In October of 2008, we got started with the following actions:
1) We put quart or liter bottles filled with rocks and sealed in all five toilets….hoping for a one quart savings per flush.
2) Added shower timers. does not seem like much but we had some very long shower people.
3) Mowed the lawn higher and reduced the water one day a week. (this has since be raised to three days a week). Things look fine even in a semi-desert (or dry Mediterranean) environment.
4) Where possible moved to drip irrigation from sprinklers, and for the seedlings placed them in sprinkler areas where no additional water is needed to grow them…
5) Replace light bulbs with Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs. I wish I could find the reference to give the guy credit, but I was searching for how to repair and trouble shoot outdoor Halogen Lights, and he suggested not doing the repair and replacing the Halogen fixture with a standard outdoor fixture and using Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs because they were cooler, used less energy and cost less. I have two of the three replaced so far and the third one is turned off until it can be replaced.
6) We used to get 9 – 55 Gallon trash cans to yard debris every week which was hauled to the dump (at least we did have a green prick up in Riverside). And, we often used to have to take a pick up to the dump filled with logs, and trimmings 10 to 20 times a year at $10 a load plus gas and time and labor. We started mulching like I said in October of 2008. I was worried that the entire yard (2/3 of a acre) would be covered in four feet of mulch, and what would the neighbors think. Most of the debris is several monstrous trees planted in 1907. In particular, a Coast Live Oak with about a 150 foot spread which is slowly dying from all the smog over the decades and it is about 20 to 30 miles outside of its normal range, and a Moreton Bay Fig…should never be put in a residential setting. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficus_macrophylla The one in this link is small compared to mine. The tallest in North America is in back of San Diego’s Natural History Museum and was planted in 1914. By 1996 it stood 23.7 metres (78 feet) high and 37.4 metres (123 feet) across (per the link), ours must be a very close 2nd as it was planted in 1907. Unfortunately most of the debris is dry, so I worried about how long it would take to mulch, but I under estimated worms and bugs. They eat the debris as fast as I can put it on the beds. Weeds and Water usage is reduced. I do no turning or classical mulching techniques, I am too old and natures does a good enough job.
7) The logs we burn in the winter in the two or the three fireplaces in the house.
