EcoNewMexico.com

I have a cheap, inefficient water heater. Why? When I had the old water heater replaced I wasn't thinking about efficiency. So, the plumber installed an average, natural gas water heater. Buying a new, more efficient water heater can cost at least $500, plus installation. Being a creative and frugal guy (read: cheap) I found a way to upgrade my water heater for only $15.

I love living in the Desert Southwest. We have hundred-mile views, low-humidity and 300 days of sunshine per year. But, the other side of all that sunshine is an average of 14 inches of rain per year. Unfortunately, the rains come mostly during the late summer monsoons, not evenly throughout the year. What little rain we do get is precious and worth saving. The easiest way to harvest our irregular, seasonal rains is with rain barrels.

A discussion on how to feed the world at Zeitgeist '08: The Google Partner Forum titled 'Body 2.0 - Creating a World that can Feed Itself'.

Larry Brilliant the Executive Director of Google.org moderates a panel discussion including:

What: Stream Team Santa Fe River Tree Planting Day
When: Saturday, April 5, 2008, 10am-3pm
Where: On the Santa Fe River near Santa Fe, NM

On Saturday, April 5th join with WildEarth Guardians' members, supporters and volunteers to become a Stream Team Activist by gathering pledges and planting trees for each pledge. These trees become restored streamside habitat for wildlife such as endangered Southwest Willow Flycatchers and beavers.

Why Do Rivers Need to Be Restored?

Fresh water is a precious, highly valuable resource, doubly so in the American Southwest. The last thing in the world we should do with it is to pour it down the drain. But outdated plumbing fixtures do just that by wasting many gallons of water when only one or two are needed. If you don't have low-flow toilets and plumbing fixtures in your house yet, then now is the time to swap them out.

If you've lived in the American Southwest for any length of time you've heard about the importance of water. If you're a rancher or farmer, builder/developer or a municipal water manager you probably have strong opinions about water. The underlying issue is a simple one - in the arid American west there are more users for water than the supply can support. While the problem of greater demand than supply of water is simple, the devil is in the details.

How is it that so many people want water from their beer from a tap, but they want their water to come in a bottle? Well, folks who know and love beer extol the quality and flavor that comes from a keg rather than a bottle. I'll talk about beer another day, but interestingly enough, water from the tap also has advantages over water from a bottle. Water from a municipal tap is tested more often and more extensively, it is from nearby source(s), uses no packaging and is radically cheaper than water from a bottle.