MADISON, Wis. -- Small changes can make a big difference in the drive to go green, and a local leader on the green scene, affectionately called the "green queen," said that you can do it, too.

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A step inside the home of Sonya Newenhouse offers a peek of how she does it. The Madison woman is making it her mission to show others it's possible to live green. Newenhouse already founded Community Car, a vehicle-sharing program, and her business guides others to reduce their carbon footprint, WISC-TV reported.

"Welcome to Rutledge Retreat! That's the name of my house," said Newenhouse.

A house with its own name sounds fancy to many, but fancy was never the goal. Newenhouse said that she wanted to make her home eco-friendly, but the changes didn't come overnight.

"What I try to do to save money and plan my budget is every year. I do an improvement for the environment and my home," she said.

"We have some secondhand furniture," said Newenhouse, "And an old buffet table that I made into a desk."

Newenhouse said that she spent seven years making improvements and the latest changes save bundles. She said that her quilted window warmers -- something that she said homeowners can easily make themselves -- are the equivalent of four panes of glass.

Her efforts extend to every room in the house. You won't see a dishwasher in her kitchen, but you might spot a bucket for food scraps set aside for compost.

In her old, 1916 bathroom, Newenhouse has got a new little trick to conserve: a $15 water-saving showerhead.

"So you turn your hot water on, lather up, and then you just turn this off and just get a little bit of sprinkle," she said.

In the basement, even Newenhouse's roommate is thinking green.

"Well, it's kind of a hobby and a bit of an experiment," said Alex DePillis as he shows a bucket full of soil. "It's a way to compost your kitchen waste."

Remember the food bucket in the kitchen?

"You lift up the tray and then there's food waste," said DePillis. "And the worms work their way up."

His "worm farm" feasts on the scraps, producing nutrient rich, odorless soil fertilizer.

And to heat up the home's water? Just walk outside and look up. You'll see solar panels for the home's water heater.

"We'll meet all of our solar hot water for today and maybe the next couple of days on a good, sunny day like this," said DePillis. "In summer, our natural gas bill is way down, pretty much zero in the summer because the solar is taking care of all of the water heating."

Newenhouse also goes green even in the rain. She uses an inexpensive barrel to catch nature's moisture.

"The water just comes from the gutters, collects, and then usually I have a bucket here."

For those who might think all this would take too much to do, Newenhouse said that she hopes her house can inspire others to go green all without going broke in the process.

"Since we need to do it, let's have fun. And let's do it together," she said.

For More Info:

Newenhouse is the founder of Community Car, a growing car sharing service and http://fullcircleinteriors.com/" target="new">Full Circle Interiors
Newenhouse is president of Madison Environmental Group, a consulting firm helping individuals and businesses live reduce their carbon footprints, and she was named one of Madison Magazine's Best Places to Work
She was named one of Madison Magazine's "Eco-Heroines"