Have you noticed Haley’s been quiet about saving our environment recently? Well, it’s not that she’s been quiet; it’s just that I haven’t shared it with you. Every now and then, though, she comes up with something I truly can’t afford to ignore – she hits me in the wallet. And with this long, hot summer, our energy bills are making my wallet significantly thinner.

That’s where Haley stepped in with all sorts of facts she discovered on the Energy Star website. Did you know that energy use in the average home is responsible for twice as much pollution as the average car? And the average home has 30 light fixtures, so lighting accounts for nearly 20 percent of energy costs.

Haley learned we can use Energy Star qualified compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) to help out. They use two-thirds less energy than standard bulbs, and they last six times longer. Each bulb can save us about $25 in energy costs over its lifetime.

Of course, Haley came up with some facts that don’t directly impact our family budget, too. I have to admit they’re pretty impressive. If each U.S. household replaced just one incandescent light bulb with one that earned the Energy Star label, our country could save $600 million in energy bills. That’s enough energy to light 7 million homes and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 1 million cars.

Turning a CFL on and off frequently can shorten its life, so we chose to replace lights in the fixtures that we use the most. That means I need to sign off and get to work. I seem to be the only one in our home who can change a light bulb. At least herons don’t need to get a ladder, even for the two-story foyer!

My budding environmentalist is at it again. This time, she’s worried about our region’s water supply. Of course, we’ve all been talking about it since last summer’s drought, but Haley’s decided it’s time to make a difference in our family.

When we turn on hot water in the faucet, we collect the cold water that comes out first and set it aside to water plants or even to flush the toilet. Helen fills a pan with clean water to wash our vegetables, and Spalding has shortened the time he spends in the shower by three minutes a day, saving up to 700 gallons a month. He very kindly offered to stop taking showers at all, but we insisted that cutting back to a few minutes everyday was doing his part. Haley wanted her mother to start washing dishes by hand, but Helen promised instead to run only full loads, saving up to 800 gallons a month. As for me, I’ve installed water-saving showerheads in the bathrooms. Each saves up to 800 gallons a month, and I bought the high pressure models, so you really can’t tell a difference.

Haley’s found The Water Family Game online. It was produced in the U.K., so some of the words they use sound kind of funny to us, but the nestlings enjoyed the different activities and learned a lot. I have to admit that I did, too. I didn’t even know you could buy eco-friendly dishwashing detergent, did you?