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Some Easy (and Cheap) Ways to Green Your Home This Spring and Summer
Posted on Apr 06, 2008 - 10:33 PM
By: Rita McConnell
Greener living. In times like these, no matter how much we think we care about the Earth, our eco-consciousness can be trumped by our wallet-consciousness.
But greening your life and home doesn’t require you to shun electricity or buy expensive green products to make a difference. In fact, with some common sense, you can live greener this summer, easily recoup your eco-investments, and save money.
Try these easy and cheap tips:
Replace high-wattage light bulbs – Compact fluorescent light bulbs will soon be more than a fad – come 2012, they’ll be the law. For those who aren’t ready to switch over completely to these more efficient bulbs just yet, have no fear. You can still be more environmentally friendly and save money on your energy bill with incandescent. Just lower the wattage. Take a stroll around your house look at the bulbs you have and consider what you use them for. Replace any 100 watt bulbs with a lower wattage – and lower wattages for lamps and task lighting. Consider doing away with the frivolous “uplight,” sweetheart of interior designers everywhere, and other needless mood lighting, like those positioned above art to showoff your good taste. And of course, remember to shut lights off when you leave a room – even a compact fluorescent left on wastes energy.
Change furnace/air conditioning screens – According to the U.S. Department of Energy, heating and cooling account for 56 percent of energy use in a typical home. Make sure your system is working at top performance by replacing filters either monthly or as needed. Factor in your home environment – filters may need more frequent changes in industrial areas, construction zones, etc. Clean screens also cut down on household allergens. Think about a reusable “electronic” filter (between $50-$1,000), which uses static electricity to gather more contaminants, instead of a disposable fiberglass one. Clean it as often as you would replace a traditional filter.
Get some house plants – In many cases, the air we breathe in our homes is often more toxic than the air we breathe outdoors. Clean up your indoor air by bringing the outside in. Some research shows houseplants like peace lilies, spider and rubber plants, can filter indoor air and remove toxins, including formaldehyde (found in carpeting), benzene, acetone, and ammonia. Different plants offer different levels of cleaning for different contaminants. Check out How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 House Plants that Clean Your Home or Office by B.C. Wolverton for details. They’ll look nicer in your home than one of those strange looking air cleaners, and may save you on healthcare costs related to asthma, allergies and other respiratory ailments.
Warm your house with daylight, cool it with moonlight – Saving energy can be all about window treatments. Savvy design can keep your home warm in winter and cool in summer if you know the right time to open and close your drapes and blinds. For natural heat, open your drapes and blinds wide during the day, and as the sun goes down, close them back up to hold in the heat. Cool things down in the summer by lowering drapes, blinds and the like during the day. Consider outfitting all windows with blinds, shades or lined draperies or curtains if you haven’t already. Or think about a new product. Window energy films, which hold out heat while allowing natural light in, claim to offer a 12-18 percent energy savings.
Plant trees in your yard – When the right type of trees are planted in the right places, great things happen. Planting deciduous trees on the west, southwest, east or southeast of your home provides cooling in the summer (reducing your need to turn the air conditioning down), and in the winter, after the leaves have fallen, allow sunlight to warm your dwelling (reducing your need to turn the heat up). And of course, trees absorb carbon dioxide, dull noise, provide privacy and decrease water runoff.
Use appliances the way they were meant to be used – Most of our household appliances were invented to make our lives more convenient. Today’s models do that and then some when used properly. Dishwashers now clean dishes with less water than we use in the sink and do a better job than we can by hand. Don’t rinse dishes before loading – scrape them if you must, but don’t use water. Always run your machine with a full load of dirty dishes, and if you can, use the air dry setting. Always wash full loads in your clothes washing machine as well. Washing machines use great amounts of energy to heat water – try switching to a cold water wash if the quality of your water allows. If you need a new machine, buy a front loading model. They use less energy than top loaders. Always use the moisture sensors on newer dryers to avoid over drying fabrics, and always empty the lint trap before running another load.
Get a clothesline – Go old school with your laundry this spring and summer to save energy and money. In some homes, dryers are actually the biggest single energy eater, beating out refrigerators and televisions. In fact, it can take twice as much energy to dry a t-shirt in an electric dryer than to wash it in a washing machine. Buy a clothesline, a few poles, and hang laundry out to dry, weather permitting of course. Added bonus – a sweet, fresh smell to all of your clothes, without a chemically treated dryer sheet.
Compost – One man’s garbage is another man’s treasure. Or in this case, another plant’s treasure. Reduce the amount of waste you send to landfills by composting food scraps and organic waste, and then using it to invigorate your landscape or garden. Add grass clippings, wood ash and other yard waste as well. Small countertop compost keepers with carbon filters to reduce odor are available for about $25 dollars. Larger bins and containers are available for containing compost outdoors until it’s ready to use. Save money on gardening products and hauling expenses. Check out http://www.compostguide.com for how to info.
Kick back and relax – Hot, sunny summer days can bring dangerous levels of ground-level ozone, which exacerbates respiratory ailments and lung conditions, and is unhealthy for everyone from small children and seniors to healthy adults working or exercising outdoors. It may be the best possible excuse ever to sit back and relax with a lemonade, delay lawn and garden chores, and postpone errands on a lazy summer day.
Collect rainwater – Even though the majority of the Earth’s surface is covered with water, little of it is fresh, making it a finite and precious resource. Climate change may potentially bring many changes to the planet – including more frequent drought conditions and increased demand for fresh water. For the cost of a collection container –around $70 – and a diversion of your downspout, you can collect rainwater for non-potable needs like gardening and landscaping. If you live in an urban area, you’ll save on your water bill. If you are in a rural area, you’ll save on electricity costs related to your well pump. And of course you’ll conserve water. Warmer seasons are also a great time to start easing yourself into shorter and cooler showers.
When it comes to greener living, using your noggin can result in significant gains not only for the environment, but for your pocketbook. Look for new ways to cut back – from unplugging non-essential electrics to getting your kids outdoors and away from that Wii™ – and share them with the community at my.neutralexistence.com.
Looking for more ideas? Check out these links:
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=products.es_at_home_tips Energy Star @ Home Tips
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/tips/ Tips from the Department of Energy
http://www.epa.gov/compost/ Compost Information from the Environmental Protection Agency
http://www.smartenergyliving.org/cm/Home.html Smart Energy Living, from the Colorado Energy Science Center
http://www.buyenergyefficient.org/ from the Consumer Federation of America
http://www.ase.org/ the Alliance to Save Energy
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