The United States is using less water than during the peak years of 1975 and 1980, according to water use estimates for 2005. Despite a 30 percent population increase during the past 25 years, overall water use has remained fairly stable, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey report.

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Yep… so much so that US Environmental Protection Agencies WaterSense program (an ENERGY STAR for water) has addressed the issue by making the flushing urinal the first commercial product for which it’s developed standards. According to the EPA, “Approximately 65 percent of the estimated 12 million urinals in the United States are old and inefficient. While the current federal standard for commercial urinals is 1.0 gallon per flush (gpf ), some older urinals use as much as five times that amount!”

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For 90 years, a 60,000 gallon cistern at River Forest, Illinois’ Dominican University has done its job of collecting rainwater from 1920s-era buildings. That’s great… the problem is that everyone kind of forgot about it. Dan Bulow, the school’s director of building and grounds, told Trib Local’s Patrick Rollens “We knew [the cistern] was there, we knew it collected rainwater off all these buildings here, but it had been dormant for years.” In fact, water it collected was even pumped into the sewage system at times to prevent flooding of old buildings.

With a new century, and a new vision for a more sustainable campus, the old cistern’s been called back to duty. As a part of a broader set-up to use groundwater (vs. drinking water) for landscape irrigation, the cistern will provide back-up to a newly-installed well. According to the university, the new system will save around 4-6 million gallons of water a year.

Campus greening often involves new construction and installation… you don’t hear many stories of this kind of reclamation. Know of other instances of old infrastructure being revived as part of a sustainability plan? Share them…

via Trib Local

Image credit: Dominican University

HOME is a travel notebook, showing landscapes captured from a bird’s eye view above. This film calls for a new awareness, inviting the viewer to stop for a moment in order to look at our planet and realize how we treat her treasures and her beauty.

Directed by internationally renowned French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand, produced by world famous director Luc Besson and narrated by five-time Academy Award® nominee Glenn Close, HOME aims to change the way people see the planet and their impact on it. Shot in high definition in 54 countries and 120 locations over 217 days, the unique and first-time ever all-aerial filming style highlights the Earth’s wonders as well as its wounds and provides a necessary perspective to approach the changing environment.

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If our H2.0 shorts inspired you to take action to reduce your water use, check out green.tv’s new video featuring singer Natalie Imbruglia discussing water-saving tips, and the impact of wasteful water consumption on the developing world.

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Uttering the phrase “green design” can evoke images of mud-plastered huts and clothes that just scream “itchy”… all bathed in a faint whiff of patchouli. A new project from the Nature Conservancy attempts to banish such sensations, and demonstrate that beauty and function can exist hand-in-hand with sustainability.

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While many of us buy carbon offsets and similar products from companies like Terrapass and NativeEnergy to achieve “carbon neutrality,” producing and selling these credits has generally been limited to bigger players. Earth Aid Enterprises, creators of the Earth Aid Kit,  would like to change that equation. A new service from the company allows Earth Aid to measure residential energy usage, and pay consumers for savings by bundling energy reductions, and selling them on the carbon credit market.

I discussed the program yesterday with Managing Partner Ben Bixby, and he repeated the phrase “democratizing carbon markets” several times. “We’d like to help homeowners become stakeholder in the carbon markets,” said Bixby. “We need many people taking action to address challenges like climate change, and we believe that our new product will create additional incentives for individuals and families to take quick steps towards reducing their own energy use.”

While carbon markets can be volatile, Bixby believes that the opportunity to earn money from savings will work well in conjunction with local, state and federal tax incentives to create demand for solutions ranging from weatherization and insulation to renewable energy systems. The new product may even spur some friendly competition, as users can allow “friends” on the system to see their energy use and savings.

The system’s in public beta, but Bixby told me they’ve been pleasantly surprised by the level of interest already. Take a look, and consider signing up (it’s free).

And, if you’re thinking “carbon markets? WTF?” ClimateChangeCorp.com has a (relatively) simple explanation available.

I was Too Early on Solar Power; Let’s Not Be Too Late

In his State of the Union address, President Obama noted that although America invented solar energy technology, we have fallen behind countries like Germany and Japan in producing it. He is right of course.

I remember when America was leading the pack on clean energy in the 1970s. We abdicated that leadership thanks to the influence of a fossil fuel industry with deep pockets and friends in the White House. But Obama reminded us of an important aspect of the American character: ingenuity. We are a nation of innovators, and we can harness that resourcefulness again to build a better future.

I saw that ingenuity emerge three decades ago, when the promise of renewable energy became clear to many of us. We were so eager to spread the word about solar power that we created “Sun Day,” the solar equivalent of Earth Day. We had events from Maine to Chicago to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir even agreed to participate in one event.

People were just starting to get excited about pollution-free power, but then Ronald Reagan became president and took the solar panels off the White House and the policies promoting renewable energy were stripped from the books.

In 1975 I produced a short film called “The Solar Film.” The people interviewed in the film say they like how solar power cuts down on their bills, doesn’t have to be imported, and makes them worry less about terrorists. All of those benefits remain extremely relevant today, but we have lost three decades in the effort to extend them to more Americans.

I was too early in my efforts to promote solar power, but now is the time. We are getting a second chance–another American trait. If we don’t seize this moment, we will be too late to get the competitive advantage in a global marketplace, too late for the economic dividends, and too late to stave off the worst of global warming.

The Obama administration wants to see America double our supply of renewable energy in the next three years. Many lawmakers want to pass a national renewable portfolio standard, which would require a certain percentage of our country’s electricity generation to come from clean sources like solar and wind. Congress will likely vote this year on a bill to limit global warming pollution that will dramatically expand the market for clean power. These are the kind of bold, visionary actions we need right now. I urge you to call on your representatives to support them.

In this time of economic crisis and uncertainty, I am reminded of being a child during World War II. I have no nostalgia for the turmoil and suffering of those days, but I do recall the communal effort, the sense that we all rallied around to support the greater good. Today we are trying to achieve the greater good of shared prosperity, and I believe it will be built on a clean and affordable energy economy. With enough resourcefulness, I know we can do it this time around.