Environmental Lovins on Yahoo! Green

Green jobs of the future, apply now

Noah Buhayar — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:50:21 PDT

I recently returned from San Diego, where the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) was holding its annual conference.

From tech startups to renewable energy contractors, the exhibit hall was teeming with job opportunities. Just about every rep I talked with said their company or organization was growing -- and growing fast.

By ASES's count, there are now more than 8 million "green-collar" jobs the United States, serving a nearly $1 trillion market in renewable energy and energy efficiency. (Think assembly line workers at a wind turbine plant, energy auditors, green architects, etc.) The Society says those figures could grow to 40 million jobs (about a quarter of the country's workforce) and fuel a $4.5 trillion industry by 2030.

Better yet, these jobs are geographically dispersed. From Vermont's success with energy efficiency to rust belt renewal in Pennsylvania to Texas wind farms to the California photovoltaic industry, there are opportunities in just about every part of the country.

If you've just graduated or if you're looking for a career change and an opportunity to be part of the new clean, green economy, here are a couple tips to get your search started:

Think efficiency. A lot of the new, green economy is about doing more with less. Energy service companies (ESCOs) -- businesses that implement energy efficiency measures and make money by taking a percentage of their clients' savings -- employ thousands of people directly and indirectly in the United States. Weatherizing houses may not sound as trendy as installing solar panels, but it can have a much greater effect on a family's energy consumption, finances, and quality of life. Beyond energy, there are a number of organizations doing the same kind of work for water and other natural resources.

Consider using the skills you already have. According to the ASES report, "the vast majority of the jobs created by RE&EE [the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries] are standard jobs for accountants, engineers, computer analysts, clerks, factory workers, truck drivers, mechanics, etc." That means there's probably a job for someone with your skill set in these industries.

Get educated; get involved. If you don't have the skills for the job you want, reading up on the topics, taking classes, or volunteering are a great ways to get started. Rocky Mountain Institute has an extensive library on many of topics of interest, as do the Earth Policy Institute, Worldwatch Institute, Environmental Defense, and NRDC. Trade journals such as Solar Today and Home Power are also good resources for reading up on the renewable energy sector. Organizations such as Solar Energy International and Yestermorrow Design/Build School can teach you skills needed for careers in this field. Many vocational schools around the country are also adding programs to prepare people for these jobs. And if you're interested in volunteering, idealist.org has an extensive list of opportunities.

Once you've narrowed in on what you want, there are plenty of green job boards (greenjobs.com, greenenergyjobs.com, ecojobs.com, etc.) worth checking out on the Web.

At Rocky Mountain Institute we talk a lot about how the economy can evolve in a way that is better for people and the planet; we call this evolution Natural Capitalism. As businesses start shifting in this direction, it's an exciting time to join the green movement by aligning your career with your values.

As Van Jones, founder and president of Green For All, told a rapt audience at the ASES conference: "You have no idea how much good you're going to do."

Noah Buhayar is a fellow at Rocky Mountain Institute.

Getting better gas mileage by reducing air drag

Aaron Westgate — Fri, 09 May 2008 10:50:22 PDT

A lot of us at Rocky Mountain Institute lead active lifestyles. Whether it's riding single track in summer or heading for the ski lifts in winter, we spend a lot of time hauling around outdoor gear.

We also spend a lot of time thinking about the efficiency of our vehicles.

Which got me thinking: Just how much extra fuel am I burning by keeping my roof rack on year-round, adding extra drag to my car?

And, more importantly, can I save money and reduce my carbon footprint?

The basic science
It turns out that air drag is the single largest factor affecting fuel consumption while driving on level ground at normal highway speeds.

The faster you go, the worse it gets, because drag increases exponentially with speed. Driving twice as fast quadruples your drag, and the amount of power required to overcome that resistance increases by a factor of eight (cube law: 2³=8).

Don't believe me? Think about what it feels like to stick your hand out the window at 80 mph vs. 40 mph. At the higher speed, you're paying to overcome the added resistance by burning more gas.

Improving performance
To improve your vehicle's aerodynamics, the primary solutions are to decrease speed, frontal area, and turbulent airflow.

Some people go the distance to customize their vehicles for improved drag performance. Check out this rather extreme example of "boat-tailing."

Fortunately for the rest of us, there are far simpler (and more socially acceptable) ways to boost your mileage by paying attention to the air flowing around your car.

Here are some simple things to keep in mind next time you get behind the steering wheel:

Your speed
First, slow down! Fifty-five mph may be too slow for your taste, but staying in the 60-mph range could save you quite a bit of money.

According to the Department of Energy's fuel economy Web site, driving at 80 mph is equivalent to adding roughly $0.80/gallon to the price of your fuel versus driving at 60.

Roof racks
Racks are great for getting weekend gear to the trailhead, but costly on the daily commute. It's best to use them when you need them and take them off when you don't. I've got my swap-time to less than 5 minutes.

Most sources claim a roughly 5 percent drop in fuel economy from roof racks; from personal experience, I’ve measured about a 10 percent drop. If you take the racks off of the car for half of your driving, you'll save an average of 15-30 gallons of gas per year. If you swap them 12 times per year, that can work out to over $100/hour for your efforts. Who knew aerodynamics could be so lucrative?

If that sounds like too much of a hassle, a wind-deflecting fairing for the front rack costs about $50 and will do a good bit to reduce drag and noise. The wider the better: try to find one that smoothly bridges the gap between the windshield and the front bar.

A model that improves efficiency by even 3 percent will pay off the investment in around a year of average driving (assuming 15,000 miles/year, 27.5 mpg, $3.50/gallon).

Other options
Any time you have the option of carrying gear behind rather than on top of your vehicle, do it.

Trunk-mounted bicycle racks are typically much cheaper, and offer substantial savings compared to carrying your bike on the roof.

On a recent 440-mile road trip to Moab, I found that having one bike on top of my car cut my mileage by 25 percent. That meant I burned almost 4 gallons of fuel just to move the bike!

On vehicles equipped with hitches, using a rear-mounted cargo box in place of a rooftop box will save lots of gas -- and be easier to access.

If you have a rooftop box, for the sake of your wallet and the planet, take it off in between uses.

Most importantly, though, enjoy the time outdoors!

Aaron Westgate is Special Aide to Rocky Mountain Institute co-founder and Chief Scientist Amory Lovins.

Simple tips to green your kitchen

Virginia Lacy — Fri, 02 May 2008 21:54:48 PDT

We often receive questions about how people can reduce their home energy and water use — and the bills associated with them.

We are strong advocates for saving energy and water by simply using them more efficiently. People shouldn't have to make large sacrifices to conserve, accomplishing less with less. In fact, we often help our clients achieve more with less.

While there's a lot to be said for installing efficient lighting, changing out old appliances for Energy Star models, replacing drafty windows, or re-fitting your sinks with low-flow fixtures (which will pay for themselves over time), what about when you don't have any money to invest?

Fortunately, you can still cut your energy and water consumption by spending nothing at all. That's because a lot of your energy and water use depends on how you use what you already have in your house. Using your current appliances more efficiently, in other words, can lower your consumption and your utility bills.

If you're looking to save energy, water, and money this spring, a good place to start is your kitchen. By some estimates, kitchen appliances account for 26 percent of an average household's electricity use. And dishwashing is one of the more water-intensive activities in your home.

Here's a list of easy habits you can adopt to use your kitchen appliances more efficiently:

Oven

Don't open the oven door to check on a dish — use the oven light instead (20 percent of the heat can be lost each time you open the oven door).
Keep preheating to a minimum.
Turn the oven off before cooking is complete (depending on the dish, up to 15 minutes). The heat in the oven will continue to cook the dish until finished.
If you need to self-clean the oven, plan to do it after cooking a meal while the oven is already hot, requiring less energy to raise the temperature to a higher level.

Stovetop

Match the pan size to the element size.
Use the least amount of water and the smallest size pan possible. Otherwise you're wasting energy to heat up excess metal or excess water.

Refrigerator

Let hot foods cool to room temperature before putting them in the fridge. Otherwise the fridge works even harder to bring the temperature down.
Keep the freezer full. The more air you displace with food and beverages, the less cold air you lose when you open the freezer door.

Dishwasher

Run the dishwasher when full; it requires the same amount of energy for a full load as it does for a half load.
Use the "no heat" drying option.
Don't wash dishes twice. Although it depends upon the age of your dishwasher, most dishwashers can get your dishes clean without rinsing them first by hand.

Other appliances

Plug countertop appliances into a power strip that can be turned off after use, saving the energy that would be used by the appliances when in "standby mode." (Depending upon how often you use your microwave, the microwave's digital clock could use more energy than the microwave oven itself.)
You can also simply unplug appliances when you're done using them.

Virginia Lacy is a Consultant with the Energy & Resources Team at Rocky Mountain Institute.

Strategies for the green-conscious air traveler

By Michael Brylawski — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:51:29 PDT

I have a few flights planned for this summer, and I'm not looking forward to them. It's not just the long security lines, crammed seats, and lack of pillows on board.

It's my eco-conscience.

The fact is that flying is a significant and growing source of climate change. Globally, aviation contributes roughly 2-3 percent of all carbon emissions.

High impact
That may not sound like a significant number -- cement manufacturing, after all, contributes at least 5 percent of all emissions.

But carbon from airplanes is emitted high in the atmosphere, which means it has a disproportionate effect on climate change. In fact, scientists attribute a "forcing factor" of two to two-and-a-half times to airplanes' base emissions. Thus, the contribution to climate change may be more like 6-8 percent. In industrialized nations like the UK, where affluence enables more air travel, estimates are as high as 12 percent.

And it's predicted to climb. Airbus and Boeing project a doubling of aircraft in the fleet over the next few decades. Some scientists say that by 2050, aviation will be one of the largest contributors to global warming.

Thus the guilt. Sites like www.flyingsthenewsmoking.com, www.planestupid.com, and the satirical www.spurt-aviation.com add to this feeling.

What's in the numbers
Numerous airports, from Seattle to Manchester (UK) to Vancouver, have undertaken "carbon accounting" to understand the impact of flying. The results are pretty consistent.

Take what Seattle's comprehensive 2006 greenhouse gas inventory found: When you fly, 90 percent of the total is generated by the plane; the airport itself generates about 2 percent; and getting to and from the airport contributes the rest (about 8 percent).

It's tempting to go after that 90 percent by flying on more fuel-efficient planes, avoiding older jets like first-generation 737s and MD-80s and opting for a newer 777 or A320, or maybe even a Q400 turboprop. But as a passenger, in the near term, choosing what you fly is nearly impossible.

There is longer-term hope on tackling that 90 percent, and we at RMI are planning to work with the industry on increasing the fuel efficiency of planes with some of our ideas in Winning the Oil Endgame.

The "negaflight"
In the near-term, however, your best option for tackling that 90 percent is not to fly. As our Chief Scientist Amory Lovins puts it, "sometimes it's advantageous to transmit electrons instead of the heavy nucleii."

To translate: Use your Macbook Air instead of US Air. Three months ago, I was able to keynote a conference from my living room on my video-equipped laptop.

This "virtual presentation" was not perfect, but the client was pleased, it beat the long flights, and I definitely saved carbon.

Sure, I miss the free mini-pretzels. But I also didn't absorb an excess-fuel surcharge-the commute to and from my laptop was pretty short. As technology gets better, virtual meetings will only become a more attractive option.

Other options
Avoiding the trip, or taking a "negaflight," is often not practical. Your client needs to see you in person, or the family is having a reunion. You need to fly.

In which case, to minimize your impact, you have to go after that 8 percent: How you get to and from the airport.

Fortunately, there is a lot you can do to green your trip to and from the airport, and several airports are working hard to help -- the subject of my next article.

Michael Brylawski is Vice President of the Mobility / Vehicle Efficiency Practice at Rocky Mountain Institute.

Earth Day 2013: Envisioning the future

By Andrew Demaria — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 08:18:43 PDT

Earth Day 2008 is upon us. Shouldn't we all take into account issues like dwindling natural resources, water pollution, and climate change every day? Is one day really enough?

Earth Day kicked off in 1970. It was established by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson to "thrust the issue of environmental quality and resources conservation into the political dialogue of the Nation."

Thirty-eight years later, it has done just that-and more. The day has gone international, and so too have the environmental issues that we all face.

Getting the issues on the national agenda is one thing. Encouraging and integrating policy from the solutions already at hand is proving to be another.

Looking forward, what can we achieve in say, five years... by the time Earth Day 2013 rolls around?

I asked this question of Lena Hansen, senior consultant with RMI's Energy & Resources Team. She leads the Institute's work on renewable energy and biofuels, and has additional expertise in demand-side management and carbon strategy for corporations, industry, electric utilities, and governments.

Her answer was quite profound, and practically speaking, more than achievable:

By Earth Day 2013, the United States will have passed meaningful carbon legislation. Whether in the form of a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade program, this legislation will renew the U.S.'s reputation as a world leader in environmental responsibility, and will support private sector innovation around efficiency and whole-system design.

In conjunction with this carbon legislation, individual states will have begun to adopt energy efficiency and renewable energy policies and programs that are at least as aggressive as those currently on the books in California.

Leading utilities will have shifted their forward planning efforts away from coal-fired power and towards an increased reliance on energy efficiency and renewable energy.

This transition can be achieved through the development of strategies that address the variability of wind and solar power, and the implementation of business models that allow utilities to profit from the sale of ‘negawatts.' [Negawatts are units of energy saved by using power more efficiently or at a more suitable time, and therefore made available to other applications.]

To facilitate this increased reliance on energy efficiency, leading engineering and design schools will have incorporated whole-system design principles into their core curriculums.

Education, innovation, and policy -- all driving toward a world in which we use energy more efficiently, more thoughtfully.

Is Earth Day still a protest, or a day that's furthering the calls for action?

Andrew Demaria is Rocky Mountain Institute's Director of Content.

On the ground at Green Festival, Seattle

Cory Lowe — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:23:42 PDT

Whether it's bedding, baby products, chocolate bars, or pet food, everything has gone green. At least that was my impression while attending this past weekend's Green Festival in Seattle, Washington.

Exploring the exhibition hall, I was surprised by what I saw. Organic food, of course. Solar panel installers, obvious. But dog food made in New Zealand that's safe for humans to eat? Or a green roadside assistance alternative to AAA?

It wasn't only the services or products being displayed at the nearly 500 booths that were green. The people were, too. From the uber-athletes who pedaled exercise bikes for hours on end to power one booth's computers, to the teenagers who sat next to me at lunch and exclaimed, "These vegan sausages are dope, bro," it was clear that green ideals have reached the masses.

More startling, however, was the fanfare surrounding the festival's speakers. If green has finally reached the masses, then that cultural shift has also created a new kind of celebrity, the "eco-guru."

From Bainbridge Graduate Institute's Gifford Pinchot III to mushroom-expert Paul Stamets, the speakers talked about their work and inspired audiences to solve some of our society's most difficult problems.

Saturday's keynote by RMI co-founder Amory Lovins was no exception. Thousands of people crowded around the stage for the standing-room-only event in a scene that befitted a rock concert more than a gathering of eco-minded individuals.

Lovins' premise was that climate change, oil dependence, and nuclear proliferation seem like such daunting problems that energy policy is presented as a stupid multiple-choice test:

"Would you prefer to die of (a) climate change, (b) oil wars, or (c) nuclear holocaust?"

Lovins' pithy answer was: "(d) none of the above."

That's because he sees scores of companies making money by addressing the climate, oil, and nuclear problems.

According to Lovins, smart corporations, from Dow to Dupont to IBM, are taking the climate issue seriously, reducing their emissions at a profit by streamlining their operations and eliminating waste.

The auto industry also holds promise for reducing our dependence on oil, he says.

Toyota recently unveiled its 1/X concept car at the Tokyo Auto Show, which is the same size as a Prius, but predicted to achieve double the gas mileage. And both Nissan and Ford announced that they would "lightweight" their cars over the next several years, making them radically more fuel-efficient. When these new models hit the streets, they could save millions of barrels of oil each year.

As for nuclear, Lovins doesn't see a financial future. He noted that nuclear reactors are so uneconomic that the only way they continue to be built is through huge subsidies from central planners. To drive home the point, Lovins says that, in recent years, more generating capacity has been added worldwide by small, distributed sources (such as solar and combined heat-and-power generators) than nuclear.

So why haven't more companies and entrepreneurs availed themselves of what Lovins sees as so obvious?

For that answer, he quoted to Marshal McLuhan: "Only small secrets need protection. Big discoveries are protected by public incredulity."

Read more about the Seattle Green Festival and watch videos here.

Cory Lowe is the Media/Outreach Manager at Rocky Mountain Institute.

"Smart" appliances for an energy-efficient future

Sam Newman — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:21:26 PDT

Sam Newman is an analyst with the Energy and Resources Team at Rocky Mountain Institute.

For years, Hollywood has sold us images of futuristic houses filled with "smart" appliances. Think of the coffee machine that can make as many drinks as a Starbucks barista, the refrigerator that tells you when you're out of milk, or the clothes drier that can talk.

Real attempts at such devices have long been constrained to trade shows and demonstration homes. These devices have been portrayed as artificially intelligent, user-friendly, and capable of two-way communication with us and other appliances.

Today's smart appliances have a new benefit that goes far beyond novelty and will finally bring them to the shelves of Home Depot: energy efficiency. Their adoption will be part of a response to the urgent need to modernize the ways that we buy and consume electricity.

Appliances and electricity use

More than a third of electricity generated in the United States is used in households. Air conditioners use 16% of that electricity; refrigerators use another 14%. Hot water heaters and other home appliances -- including clothes dryers and dish washers -- consume an even more: 29%. Using existing technology, each of these machines can be made "smarter," lessening our environmental impact.

Every time your air conditioner kicks on during a hot summer afternoon, it contributes to a larger problem. When many air conditioners turn on at the same time, they force up the demand for power from the local utility, putting stress on the system.

To meet this demand, utilities rely on peak generating plants, which might only be used on the hottest days of the year. Power from these plants is carbon-intensive and expensive to generate.

The benefit of smart appliances

Smart appliances will respond to price signals from the grid to lessen these peak loads. Under a "real-time pricing" system, energy used during peak hours will cost more than energy used at night, when demand is low. This price structure allows residential energy users to optimize their energy usage habits to save energy and reduce emissions.

Imagine setting your air conditioner to save money by remaining off during weekday afternoon hours when power is expensive. It would turn on in the late afternoon, so the house would still be cool when you returned from work.

Similarly, a clothes dryer could be programmed to an "economy" setting which would turn its heating element on and off to take advantage of the cheapest power rates. The dry cycle would take a bit more time, but it would allow the household to respond to variations in electricity supply.

For instance, if a cloud passed in front of the sun, reducing the output of a solar power array, the price of power would increase, signaling the dryer to turn off until the cloud moved away.

Studies have shown that consumers conserve energy when provided with real-time feedback and improved control systems via a computer or appliance smart meters. Just as car owners drive more efficiently when provided with real-time fuel economy data, residences with smart meters use less electricity.

In a recent study in Washington state, overall energy usage fell 10% following the implementation of smart water heaters and dryers. If used nationwide, these technologies could save $70 billion and eliminate the construction of 30 new coal-fired power plants over 20 years.

Smart appliances in the real world

The next step toward getting smart appliances in each of our homes is taking these pilot programs to scale.

In March, Xcel energy, one of the United States' largest utilities, chose Boulder, Colorado, for an innovative smart city project.

Residences will be fitted with smart appliances, and the utility infrastructure will be upgraded to enable real-time demand response and power pricing. Predicted benefits include lower peak demand on summer afternoons, reduced overall carbon emissions, and improved system reliability.

Appliances that can talk back to you are unlikely outside of Hollywood fantasies any time soon. But smart appliances that save money and reduce carbon emissions are not science fiction. These technologies offer a market-based approach to energy efficiency that will help reduce your environmental impact.

For more information see:

Gridwise Program at Pacific Northwest National Lab
Xcel Energy's Smart Grid City project

A new standard for green homes

Steve Brauneis — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:43:19 PDT

Over the last few years, the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification program has garnered a lot of attention in the media. What you may not know is that there are actually nine LEED programs.

The original program, LEED for New Construction, is the one we've heard the most about. This is the rating system under which your local school, library, or commercial office building has likely been certified. As LEED has been employed on more types of buildings, however, specific rating programs have been developed to provide a transparent program that ensures a positive impact.

LEED for Homes
After many years of volunteer work and consensus building, the USGBC unveiled one of its newest certification programs this past January: LEED for Homes. People looking to build new homes now have a standard to work toward.

LEED for Homes criteria include the familiar areas of a home's energy and water efficiency, indoor air quality, use of environmentally preferable building materials, and a few new categories, like "Location and Linkages" and "Awareness and Education."

Building a mansion? Well, you're going to feel a little pain. LEED for Homes includes negative points for having an overly large home. This controversial provision was included in the standards because size really is at the root of resource consumption and ongoing efficiency.

In contrast to the LEED projects you may have heard of, certifying your home under this new program differs from the other rating programs, because you must work closely with a LEED for Homes Provider throughout the design, construction, and certification of your home. Only after your project has been vetted by one of these providers can you register it with the USGBC.

You will also likely contract with your LEED for Homes provider to garner a pre-construction Home Energy Rating System (HERS) rating and to complete the onsite inspections necessary for LEED certification. After construction, this onsite work will typically include a blower door test (to test how tight the house is) and a duct blast test (to gauge the tightness of the ductwork), among other activities.

The LEED for Homes pilot phase included approximately 400 builders and covered 10,000 homes across the United States.

Check out some of the cool designs and accomplishments in this archive. USGBC has teamed with Environmental Design + Construction magazine to offer a paid, three-part webinar series on LEED for Homes. The third program, "The Delivery Process," will be presented on April 9, 2008.

Improving your current house
LEED for Homes may sound great, but if you're like me you're not going to be building a brand new home anytime soon. Luckily for us, the American Society of Interior Designers has teamed with the USGBC to create Green Remodeling Guidelines under the brand REGREEN. The program literature is full of guidelines, case studies, and other information to help you make the best decisions for your remodeling project.

And for those who won't even be remodeling soon, check out this handy list of quick retrofits. (You know the drill: CFLs, weather-stripping, programmable thermostats, etc.) Taking the time to make these small changes-and sharing them with people in our neighborhoods-can really start to affect the way we use energy and other natural resources.

If you haven't done so already, consider discussing your utility consumption and expenses with your neighbors to begin the conversation.

Steve Brauneis is a Sustainable Design Consultant with the Built Environment Team at Rocky Mountain Institute.

Low-cost ways to conserve water at home

Kendra Tupper — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 11:15:18 PDT

"When the well's dry, we know the worth of water."

-Benjamin Franklin

If you live in an area where water shortages are not an issue, consider yourself lucky. Nearly 450 million people in 29 countries face severe water shortages. Predictions indicate that within 5 years, at least 36 U.S. states will face water shortages due to a combination of rising temperatures, drought, population growth, and waste.

But there is hope -- research has shown that residential water use could be reduced by as much as 50 percent through efficiency. Here are a few simple, low-cost suggestions for reducing your family's water consumption.

Reduce water use from showers and faucets
Although it's often the smallest room in the house, the bathroom is where 75 percent of indoor household water consumption occurs. Seem impossible? Consider this: The average 6-minute shower uses about 20 gallons of water! Reduce this amount with the following tips:

No cost: Limit shower time to 5 minutes or less.
Less than $10: Install an on/off valve between the shower arm and showerhead. This temporarily shuts off the flow while maintaining the temperature, and can be a useful water-saver while soaping up or shaving.
$10-$50: Install a low-flow (less than 2 gallons per minute) showerhead. Previous low-flow showerheads sacrificed water pressure for efficiency, but now there are many options (GAIAM and Delta make two of my favorites) that don't simulate a dripping faucet.
$20-$50: Insulate all accessible hot-water pipes, especially those within 3 feet of the water heater. You'll get hot water faster, avoid wasting H₂O while it heats up, and save energy in the process.

Finally, fit all household faucets with low-flow aerators (less than two gallons per minute). This is the best in-home water conservation method, and it's also the cheapest.

Toilets are the enemy
Each day, the U.S. uses 5.8 billion gallons of fresh water to flush waste. If you're in the market for a new porcelain throne, check out options with either a very low (less than 1.6) gallon per flush (gpf) rating, or dual flush controls.

This new technology provides 2 buttons for flushing: one at 1.6 gpf for solid waste, and another at only 0.8 gpf for liquids. These double-duty flushers can reduce water usage by up to 67 percent compared with traditional toilets.

Feeling even earthier? Go for a waterless composting toilet and be the envy of all your neighbors!

And if you haven't budgeted for a new toilet, try these quick fixes:

Check for leaks: Put a little food coloring in your toilet tank. If the color begins to appear in the bowl within 30 minutes, you have a leak that should be repaired. Most replacement parts are inexpensive and easy to install.
Displace water: Most older toilets don't require nearly as much water as they use (3.5-5 gallons) to flush properly. To "trick" your toilet into using less water, place a half-gallon plastic bottle inside your toilet tank to displace water volume. (Be sure at least 2.5 gallons of water remain in the tank so it will flush properly.) Ideally, weigh down the bottle with sand or pebbles so it doesn't interfere with the tank mechanisms. This simple retrofit could save a three-person family 225 gallons of water per month! Not a do-it-yourselfer? For only a few dollars, you can purchase a prepared toilet bag designed to displace 0.8 gallons of water with every flush.

Minimize appliance water consumption
Outside the bathroom, most water is used to wash clothes and dishes. Rather than wearing dirty clothes and using paper plates, keep these tips in mind while tackling daily chores:

Fully loaded: Dishwashers and clothes washers should be operated when full for optimum water conservation. If you must wash partial loads, adjust the water levels as appropriate.
The dishwasher is your friend: Even old-school dishwashers don't use as much water per dish as hand-washing. Newer, more efficient dishwashers use only 1/6 of the water used during hand-washing, and save 230 hours of yourtime each year.
Scrape, don't rinse: Pre-rinsing dishes before loading the dishwasher is unnecessary. Scrape off food and then trust that bad boy to do its job.
Pass on permanent press: Avoid the permanent press cycle when washing clothes, which uses an additional 5 gallons for the extra rinse.
Upgrade your equipment: Consider buying a water-saving front-loading clothes washer, or a top-loading one with no central agitator. Check ENERGY STAR for ideas and ratings.

Kendra Tupper is a consultant with the Energy & Resources Team at Rocky Mountain Institute.

Greening your home in the right order

Michael Ogburn — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 21:46:11 PDT

Michael Ogburn is a senior consultant at Rocky Mountain Institute.

Spring is a great time to think about what you could do this year to green your home and reduce your carbon footprint. As you open the windows and enjoy the warmer temperatures, you may be thinking about planting a garden, installing compact fluorescent lights, or even putting solar panels on your roof.

Reducing your carbon footprint is all about picking the right home improvements in the right order. What good is generating solar electricity or hot water on your roof if you keep forgetting to turn off your computer or closet light, or your leaky faucet drips all day and uses up all the solar-heated hot water?

Eat your vegetables first
Awareness of energy use and conservation must come first, and it will save you money. The good news is, this costs little (often nothing). And while energy-efficient windows might seem expensive at first, those PV panels could set you back $15,000 or more.

We all remember how we hated vegetables in our childhood. They were good for us, but gosh, did we have to eat them? Didn't all the cool kids eat their candy bars first, not their carrots?

The same is true today, but now we're grown up and own a house or rent an apartment. Saving energy by replacing that leaky window is like eating vegetables. It's hard, we don't want to do it, and we're jealous of that cool new house down the street that already has a solar panel or two on the roof.

We need to eat our energy efficiency "vegetables" before having our renewable energy "dessert."

The same effect at a fraction of the cost
In our consumer-conscious society, we want people to see what we buy. See my iPod! See my solar panels! See my new Prius! See, I'm sustainable!

But the reality is we must first minimize our consumption, change that pesky leaky window, and fix that dripping shower faucet if we want renewable energy to fully support our needs. The cost of installing solar panels on your roof is much lower when you only need to install half as many to meet the needs of your more efficient lifestyle.

Becoming energy efficient doesn't have to involve pain and suffering. At Rocky Mountain Institute, we often joke that you can cut your energy consumption significantly and still have your hot showers and cold beer. It's just that, in the future, that shower and that beer will be enjoyed with the knowledge that much less (if any) fossil fuel was required to deliver them.

I for one have already converted nearly all the bulbs in my house to CFLs. I recycled the ancient beer fridge in the garage. And I've got EPA Energy Star appliances in the kitchen.

By taking these steps first, I'm consuming less of the renewable wind-power from my electric company. But as much as I'd like to install solar hot water panels on my roof to heat my house and show my neighborhood just how green I really am, I know that I must first replace those cheap windows so that I start with the real, important savings. And my wallet will thank me.