It’s Earth Day, an annual event that encourages us to remember the environment and our place in it. Good news: By cutting back on your energy and water use, you don’t just help conserve resources, you put money back in your pocket — where it belongs.
Save Water
Denver residents . Cutting back on water use is important this year.
But saving water can do more than help with the shortage — it can also help your bottom line.
If you live along the Front Range, you can likely find a rebate or incentive program to help mitigate out-of-pocket costs for water-saving devices. Among the programs offered: the city of Boulder’s new toilet “freebate.”
Allison Baker laughed when she won a drawing last year for a Niagara Stealth toilet through a pilot program run by the city of Boulder and the Center for ReSource Conservation, or CRC.
Six months later, Baker is tickled about a free toilet normally priced at more than $250 that uses 0.8 gallons per flush versus the standard 3.5 gallons per flush. “We put it in our hall bathroom for the kids,” she says. “We figured they do a lot of flushing.” It has so far saved her 5 percent on her water bill.
CRC Water Division Director Dan Stellar says the direct-install incentive ensures that water savings stay within the city of Boulder. , haul away the old one and recycle it.
Baker now jokes with her husband about winning another one for their second bathroom.
Water reduction resources
• (Indoors) Denver Water offers , among other things. It also offers free water-conservation audits for customers who want to be more water-efficient but don’t know where to start. and incentive programs offered through the city and CRC. boulder.gov
• (Outdoors) CRC offers some residents a free slow-the-flow sprinkler inspection as well as low-cost Xeriscaping. for Xeriscape rebates. aurora.gov
Short-term solutions
• Run the dishwasher only when it’s full. The EPA says this alone can save 10-20 gallons of water per day.
• Install low-flow toilets, shower heads and faucets wherever possible.
, regular toilets account for 40 percent of indoor water use while showers account for 20 percent. Replacing standard 4.5-gallon-per-minute shower heads with 2.5-gallon-per-minute heads, can cost less than $5 and save a family of four around 20,000 gallons of water per year. Faucet-aerators for the sink are also a low-cost way to reduce water use. CRC offers some Front Range residents . conservationcenter.org
• Switch from a sprinkler to a rotary nozzle in your yard
These nozzles fit easily on most popup spray heads, reduce runoff, and do a better job of watering a lawn. . denverwater.org
