Greening up your home is actually a lot simpler than spending thousands on solar panels for your roof, and does not have to involve composting or growing all of your own food if you do not want it to. You do not have to be a hippy tree-hugger to want to green up your home a bit. Here are some easy ways to green your home, making things a little bit more eco-friendly.
1 - Choose Energy Star appliances.
Engery Star Appliances are easier on the energy bill and more eco friendly over all.
2 - Unplug electrics and appliances when they are not being used.
Chargers keep using energy even when your electronics are not plugged into them. Unplug the coffee maker, the toaster and even your computer when not in use to save on energy and green your home at the same time.
3 - You can save heating and cooling energy by monitoring your thermostat from season to season.
For each degree below 68 during the cold weather, or above 78 during the warm weather, you can save between 3 and 5 percent of your heating and cooling energy, so use a programmable thermostat to make this even easier.
4 - Replace your light bulbs with CFLs as they burn out.
Compact Fluorescent Bulbs use 75 percent less energy than standard incandescent light bulbs, and they can also last as much as ten times longer. For every CFL bulb you use, you can save as much as $30 over the span of its lifetime.
5 - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
Begin by reducing your consumption by purchasing less, and then you have less to worry about recycling. Once you reduce your consumption, the next step is to reuse what you do have. Reuse plastic containers, shopping bags and other trash items before you throw them away. Then take whatever is left and recycle as much as you can. Recycling goes beyond plastic bottles and aluminum cans. Call your local recycling center and find out what they can and cannot take before you consider throwing something away.
6 - Choose eco-friendly or green commercial cleaning supplies, or make your own.
Vinegar, for example, is a powerful cleaning agent, no ammonia or bleach needed! Consider making your own cleaning concoctions from kitchen-safe ingredients for the greenest household.
7 - Insulate your hot water heater and save some energy.
By placing an insulation jacket around your hot water heater, you can spend $10 or $20 dollars and save a significant amount of money over the lifetime of your water heater.
8 - Replace single pane windows with double pane windows.
This reduces heat loss in the winter months, and heat gain in the summer months. As an added bonus, you will also reduce noise pollution with windows like these as well.
9 - Purchase and use sustainable materials whenever possible.
You can easily use flooring materials that are sustainable like cork or bamboo, environmentally friendly wood for decking, and even green furniture in your home to have a greener home.
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Originally posted 2008-12-22 05:41:19. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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