Do something good for your family, your pocketbook, and the environment. Make your home a little greener. A few changes in your house can go a long way to combat both high energy bills and global warming. To be green, you've got to be efficient.

1. Solar hot water heating: get up to 70% of your hot water needs from the sun, through fitting a solar panel to your roof.

2. If your windows need replacing, ENERGY STAR qualified windows can cut heat loss through the windows by 50%.

3. A dripping hot water faucet can waste enough water to fill a bath in one day alone. Make sure faucets are properly turned off or replace washers if necessary.

4. Save water by putting a flush saver, in your toilet tank. Please note: you will need to ensure the toilet is not already a low capacity type as problems could arise with the drainage system.

5. Don't leave the faucet running when brushing teeth – this wastes 2.64 gals of water each time.

6. Have a shower instead of a bath and you will only use only two-fifths of the water.

7. Turn the thermostat down on your radiators if you are too warm and up if you're too cool. Changing it 1°C can save you up to 10% of your annual heating bill.

8. Remember to turn off your PC and monitor when they are not being used. Leaving your PC on can waste huge amounts of energy.  Here is a link to howstuffworks that discusses it.  howstuffworks

9. Pot plants in your home can help to reduce the amount of harmful chemicals your PC or printer release into the air. Some of the recommended air-cleaning indoor varieties are: peace lilly, dracina, mother-in-law's tongue, English ivy, Chinese fern, parlour palms. If you have more light then choose spider plants or flowering plants (eg. chrysanthemums, azaleas).

10. Avoid leaving appliances such as televisions, videos, computers and even cordless phones on "stand by" or "charging" when not necessary. A TV left on standby is still using 80% of its power.

11. Try using energy-saving light bulbs or CFLs, they last over 10 years and use up to 75% less energy.

12. Always turn off lights when you leave the room.

13. When painting, use a Low-VOC paint. This paint is low in volatile organic compounds and has lower odor. This improves indoor and outdoor air quality and allows you to reoccupy a room sooner.

14. If replacing a water heater consider a tankless model which eliminates waste by only heating water on demand. And because it heats on demand, you'll never run out of hot water again.

15. Air leaks around a house accounts for 20% of the energy used to heat & cool a home. Seal gaps and leaks.

16. Replace your thermostat with an ENERGY STAR qualified one if it is not already. This can reduce greenhouse gases and your energy costs.