New WaterSense guidelines (from the EPA Web Site) are as follows:  “The effective flush volume has been established as 1.28 gallons, which is a 20 percent reduction from the 1.6 gallons per flush standard that became mandatory pursuant to the 1992 EPAct.”  The EPA claims that replacing an older toilet with a new, efficient WaterSense model can save a homeowner 11 gallons per toilet per day, which translates to nearly 4000 gallons per year.  With a dual-flush toilet, the operator is using close to 40% less water with nearly every flush (in partial flush mode). 

For your most common usage, urination, the flush water usage is only .8 gallons (partial flush).  Less often, for your other evacuation, the American Standard FloWise Dual Flush Toilet uses 1.6 gallons (full flush).  On average, considering a person may flush 10 times per day (8 partial, 2 full), you would use approximately 33% less water per day over a single flush WaterSense toilet.

We purchased the American Standard FloWise Dual Flush Toilet from Lowe’s.  They did not have it on the floor; we had to special order it.  In fact, the sales people weren’t familiar with it.  Home Depot had it available via internet sales only.  The price for the complete toilet (tank and base) was under $299.00.  Sure, you can purchase a low-end complete toilet for under $100.  They may also be certified as “WaterSense,” but still consume 1.28 gallons per flush, and the porcelain will probably not be as high quality (which may scratch during cleaning, and easily stain and/or discolor).

Another benefit of this model is the full skirt – nice and smooth for easy cleaning.  The circular and full coverage motion of the flushing water keeps the bowl cleaner.  It is a very attractive toilet, with a split chrome dual-action flush button centered on the top of the tank.  It was easy to install, and American Standard provided detailed instructions for all the components.

The toilet seat is made of long-lasting and easy-to-clean plastic, preventing the need for replacement, reducing its, and your, carbon footprint.

Other manufacturers of dual-flush toilets include (but are not limited to) Toto, Kohler and Glacier Bay.  But carefully check the water consumption – the Glacier Bay toilet offers 1.1/1.6.

If you are truly trying to make a difference in the environment, dual flush toilets are really the only way to go.

For more information, go to:

http://www.epa.gov/watersense/products/toilets.html

http://www.americanstandard-us.com/products/productDetail.aspx?id=2037

©  K.S. Brooks – Blue Planet, Green Blog

Nebraska City, Neb. (September 9, 2009) – The Arbor Day Foundation and author K. S. Brooks have teamed up to help replant America’s National Forests.  For each purchase of Brooks’ The Mighty Oak and Me this holiday season, a donation will be made to the Arbor Day Foundation to support the planting of a tree in our nation’s forests.  The trees are planted in conjunction with the U. S. Forest Service, which selects the sites and oversees the actual planting.

“I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the life of the Mighty Oak than to help the Arbor Day Foundation plant trees on its behalf,” K. S. Brooks said.  “It’s especially fitting since the oak tree is America’s National Tree.”

The Mighty Oak and Me is a unique and innovative book which introduces children to ecology and the real-life world of trees through full-color photographs.  “The Mighty Oak and Me captures the beauty of a tree and its role while presenting questions that will inspire children to further explore the natural world,” said Kristina Henry, author of Sam: The Tale of a Chesapeake Bay Rockfish.

Record wildfire seasons in recent years have destroyed millions of trees in forests around the country. Many areas have burned so severely that replanting efforts like the Arbor Day Foundation’s programs are necessary to jumpstart reforestation.  “We appreciate the support from Ms. Brooks to help restore our nation’s forests through this tree-planting program,” said John Rosenow, chief executive of the Arbor Day Foundation. “Trees help protect waterways and soil, restore habitat for wildlife, and help preserve the Earth’s vital forests for generations to come.”

The Mighty Oak and Me is currently available through Amazon.com and through www.theMightyOakandMe.com.

###

About Author K. S. Brooks

K. S. Brooks is an award-winning action-adventure novelist, poet and photographer.  Her writing and photography have come together in her latest books teaching children about nature through exploration.  Visit www.theMightyOakandMe.com for more information.  Images are available for download at www.ksbrooks.com/media.htm.

About The Arbor Day Foundation

The Arbor Day Foundation is a nonprofit conservation and education organization of nearly one million members, with a mission to inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees. More information on the Foundation and its programs can be found at arborday.org.

The first thing I ever wrote in school was after a field trip to an Arboretum about what we saw and lichen on trees.  As I got older, I spent many afternoons playing alone in nearby woods climbing trees and watching the world around me from my perch.  I spent one particular afternoon in Andover, Massachusetts in a patch of woods surrounded by a field so gold that I nicknamed it Lothlorien after Tolkien’s fictional forest.  I was so enchanted that many years later I referenced it in my first novel, “Lust for Danger.” 

Although writing has always been my passion, in order to eat and pay the mortgage I took on a professional career in the high-technology arena.  When I saw the amount of paper being wasted, I presented a comprehensive paper recycling program to my employer.  This program was considered avant-garde for the early 90s and my advice was sought by the media and other companies in the Boston, Massachusetts area.  I had no idea that what I was doing was considered “ground-breaking” at the time.

An article in Mother Earth News alerted me to a crisis in Hawaii – invaluable rain forest was going to be eradicated in order to tap a volcano for geothermal energy as well as conversion to other non-forest uses.  I immediately offered my assistance to the Pele Defense Fund and began a massive campaign obtaining East Coast signatures on petitions to U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii. (In 2002, long after my involvement ended, a ruling was set to allow the Native Hawaiians to purchase the property, preserving it from development.)

My fascination with the rain forest is inexplicable – I’ve made it a goal to visit as many as possible during my lifetime.  I’ve been fortunate enough to already experience their magic in British Columbia, Canada; the Olympic Peninsula of Washington; the Kenai on Alaska; Maui, Hawaii; and El Yunque, Puerto Rico.  Hopefully, some day, I will see the Amazon.

Trees are what made me cross-over from the “dark side” of action-adventure spy novel writing to children’s books.  I walked out into my yard one day to find my neighbor’s children beating my young trees with a baseball bat.  Why would it even occur to anyone to do something like that?  It was the second time I had caught them.  I decided to take a different approach this time.  I brought the lads into my backyard and showed them my 300 year old oak tree.  “How can those little trees get to be this big if you hurt them?  Did they do something bad to you?” I asked them.

It seemed to work.  The boys stood dwarfed beneath the Mighty Oak, and I hope that they learned a new respect not only for trees, but all living things. 

Shortly thereafter, the tree contracted “canker.”  A severe drought the summer before had weakened and killed many area trees.  Canker, according to the tree doctor, is incurable.  He said the Mighty Oak could live another twenty years…there was no way to know.

I was devastated.  I had originally purchased my home because of the water view, but had come to love the ancient oaks in my backyard even more.  The Mighty Oak seemed to have a new visitor every week:  snakes, birds, honey bees, woodpeckers, squirrels, herons, praying mantis, and raccoons.  I couldn’t let this great tree disappear without paying it homage and preserving its memory for eternity.

I began photographing the tree nearly every day, in every light, with every type of wildlife coming and going.  In less than one month, I wrote a children’s book loaded with those pictures.  What better way to honor the tree than to use it to teach future generations?

Less than a year ago I left that Mighty Oak to move to a drier climate in the Inland Northwest.  People ask me if I miss Maryland.  I don’t.  I miss my tree.

K.S. Brooks is an award-winning novelist and photographer, children’s book author, and guest blogger for CeliacChicks.com.

Where I live, the forest fire potential is pretty high.  So the park service asks that you “thin” your trees – so they are not touching limbs.  Ideally, they would like you to have one tree every ten feet.

My property was logged about twenty years ago.  Huge piles of faded, ghostly gray limbs clutter the ground.  And thousands of little, narrow trees, about five to six feet high, crowd each other in search of sun.  The forest is so thick that literally, if you tried to run into it, you would bounce off. 

I know that thinning is inevitable but the thought of it makes me cringe.  I had to remove some of the small trees recently so I could walk through and despite apologizing to each one as I chopped it, the guilt overwhelmed me to tears.

My gentle mother even tried to make me feel better.  “Sorry you had to do that,” she said. “Think of the freedom you gave to the surrounding trees. Now they can spread out, soak up more sun, and grow freely & be healthy.  Too many trees can choke each other.”  Nice try, Mom.

I needed to come up with a method to help me deal with the upcoming mass murder of the little trees.  It was time to toughen up.

I started with:  “I’m a writer, people have to cut down trees to make paper, and my books are printed on paper.”  It seemed like a good logic, but it wasn’t going to cut it. 

This planet is covered in trees.  There are too many trees, I told myself.  Trees just get in the way, and you end up breaking your back to cut them down.  Darn trees, they are a pain in the neck.

In fact, trees are just pesky…littering the ground with needles, pine cones and leaves.  And who decided raking leaves was a good idea?  Just cut the tree down and be done with it.

Nope, didn’t work.  I still love my trees:  each and every one of them.

<a href=”http://www.blogtopsites.com/environment/”><img style=”border:none” src=”http://www.blogtopsites.com/v_22350.gif” alt=”Environment Blogs” /></a>