household sustainability, especially in relatively wasteful western society, can have a huge impact on the environment. waste materials can be reduced, transport energy reduced, and, of course, carbon emissions through electricity usage reduction.

as always with environmental sustainability, it's best to follow the 3 Rs - reduce, reuse, recycle

while many of these actions have minimal impacts on their own, when lots of people do them, they can have a huge impact.

[edit] Reducing pollution

[edit] green house gasses

reducing energy usage is the quickest and most effective way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions if your house is connected to fossil fuel energy.

turn off your lights when not using them
unplug appliances when they're not in use - most modern appliances use a fairly high percentage of their maximum power while on standby, sometimes up to 40%^{[reference needed]}.
insulate. insulating your hot water pipes can save huge amounts of energy, as you require less hot water, due to the fact that it is hotter when it comes out of the tap. insulating walls is also an option, but it usally done during building or renovation.
don't heat and cool. definately don't use central heating/air con. open windows at appropriate times instead of cooling, wear more layers instead of heating.
think about transport and embodied energy in the products you use. prefer second hand, local and unpackaged goods. if you don't need it, don't buy it.

buy eco-friendly soaps, and use a greywater system to reduce the amount of dodgy shit discharged into rivers and oceans.

shower less. you don't stink if you wear natural fibres.
do you really need to wash you clothes every time you wear them for more than 12 hours? if you air them, they are wearable for days. weeks. trust me. especially the outer layers.