# 19 Go Green This Summer

Start your summer with some eco-friendly improvements. These improvements are easy and will save money and help our environment.

• Chill out. In summer, a bedroom ceiling fan circulates air for comfortable sleep and lowers the need for air conditioning.
• Buy organic. Sleeping in your bed for eight hours each night can mean maximum exposure to the chemicals and resins found in synthetic materials. When buying sheets or mattresses, go for organic fibers to lower exposure to toxins.
• Install low flow showerheads. They are a worthwhile investment. They cut down on water usage and save energy costs.
• Create a compost pile in your backyard. Find a private spot in your yard to make a compost pile. Mix food wastes with dirt and use a shovel to turn the pile over every week or so to give it some air. Turn throwaways like eggshells, coffee grounds and spoiled vegetables into soil and garbage into something useful.
• Install an aluminum-clad storm door. This type of door is energy-efficient and will help to insulate the entryway of your home. 
• Refuse, Reuse and Recycle. Keep these three things in mind whenever you buy, use or discard anything.
• Stop a leak. Organize a "stop a leak day" on which everyone in your family tightens, insulates, replaces, caulks or does whatever else is necessary to make your home as "watertight" as possible.
• Add insulation to your hot water heater. Don't forget that the standard water heater found in most homes is on all the time. Adding some extra insulation will save more energy than you would think and knock up to 15% off the costs of heating water.
• Change your light bulbs as they burn out to energy efficient bulbs.