Water Smarts
Under Pressure
If you have a rain barrel, but are having trouble maximizing the water you collect—the RainPerfect ($139) offers a solution. It’s a solar-powered pump with a hose attachment that fits atop most rain barrels. The RainPerfect provides pressurized water for spraying collected rainwater on lawns and gardens and even for running low-pressure sprinklers. www.rainperfectpump.com
Up on the Rooftop
Green roofs are really coming of age. No longer is it enough to simply utilize roof space for native plants (improving a home’s efficiency and preventing runoff in the process), but more than ever, people want to hang out in their rooftop oasis. Enter RoofStone ($10.50-$13/square foot) from LiveRoof, LLC—paving stones designed to work within LiveRoof’s pre-planted modules and made of 100% recycled, post-industrial polypropylene. They come in a variety of soft colors like sage, mocha and beach sand and have a built-in base. www.liveroof.com
Potty Talk
They may look like ordinary toilets, but high-efficiency toilets from Toto, such as the Aimes ($972, pictured) use just 1.28 gallons per flush, making them among the most water-saving toilets around. And to prevent the need for multiple flushes with such little water (which would defeat the whole point), their toilets are equipped with a “Double Cyclone® flushing system”—two nozzles instead of rim holes for better cleaning and a more powerful swoosh. www.totousa.com