• Rainwater harvesting and rain barrels

• Rain gardens and bioswales (bioretention)

• Permeable pavers

• LED Lighting

• Native plantings

• Green roofs

The water harvesting, bioretention, and native plantings can all result in the use of less water than you’re currently using, plus there’s the added benefit of sending less water into the storm water system.  The rain water that is captured can then be used for watering plants in the garden.  Permeable pavers allow water to soak into the ground rather than running off into the storm water system.  Green roofs, which have been in use in Europe for decades, also reduce runoff and will help to reduce temperature fluctuations of the indoor areas.

Think about this: you pay for your water, then you pay for it to be taken away (in the form of taxes that are used to build ever-larger storm water systems).

LED lighting is a relatively new trend in outdoor lighting, and although there is a higher initial cost for the fixtures, the cost will be lower over the lifetime of the fixtures from lower energy usage.

An excellent website to visit that shows a demonstration project with many of these green items is: http://www.delafleur.com/168_Elm/index.htm