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Gone are the days when recycling was the cause of the yuppie and the fanatical green people. We are now facing a growing energy crunch that is strangling our economy and our pocketbooks. Gone too are the times when we lived as if our resources were never ending and we could use all we wanted with no thought for the consequences. We have begun to learn the hard bitter lesson for spending our resources wastefully. The readily available raw materials are gone and now oil is pumped from ever greater depths and explored in more fragile areas. Much of our old growth forests are logged off and ore needed for metals are much less concentrated.

It is often assumed that something spectacular is required to make an impact on the environment for good. But the reality is quite simply that we can all do many smaller efforts, which combined across the nation among our millions of people, would make a huge impact on the environment.

As a home builder and remodeler of homes I have seen many simple but very effective ways to save energy in the home. Often the energy saving steps you take also save resources as well.

Take the laundry room first. Ever notice how many clothes are washed in one wash? Got a teen ager or college student in the house? Seems that often I have observed the teenager taking the favorite out fit through the wash by itself over and over. Always run a wash after you have enough clothes to make a full load. Your washer is going to use the same amount of water for one pair of jeans or six pairs. A very good way to reduce energy consumption and water consumption is to always wait until you have that full load of clothes and turn the water temperature down as well. The detergents today are much better than the detergents mom and grandmother used and are biodegadable as well! The cold water setting with the new detergents will save energy by not working your hot water heater(saves electricity or gas). Explore a gray water recycling system for your home. The cold water and the biodegradable detergent can do watering on your landscape after it is pumped out of your washing machine.

Gray water recycling is nothing more than diverting the drain water from your washing machine and shower, tub, and bath sinks into a gravity flow watering system for your lawn and garden.

While you are examining your house you can replace your shower heads with low flow heads and replace the toilet with a new low flow model, and change the strainer aerator on the faucets for a low flow

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