When you check the balance of your bank account and notice that your spending habits are causing a deficit to your savings, what is your first, logical response? You can either spend less and be smarter with the cash you have, or you can look for other sources of income, either earning or borrowing more money. Likely most of us would do the former, and conserve as much money as possible before resorting to trying to increase our supply.
Read the rest of this entry »

The folks with the WaterSense® program are coming along quickly. While a few months ago only toilets and faucets could be WaterSense rated, the EPA is expected to come out with WaterSense labeled showerheads in Spring 2010 and has just released the new WaterSense® Single-Family New Home Specification. This is making it much easier for builders and home buyers to support water efficiency across the country and to support the RehydrateUS Initiative of reducing US water usage reduce water consumption in the US by 1 BILLION gallons per day.

WaterSense labeled homes continue the trend of WaterSense products – requiring about a 20% reduction in water consumption than in typical new homes built to current code.  While we can easily hit a 40% reduction, the WaterSense standard is a good start, especially for folks who have been hesitant to dive full force into the newest water saving technologies.

Additionally, the homes will be independently inspected and certified by EPA licensed certification providers. These new homes will feature WaterSense labeled plumbing fixtures, and go well beyond the RehydrateUS Initiative by requiring ENERGY STAR qualified appliances (if installed), water-efficient landscaping, and an efficient hot water delivery system.

While we need to immediately begin to reduce water consumption in our existing homes and buildings, we also need to implement water efficiency requirements for new construction.

According to the EPA, residential water use currently accounts for more than half of the publicly supplied water in the United States. Building a WaterSense home? Register it on rehydrateus.org!

Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue met with the state task force last week which is developing alternatives to replace the 280 million gallons of water per day that the Atlanta metro draws from Lake Lanier.
Read the rest of this entry »

Ask a person how much water they use in a given day, and they’ll be hard pressed to come up with an answer. 10 gallons? 50? 100? It’s a tough call to average man on the street. And when you start adding up all that uses water around the house – toilets, showers, faucets, dishwashers, clothes washers, irrigation, cooking – you can see that all the variables can make it even harder!
Read the rest of this entry »

I am anxious to let you know that I am thrilled with the upgraded performance of my toilets and sinks!  The difference in performance between now and before is astounding. So much more than I expected or hoped for.
Read the rest of this entry »