If you have an outdoor heated pool, use a pool cover. It will not only reduce the amount...

Have you ever seen a beautiful old door in an all but forgotten building and wanted to rescue it? Then you've got a keen eye for style and a hankering for reclaimed material. This is any building component or design feature, such as wood, brick, fabric, or an old fireplace mantle, that is salvaged from its original use and incorporated into a new project. Sources of reclaimed material include buildings scheduled to be demolished or renovated, abandoned railroad trestles, and discarded textiles. The use of reclaimed materials can be labor-intensive, but has environmental, aesthetic, and practical advantages-the pieces are often more attractive, and more durable, than their modern counterparts. It's haute recycling! Walk into a modern home with flooring made from the wide planks of an old barn and you'll see that secondhand never looked so first-rate.

Of all the places where water is wasted in the house, the irritating drip from your faucet...