Easy things to do at home
By: Katrina Irwin
Updated: April 3, 2008
There are simple things all of us can do to make our homes a little bit more "green." Darryl Birkenfeld's house is full of great ideas you could easily copy. You could start with something simple like changing a light bulb.If every home in America replaced just one old-fashioned bulb, it would make a big difference. Some say it would have the same environmental impact as taking 800,000 cars off the road.
For something smaller you can replace flourescent lights with smaller ones. Of course you could forget the lights altogether and open the blinds. "Use low and double-paned, so they're more efficient than single paned or things we had 10 years ago," says Birkenfeld.
And, think about the toilets we had ten years ago. They used up to five gallons of water with a single flush.
To cut back, change your toilet flapper, or install a new toilet that uses less than 2 gallons a flush.
Here's another easy project. Weather strip your doors and windows and for a really well-sealed house, forget old fashioned insulation and consider the spray kind instead.
If it's energy-efficient it's "R-Rated." If you want to do more, try these do-it-yourself jobs.
Insulate your water heater. Just wrap it and duct tape it. Or buy a programmable thermostat.
When you're not home it can change the temperature automatically.
