Home, Sustainable Home: : Chapter members show you how to save money, energy and water.

My husband and I decreased our water consumption by digging out the grass, and any other plants that need irrigatIon. There are a million beautiful native and Mediterranean things that will grow here in our climate with litt1e water. Low-water yards can be a lot more imaginative that a few cactuses and a decorative cow skull and just as pretty as the east coast yards that use water-gulping vareties of flowers.

I have tall shrubs, fountain grasses, flowers in many heights, things that I chose to attract butterflies and birds, tons of color. These needed water for the first a weeks when planted, but were quickly established. I even sneaked pretty edible plants in, like curly kale, pumpkins and other squashes, artichokes, Japanese eggplant and herbs near the paths - thyme, rosemary, sage and cilantto. The herbs look and smell so nice, they fit right in with the butterfly bush, yarrow and coastal sage. It's fun to watch people on the sidewalk realize that the plant with architectural leaves and awesome purple flowers is an artichoke. Because the variety of plants brings June bugs and hummingbirds to my yard. children follow. All the kids on the block ask me about the flowers and the insects.

BeWaterWise.com was my main source. They have photos and sections of trees, shrubs, you can search by color, height etc. I bicycled around my area and when I saw plants I liked asked the neighbors about it. I was surprised at how many no-lawn yards I found.

The back yard is a large vegetable garden, which uses water but produces fresh nutritious food, and with mulching doesn't need much water. We compost, which is great for the garden and keeps stuff out of the landfill. I compost garden waste and food waste. Coffee shops will sometimes give me coffee grounds, wonderful in the compost. Because I have no lawn, I occasionally get grass trimmings from my neighbor when she mows.

Some vegetables like the zucchinnis and squashes don't like much water. Kale and chard used water but still not as much as grass would have. Some parts of the garden need more water, but I mulch and water the soil directly not with a sprinkler, which causes much evaporation. So I'm still conserving water and lowering the carbon footprint of my food dramatically.

We made the vegie garden pretty by building a trellis for peas out of bamboo sticks and an old wooden ladder. I planted a few marigolds and nasturtium which deter the bad insects and to look nice. I grow morning glories and hollyhocks aLong the back wall, and got an iron decorative fence on Craigstist to beautify the back yard garden. It's fun to create a garden that produces food and is filled with beautiful flowers and statues or garden art.

Another good trick in the garden is to plant a deciduous tree over south facing windows. In summer it shades your home, but the leaves drop In the fall and winter when you need the light and heat.

There are tons of resources online, for example Bewaterwise.com, or at the library and bookstore if you want to start composting, or growing food and drought tolerant plants.