminum to build 21 Boeing 737 aircraft.

7. Pitch in Your Paint.
Action: Send leftover paint to be recycled.
Result: 1 quart of leftover paint from just 10% of all the paint purchased in the US every year would reclaim 2.5 million gallons.
So What?: That's enough paint to cover the Golden Gate Bridge 250 times, or paint the White House once a year for 430 years.

8. Get E-Billed.
Action: Switch your billing to electronic statements, instead of having them mailed.
Result: Every American getting one bill sent via email saves 217,800,000 sheets of paper.
So What?: That's enough to completely cover Key West.

9. Leave the Extra Shoes Home.
Action: Pack 1 pound less luggage on your flight.
Result: If one passenger on every flight in the world per year packed 1 pound less, it would save enough fuel to fly a 737 around the world... 474 times.

10. Eat By Candlelight.
Action: Turn off your lights for one hour at night.
Result: If every US household did this it would save 16,610 tons of carbon dioxide from being released.
So What?: That's enough to fill every hot air balloon at the Albuquerque International Balloon Festival seven times.

11. Or Go Dim.
Action: Install a dimmer switch instead of a regular switch.
Result: One dimmer in every US household would save enough electricity to light 1.2 million homes.
So What?: That's enough to run every home in Arkansas.

12. Pamper Your Butt Less.
Action: Use 100% recycled toilet paper, instead of virgin toilet paper.
Result: Replacing one roll of 500 sheet virgin with 500 sheet recycled in every US household saves 424,000 trees.
So What?: That's 16 times the number of trees in New York's Central Park.

To read the whole Sky article, click here.