Compost. Everybody's Doing It.

On my mom's birthday, here is one of her favorite tips:

Make a Compost Bin. Start now, even before you finish reading this – it’s just that important. Compost reuses/eliminates waste and rebuilds soil, and most importantly anyone can do it – even someone in an apartment with a bucket and some worms. Today’s compost bins can even fit on countertops and apartment patios for the space-restricted Treehugger with good intentions. You can add worms to the mix to speed up the process. If the bin is in your apartment or house, make sure to keep a layer (4”) of newspaper over the compost to keep the fruit flies down. Compost gives your garden a much-needed boost, providing soil that is high in a variety of nutrients. Plus, it keeps all of that waste out of area landfills. Buy one or make one yourself.

Cover the Pipes Under Your Sink

Fast Tip: Want to save a little more on your electric bill? Consider checking the pipes under your sink and cover them with some sort of insulated wrap. Its a fairly cheap way to save a little money. Porcelain is a really poor insulator. In fact, while you're at it, consider insulating all the exposed piping in your basement, attic and under your sinks.

Park Your Car

If you're not already doing it, consider choosing one day a week where you simply don't drive anywhere. Sad but true, most of us can't walk to work, so we need our car for our commute. If that is the case, then choose saturday or sunday where you leave that car in the garage. Walk, bike, carpool, whatever, just no direct driving. This will help slow down your life too as you learn to use the resources in your neighborhood and take time to just "be."

For the more ambitious out there in the audience, take one day a week where you choose to bike or use public transportation or even walk to work. This will save on gas, parking, tolls, wear/tear on your car and also your sanity. It might take a bit longer to get to work, but you might have less stress as you can just sit back, read a book and leave the worry of driving to someone else.

Turn Down the Heat on Your Water Heater

Many water heaters are set WAY higher than needed. Like say 140 degrees F. Ouch. We all enjoy a nice hot shower, but no one can stand a shower that hot. Plus, hot water like that can also damage fabrics when you wash clothes in it.

Take a minute to see what your water heater is set on and consider lowering it down to 104 degree F. Also, consider putting insulation or some sort of cover around your water heater, and related piping to make sure the heat stays where its supposed to be.

If your water heater is old and you're in the market to replace it, check out tankless water heaters. They are a little more costly up front, but in the long run will save you money on your electric bills since they only heat water right when you are going to use it. You can even pick one up at a local Home Depot or Lowes, its just that easy now.

Is That a Brick in Your Tank?

Toilets use lots of water. So if you are still using a conventional toilet, not a low flow one, not a grey-water system and not a giant composting hole in the ground, then at least consider using less water.

How can you do this, you might ask, without buying an entirely new toilet? Well, the easiest method is to put a brick or fill up a water bottle and place it in your tank. This will take the place of where the old water used to go, help your tank fill up faster after each flush and therefore use less water.

Keep an eye on this as some bricks may dissolve, thus causing you to need a new brick and that water bottle might float around so just make sure its not interfering with other things while its doing its job.