We talk a lot about “greening” your lifestyle by dropping unnecessary habits like bottled water. But, perhaps you’re wondering about some other ways to live a more eco-conscious life. Using more efficient air and water filters is just one step in building an eco-friendly home. Erick, a writer for San Diego custom home builders, Murray Lampert construction, shares with us a few more simple, and fairly inexpensive things you can do to reduce your home’s carbon footprint:
The Simple Stuff
Recycling – One of the easiest ways to help green your home is to start recycling. It’s simple, and most communities today offer recycling services to their residents. All you have to do is set up a recycling system with your family. Label different containers for the various recyclable waste products instead of throwing them all together in the trash. Recycling is also a great way to get children involved in eco-friendly practices and to help them learn about environmental issues and ways to live healthier, more eco-conscious lives. Recycling with your kids gives you a chance to explain to them how decreasing the amount of wastes in landfills helps the planet.
Eco-Friendly Light Bulbs – Another simple way to make your house greener is to save on energy by changing your light bulbs. Replace those old incandescent light bulbs with energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs. They’re inexpensive and will make a difference in your monthly energy bill.
New Hot Water Heaters – You can also save power by switching from conventional hot water heaters to solar hot water heaters or on-demand tankless water heaters.
Shower Heads – Conventional shower heads can waste a lot of water. Switching your old shower heads to pressurized and low-flow alternatives can save you gallons of water per day and will make a huge difference in your monthly utility bills. A low flow shower head typically uses about 2.5 gallons per minute or less, as opposed to 6 GPM from old shower heads. Filtering your shower water can also help you maintain a healthier home, as it removes toxic chlorine from your water supply. Most Sprite filtered shower heads are low-flow.
Optimize Water Use – Another good way to save water is to place containers outside to capture rainwater to use for garden irrigation. You can also save your shower’s “gray water” and use it to irrigate your garden as well.
Eco-Friendly Landscaping
Landscaping your yard or garden with local, native plants is a great way to make your home more eco-friendly. Because native plants are acclimated to the local ecosystem, they’ll grow without much soil amendment. This means less pesticides and artificial fertilizers that harm the environment. Visit your local nursery to learn more about native landscaping options.
Eco-Friendly Home Building
Next time you’re planning a home remodeling project, look for remodeling companies that have LEED certification, or some other type of government green building certification. Most eco-friendly builders use natural products that don’t contain harmful chemicals. These will not only help the environment, but will make your home safer and healthier for your family.
To learn more about other eco-friendly ways to remodel your home, shop around with various local home builders and remodeling companies for advice, and don’t be afraid to ask questions.
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