Full of Next Steps
I’ve been really, really trying to emphasize the first “R” of the three-R’s in the arrow, but I had to break down and buy a new book–Go Green: How to Build an Earth-Friendly Community. It’s super-reader friendly and full of next steps.
Among them:
- Get an energy audit done on our house to reveal all the hidden ways we’re wasting energy and to help us prioritize our next steps.
- Replace all our incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lightbulbs (I think we’ve done this for the most part, but I’m not sure).
- Look into getting a tankless water heater.
- Plug everything into power strips that can be turned off at night.
- Get a solar water heating and photovoltaic systems added to our home by the time the federal tax credit (up to $2,000) expires by December 2008.
- Get solar outdoor lights.
- Replace all carpets with non-toxic carpets.
- Get non-toxic bedding.
- Set up a clothesline.
- Turn the water heater thermostat down to 120 degrees.
- Leave at least three inches when we mow the lawn.
- Collect rainwater in a barrel (and cover with a screen to avoid breeding mosquitoes) to use for watering our plants.