Editor’s note: This week, Celsias editor Craig Mackintosh takes a look at a simple home addition for saving water: the rain barrel. This post was originally published on November 4, 2007.

We’ve done a bunch of posts on water lately (here, here, here, here and here for example). If you’ve been keeping up, you’ll know this is a serious issue. In fact, although climate scientists are quick to put the fear into us over rising sea levels, shortages of precious clean water are predicted to impact upon us sooner and harder. This is known as “the other water problem.” The recent GEO-4 report reconfirms the facts we’ve shared in the posts above — that by 2025 around 1.8 billion people will face critical water shortages. The odds are good you may be among them.

There are many things you can do to conserve water — from moving away from a meat-based diet (did you know that you’d save more water by not eating a pound of California beef than you would by not showering for an entire year?!), to purchasing a composting toilet, installing low-flow showerheads and greywater systems. And, even if you’re a bit cash-strapped, the clip below outlines a very cheap and easy way to get your water-conservation efforts off to a flying start. What if you’re renting? Well, chances are good even your landlord will see the sense in this: Watch the video here.

You’ve probably already noticed some differences this morning at Green Options, and will be seeing more here in the very near future. Last night, our tech team took a major step forward for us by migrating the site to the Wordpress platform. Don’t fear, though: while you may experience some glitches here and there, they’re addressing these matters. In no time, you should be browsing around smoothly.

Members should’ve received an email noting that their user names may have changed slightly. Specifically, any spaces or non-alphabetical or numerical characters have been removed, and capital letters are now lower case. So, “Great-Green-God” would now be “greatgreengod.” Your password should be the same.

We appreciate your patience as we work out the kinks here. Feel free to make note of any problems you’re having in the comments of this post, and know that we’re working to identify and fix all of them.

In August, Lighter Footstep’s Chris Baskind pointed us to Blog Action Day, a single day on which

…participating bloggers will post an article which deals in some way with green issues. A financial blog might address eco-friendly investing. An automotive site could choose to focus on hybrids or plug-in vehicles. It’s all about the Earth — and diversity of opinion.

Well, Blog Action Day is here, and we’re proud to be among the nearly 16,000 blogs taking part in this day of action.

Of course, we do green issues every day at Green Options, so this is hardly a stretch for us. In order to contribute to the event, we’re going to highlight (and link to) posts throughout the day from "non-green" blogs. Here’s the first batch — I’ll update this post throughout the day to give you a glimpse of what’s being said around the blogosphere.

Obviously, with the number of blogs participating, the team and I won’t be able to read (or highlight) them all, so feel free to point to some of you favorites in the comments.

Congratulations to the organizers of Blog Action Day — what a great idea! Consider GO in for any future events…

Blog Action Day Posts

ZenHabits: 5 Ways to Save the World While Getting Fitter, Saving Money, Simplifying and Becoming Happier

Freelance Switch: 29 Simple Ways to Become a More Environmentally Friendly Freelancer (+ Help Us Donate $500 to Charity)

Chris Garrett: Noticing the World Around Us

Pronet Advertising: The Importance of Blog Action Day

Copyblogger: The Butterfly Effect and the Environment: How Tiny Actions Can Save the World

Lifehack.org: You the Consumer

GM.com: 10 years ahead of a scary schedule

Guitar Noize: Are "Green Guitars" Possible?

Successful Blog: Personal Environmental Action

Life, the Universe, and Everything: A Philosophical Satire

More Posts (noonish)

The Higher Pie: Go Green? Go Vegan!

ProBlogger: How Can Bloggers be Environmentally Responsible

McToonish: Social Capital and the Environment

Organize IT: 20 Tips For Laying The Foundations Of Your Environmentally Friendly Habit

polygeek.com: Optimized code could help reduce global warming

Orthodox Anarchist: Ten Things You Can Do to Save the Planet, Every Day

The Marketing Technology Blog: Water and Oil

Write Great Ezines & Blogs: What are you doing for a healthy environment?

Influential Marketing Blog: 7 Tips on Eating Differently to Impact Climate Change

change therapy: Interdependence with the Environment

In April, home improvement retailer Home Depot launched its Eco-Options program in the United States. Designed to help customers identify products that have less of an impact on the environment than their counterparts, Eco Options has received both praise and criticism around the blogosphere. Last week, I had a chance to talk with Ron Jarvis, the company’s Vice President of Pro Business, Tool Rental, and Eco Innovation (pictured on the right), about the program.

While charges of greenwashing and opportunism have been among the responses to the program’s roll-out, Jarvis told me that Eco-Options is the end result of seventeen years of work and planning by the company. "This isn’t a marketing ploy," he said. "We’ve been studying these issues, and leading the industry during this period." Jarvis described the program as "merchant-driven," and noted that Home Depot has gone to its vendors with specific requests for more environmentally-friendly products. He told me "A lot of the changes you’re seeing are driven by us." The results of this effort have included a eco-friendly green cleaning product from Terracycle, low-VOC paints from Glidden, and plantable pots for live plants, among others.

Jarvis also noted that the company has worked to reduce the environmental footprint of its stores, which led to $20 million in energy savings in 2006; the company has also built four LEED-certified stores, and four more that used LEED standards as guidelines for building.

Of course, the true test of any green retail program is its ability to help consumers make better choices for their homes and families. So, in addition to talking with us, Jarvis and the Environmental Innovation team put together the following five home improvement tips for saving energy — and money.

1. Don’t Wait to Insulate

According to the Department of Energy, up to 45 percent of a home’s energy loss is through the attic.

Upgrading insulation to a higher R-value can drastically lower energy costs. Start with insulating the attic and unheated crawl spaces with PINK Fiberglass Insulation from Owens Corning and GreenFiber Cocoon Blow-In Cellulose Insulation. It fills in gaps and voids in a home, creating a thermal blanket of protection, and the insulation reduces noise, airflow and energy loss.

Here are some tips from The Home Depot on installing insulation in the attic:

• Start at the outer edges of the attic and work toward the center.
• When adding a second layer of insulation, always use unfaced insulation, because faced insulation will add a second vapor barrier and create moisture problems.
• If the joist cavity is not full, add a second layer of insulation on top of the first to fill it up.
• Use continuous rolls in attics and floors because of longer joist spans.
• If you have to cut insulation, do so in a well-ventilated area to keep the amount of fiberglass dust raised to a minimum.
• Blown-in cellulose insulation is an alternative to fiberglass insulation, but it requires a machine to fluff the insulation and feed it through the installation hose.

2. Fill the Cracks

Air leaks raise a home’s energy bill and make a house drafty and uncomfortable in cold weather. The biggest leaks are almost always hidden in the attic or basement.

To find leaks in the attic, follow these steps:

• Look for holes along the top of a wall that leads down into the house, including those for wiring and plumbing.
• Check for insulation that is dirty around the edges, which indicates that air has passed through.
• Feel for drafts around gaps and cracks.

There are numerous places in the home where air can leak. Check all of these areas:

• Along the top of the basement wall or crawl space where the cement comes in contact with the frame
• Plumbing and dryer vents
• Recessed can lights
• Furnace flue or duct chase ways
• Indoor and outdoor electrical wires
• Window and door frames

In many cases, the best way to block air leaks is by filling the gap with caulk, expandable foam or weather stripping. Expanding spray foam like Great Stuff™ Home Sealant is ideal for sealing gaps in the attic. Spray foam should not be used next to chimneys or flues that get very hot.

3. Program Your Temperature

An Energy Star® qualified programmable thermostat, like the RiteTemp™ Seven-Day Programmable Thermostat, keeps your home comfortable and saves energy costs by automatically adjusting temperature settings while you are asleep or away.

The Home Depot suggests the following tips for installing a new thermostat:

• Turn off the power to the heating and air-conditioning system, and remove the old thermostat cover plate.
• Unscrew the thermostat mounting screws and remove the thermostat body.
• Label the low-voltage wires to identify their screw-terminal locations using masking tape. Disconnect the wires.
• Remove the old thermostat base by loosening the mounting screws. Tape the wires to the wall to prevent them from slipping into the wall cavity.
• Thread the low-voltage wires through the base of the new thermostat. Use a small level to verify accurate mounting.
• Connect the low-voltage wires to the appropriate screw terminals on the base. Follow the diagram in the new thermostat owner’s manual.
• Locate the low-voltage transformer that powers the thermostat. Tighten any loose wire connections.
• Install batteries in the thermostat body, and attach the body to the base. Restore power and program the thermostat as desired.

4. Enhance Your View

Your home’s windows may keep the outdoors from coming in, but they may not be keeping all of the air inside your house. Heat can escape from windows (such as single-pane windows) that aren’t energy efficient. Depending on where you live, you can save between $110 - $400 a year in energy costs by installing Energy Star®-qualified windows.

5. Branch Out

Plant a tree for an all-around environmental boost. When properly sited, trees and other landscaping can save up to 30 percent in home cooling and heating costs.

We’re delighted to share some very good news with you: our own Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s first book has been released. The Joy of Vegan Baking: Compassionate Cooks’ Traditional Treats and Sinful Sweets, according to the publisher, "puts to rest the myth that vegan baking is an inferior alternative to non-vegan baking, putting it in its rightful place as a legitimate contender in the baking arena." As Green Options readers might expect, Joy is more than a cookbook: Colleen adds "tidbits, food lore, and baking tips" to a wide range of recipes.

If you’d like to get a sneak preview of the book, check out its website, where you’ll find a table of contents, a plethora of great reviews, and even some sample recipes (including chocolate cake — woo hoo!). Colleen will be on the road over the next few months promoting the book, so also check out the list of events to see if there’s one near you.

Congratulations, Colleen! We’ll be expecting that batch of vegan brownies in the mail any day now…

As Noel pointed out last week, Green Options now provides all registered users with a blog. If starting a green blog has been on your to-do list, now you’re only a mouse-click away from adding your voice to the "green blogosphere."

We’re pleased to see that a number of members have already started using their blogs, and we hope you’ll give it a shot, also. We’ve made sure that GO user blogs are fully functional, so you can:

Add images: It’s easy to add photographs and graphics to your blog posts — we’ve created a video (originally for our writing team) that walks you through the process. Keep in mind that many images may be under copyright, so be careful about using other people’s images — at minimum, you should give credit and a link.

Add links: Linking is also easy to do… see our "Blogging at GO" overview for instructions.

Add tags: Tags allow you to categorize your posts beyond the standard options available through the normal category structure. Your tags are also submitted to blogging megasite Technorati.

Use HTML: If you’re an advanced web author, you can add HTML tags through the by clicking on "disable rich text" below the "Body" text field.

Promote your blog: We’ve added widgets that allow you (or your readers) to easily submit your posts to social bookmarking sites StumbleUpon, Digg and Reddit.

Got questions? Check out our "How To" doc… and then blog away!

Electronic waste is a big environmental issue, and we’ve covered numerous ways that both electronics companies and consumers can reduce the amount of e-waste headed for landfills. While most recent efforts focus on reuse and/or recycling (which are both important), Israeli site FixYa harnesses "crowd power" (ie, social media) to help people fix their electronics rather than disposing of them. The main motivation behind FixYa was the increasing lack of technical support provided for consumer electronics, but Yaniv Ben Saadon told us that there’s a green element to the site’s mission:

By allowing more and more consumers to successfully operate and mend their products, FixYa decreases the number of products that are discarded and eventually pollute our environment. Although globalization and competition drive the average consumption of consumer products to increase over time, the usability of these products decreases as they become more technologically advanced and challenging to operate. Moreover, since manufacturers are under growing pressure to release their products to their markets, often these products are mass produced before they are properly designed. The result is that the products we buy are cheaper than they were before, yet more challenging to operate.

From gaming systems to washing machines, FixYa’s user have already provided a wide range of "fix-it" advice. Ben Saadon shared with us some of the most popular problems, and the highest-ranked solutions, addressed on the site.

1. A Clacking Xbox with Three Flashing Red Lights

User Carl26 walks a panicked gamer through the process of fixing this problem with the GPU memory.

2. Another Flashing Light… on a Kenmore Dish Washer

Expert qqwweer shows how to reset the light.

3. Ipod Keeps Displaying "Do Not Disconnect"

User Yung offers four different approaches to this problem.

4. Sansa MP3 Player Won’t Turn On

User chrism provides a really simple solution to this really aggravating problem.

5. DVD Player’s P-SCAN Split-Screen Keeps Coming On

User spyder99 shows that sometimes a solution is as easy as flipping a switch… if you know where that switch is located.

These are just a few examples of how FixYa’s brand of social media provides solutions for users’ pocketbooks and the envionment. Ben Saadon notes

Through the collaboration of a community of consumers, FixYa encourages its users to learn from the experience of others on how to properly use and fix their products. The result is that more and more consumers are able to successfully operate their existing products rather than replace them with newer ones, and thus help to reduce the number of products that ended up polluting our environment.

And, if throwing your problem out to the community isn’t your style, FixYa also features a massive collection of manuals and troubleshooting guides.

We’ve been working hard lately to reach out through some of the web’s most popular social media sites, but, until now, we were MIA from 800 lb. gorrilla in this space: Myspace. We’ve fixed that, though, and are pleased to unveil the GO Myspace page.

If you’re a member at Myspace, please add us as a friend, and ask your other friends to do so. We’ll be highlighting chosen content there, as well as keeping users in the loop about devlopments at GO.

As always, let us know if you have suggestions. We’ll see you there!

The Gaiam Community site is a great resource for information on not only green living, but also health and wellness, mind-body fitness, and even spirituality. The site contains articles, discussion forums, and videos, but no blog… at least, no blog yet.

In October, Gaiam Community will launch it’s blog, and, judging from their plans, it will quickly attain the status of a "must-read." They’ve already lined up yoga guru Rodney Yee, and Gaiam Real Goods founder John Schaeffer to write for it. In fact, the only thing they don’t have is a name. Rather than hand that task over to the marketing department, they’ve decided to hold a contest.

The "Name Our Blog" contest will end on September 16th, so start thinking quickly. They’re looking for a name that "will encompass the spirit of all the subjects we cover here in the Gaiam Community — and be clever and unique too!" The winning entrant will receive a $250 Gaiam.com gift certificate; five runners up will receive $50 gift certificates.

We’re happy to give the Gaiam Community a plug, and encourage you to enter the contest. And we’re looking forward to the blog itself…

As you might imagine, the process of getting GO launched, running and successful has been a learning and growing experience for all of us here. We’ve all had our little victories, and made our mistakes along the way. We’ve discovered things about ourselves and each other, and in the case of our partner Shea Gunther, those discoveries have included a need to move in some different directions. Shea will be leaving his duties at GO and our sister site PlanetSave to focus his energies on other projects, including a full-time effort on what was once the GO Home, and a writing stint at Treehugger.

For details on what Shea will be doing with his time in the near future, you can read his farewell note on PlanetSave. We’re sure that he’ll bring energy, enthusiasm and insight to all of these projects. And we look forward to reading his contributions to TH.

Join us in wishing Shea farewell and good luck — GO won’t be the same without him.