Where we are and where we want to be

I suppose the first step of any meaningful transformation is a realistic assessment of where you are right now.
We bought this house about a year ago. At 1,400 square feet, it's modest. It's a great house, but let's face it, it's as green as a mid 1970s coal-burning power plant.

We've got leaky, single-paned aluminum windows, and the original 1956 gas furnace is pumping away in the basement. The roof needs to be replaced, and the air conditioner looks like it was fresh out of the box in 1982. Not the formula for energy efficiency. But at least I won't feel bad ripping out the old stuff. It'd be a lot worse trying to "green" a house if the systems were just new enough that it'd be a waste to replace them.

So that's where we are. Here is what we'd like to do.

We want to reduce the amount of CO2 we're generating. Suspect No. 1 is the furnace. It's so old, that it's the biggest offender. Because of it's age it has to be terribly inefficient. Sadly, we keep the thermostat on 60 all winter and our heating bill is still more than $300 a month. It's got to go.

Part 2 of reducing CO2 is to reduce our dependence on coal-burning power plants. Electricity is cheap in Ohio. Very cheap, but our utility generates 80 percent of its power from coal plants. Most were built before tough pollution standards were in effect which equals EEK! A lot of river towns around here are practically condemned because of the pollution these plants generate. So once the furnace goes, tackling this will be the next big project.

We'd also like to reduce the amount of water we use, recycle more, and reduce the amount of waste we produce.

And here are the rules:
We aren't rolling in money. All of our projects have to pay us back in some way. Either they can be cheap, but provide a significant boost to quality of life, or if they require a big bunch of cash, they have to save us money somehow.

We're hoping our journey can act as a guide to other Midwestern homeowners. And let's face it-- the Midwest is the land of the price-conscious value shopper. If it doesn't pay off, people here won't do it! That said, we'll probably do a lot of price comparisons between traditional products and earth-friendly, just so you guys can see the math and decide if it might make sense for you.