Everyone talks about drinking responsibly but it can be hard to know exactly what that means in practice. Uganda Breweries Limited through its Red Card responsible drinking Campaign advises that learning about ways to keep your alcohol intake in check can be the first step in learning to drink responsibly. But there are a number of things to consider including taking personal responsibility and seeking outside help.

Here are a few tips from the Red Card Campaign on responsible drinking.

Keep an eye on what you’re drinking.  Find out about what a standard drink is and use that as a way of keeping track of how much you’re drinking. Think about the alcohol content in each drink you consume and make sure that you’re spacing out the time between your drinks. If you’re drinking shots, remember that spirits often have a high alcohol content. Make sure you leave enough time between shots to feel the effects of the first one before shooting the next one. Also, drink water between your drinks to help you keep hydrated.

Don’t drink and drive: This one kind of sells its self. Do not drive under the influence of alcohol. Think about how you are going to get home before you go out. Grab a cab or designate a driver, Alcohol is a depressant drug which slows down your reaction speed, which means if you need to think and act fast, you probably won’t be able to.

Avoid mixing alcohol and other drugs. The impact of mixing alcohol and other drugs (whether medication or recreational) is pretty serious. Not only can you not anticipate the effect it will have on your behavior, it will most likely make you pretty sick. There are no safe combo’s when it comes to alcohol and other drugs, so it’s better to just stick to one or the other.

Alcohol is Alcohol: Remember the alcohol in beer, wine and spirits is the same. It is how much you drink and not what you drink that matters.