Easy Earth Day tricks

Keeping up with the Earth Day theme around here (check out a few highlights here and here), I thought I'd share a few of Lowe's favourite DIY projects to help you green your home.

- Change incandescent to compact fluorescent bulbs, which are supposed to save you $30 over their lifetime and pay for themselves in about six months.

- Purchase Energy Star appliances. Lowe's says that buying an Energy Star clothes washer will save you about 30 per cent in energy and 50 per cent in water when compared to a non-Energy Star model, and save you about $500 in utility bills in its lifetime -- a good chunk of cash to put toward a matching dryer. 

- Don't use your toilet as a waste basket by flushing tissues. Eliminating just one flush per day can save nearly 5,000 litres of water per year -- or about enough to wash 32 loads of laundry.

- Turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth in the morning and before bedtime to save up to 30 litres of water a day -- roughly 900 litres a month, or the equivalent to 1,280 bottles of water (in the 700 mL size). 

- Check your toilet for leaks by placing a drop of food colouring in the tank. If the colour shows in the bowl without flushing, you have a leak. (Make sure you flush quickly after testing to ensure the food colouring doesn't stain the bowl.) A leaky toilet can waste up to 750 litres of water every day!