What keeps most of us from "greening" our homes?

It's too hard, it's too drastic and it's too expensive.

I'd love to replace all my windows but it isn't exactly cheap. (That being said, if your budget is a little more elastic than mine, replacing the windows in an older home, or even one as little as five years old, with triple-paned, energy saving windows is without a doubt one of the best ways to save heating and cooling costs year-round.)

But, like I said, not in the budget this year.

Some things, though, were. Here are just a few ideas that are underway or planned for the year ahead.

• Water heater. This is a no-brainer, and probably the safest and quickest of the bunch. Walk down to your basement, or into whatever closet your water heater is located, and turn down the temperature. Most water heaters have an easily noticeable dial like on your stove. By turning your water heater down, you'll lessen the need for it to keep water hot around the clock that you really only use sporadically.

• Water heater, part II. Insulating my water heater is next on my list of things to do, and I hope to report back in subsequent issue. The idea here, in simplest terms, is slipping a jacket onto your water heater to keep it warm. Every time the water in your water heater cools, your water heater kicks back on again to get itself back up to temp. All those on-again, off-again cycles are wasted energy. Better to cut some of them out and make sure you take some of the heat-up / cool-down out of the cycle. The R-value, or insulating value, of any product you buy will directly affect how well your insulation works. A product with a higher R-value with do a better job of insulating but will also cost you more up front. It's also important on this particular project to make sure you know what type of water heater you have, be it gas or electric. Both require different types of application and both have different safety issues you need to be aware of. Like I said, should be pretty straightforward but I'd hate to burn down my house.

• Lightbulbs. This is a bit of a sticking point in our household. Like a giddy schoolboy with a new Trapper-Keeper I've been running around the house replacing our old filament bulbs as fast a my wallet will allow. It's honestly gotten to the point where I get excited when I hear when of those 19th century marvels "pop!" when I flip a switch. Never mind that the federal government has mandated the switch from filament to CFL or LED bulbs starting next year, I want those Edisonian hold-overs gone now! My wife, however, is a bit more of a history buff and is fond of that 100-plus-year-old technology. She's one of those people who bemoans the harsh, cool light cast by CFL's, saying it isn't as warm and yellow as she'd like light to be. Which is fine, but new CFL's now available really are better at reproducing that "soft" light than their earlier cousins. A good experiment to try is to replace the next bulb that blows in a table lamp with a warm-light CFL. Don't tell anyone else at home. See what happens. Proceed. LED's are even better and last even longer. I just got done replacing all the cans in my kitchen ceiling with LED's and the light is completely indistinguishable. Even better, the things should last forever, or at least a decade. They'll need to, since they each cost roughly $45, but the energy savings alone should make sure they pay for themselves in the long run and by the time I do need to replace them I guarantee they'll be a lot cheaper. All the rest of the recessed can lights throughout the house will be replaced by the end of the year.

Other simple ideas for getting your home a little greener this year include: replacing your air filters as often as they need replacing, at least every three months but for those of you with lots of animals and lots of kids check them out monthly. As soon as those things get clogged up (and that IS what they're supposed to do) they start making your heating and cooling system work that much harder to move the air around your house. So keep your filters clean. Even better, pop for someone to come to your home and clean your air vents. They can blow out your dryer exhaust while they're there. Replace your old thermostats with newer digital ones. These are programmable, and should be much more accurate. And if your spouse and HOA with let you get away with, pop for rain barrels this year. Watering your plants with captured rain water instead of running to the tap several times a week will save you money and help you take advantage of one of the last truly free resources out there.

Laundry Detergent in Paper Bottle

Seventh Generation of Burlington, Vermont has debuted new packaging made of paper for its 4xConcentrated Laundry Detergent. A low-density polyethylene #4 bag protects the product inside the carton. It can be recycled at grocery stores that take back plastic bags. To recycle the cap, made of polypropylene #5, you must take it to Whole Foods. The cardboard "bottle" may be composted at home. For more information visit, seventhgeneration.com.