Weblogic

The “Tip of the Week,” excerpted from Wake Up and Smell the Planet: The Non-Pompous, Non-Preachy Grist Guide to Greening Your Day

Published by Skipstone, an imprint of The Mountaineers Books
Edited by Brangien Davis, with Katharine Wroth

Water-related:

• Fix any leaks around the faucet or showerhead (even small trickles add up to gallons of water wasted per week).

• Buy aerators for all of your faucets. These are mesh faucet ends that can cut the gallons-per-minute water usage by up to 40 percent. (They are easy to attach, but they may need occasional rinsing when clogged.)

• Get a low-flow showerhead, easily installable by even a tepidly intrepid person. You'll cut your water usage from about 5 gallons a minute to 2.5 gallons a minute.

• If you want to feel squeaky clean of conscience, collect the cold water that runs while your bath or shower is approaching a toasty temperature and use it to quench your plants' thirst.

• Make sure you have an efficient water heater that's in working order, since warming your water accounts for 17 percent of home energy use. Electric heaters are generally more efficient than gas, but electricity production wastes more energy. If you're really gung ho on finding an alternative, consider a tankless heater, solar heater, on-demand heater, or a heater hooked up to the furnace in a symbiotic relationship.