Green Tips for House and Home

Conduct a home audit to determine how and when you can save on water, electricity and gas!

 For guidelines on a do-it-yourself home energy audit, please visit this site: http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/energy_audits/index.cfm/mytopic=11170

You can also use this self-auditing tool: http://hes.lbl.gov

Find great deals on Energy Star certified green appliances here: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=rebate.rebate_locator

If you’re not ready for the big steps of buying new appliances or fully auditing your house, here are some small, simple steps to go green and save green simultaneously:

From the Outside In

-       Know your regional and microclimates when landscaping. Trees and shrubs can provide cooling shade in the summer and warming windbreaks in the winter.

-       If you have a pool, buy a cover. Up to 70% of both indoor and outdoor pools’ heat loss is through evaporation, and a simple plastic cover reduces evaporation significantly.

-       If you are building a house or remodeling, utilize daylight effectively by only constructing north or south-facing windows to light and heat your house evenly.

-       If you to sit at a window, open the blinds and let in the light. No matter how efficient your light bulbs might be, natural light is always going to be less expensive and better for the environment.

-       Reduce leakage and heat loss from windows and doors by adding storm windows and doors and using caulking and weather-stripping to block cracks.

-       Use a programmable thermostat and lower your water heater’s temperature to approximately 120 degrees for dramatic energy savings.

Greening Your Electricity Use

-       Use compact fluorescent lamps instead of standard incandescent light bulbs. They give off a cooler temperature light, but are more efficient, last longer and create less heat.

-       Turn off your computer if you aren’t going to be using it for two hours or more. If you must keep it on, make sure you activate its “sleep” feature, if it has one. This feature often reduces energy use by up to 70%.

-       Use a power strip for “vampire” appliances such as cell phone chargers and LCD televisions that use power even when they’re off. By turning off the power strip they’re plugged into you are actually stopping their power supply.

-       Invest in reusable batteries. They may cost more up front but you will get that money back over time and reduce pollution from waste.

-       If you need to replace appliances, look for ones that have a higher energy efficiency rating such as the Energy Star certification.

Green Up Your Chores

-       Get in touch with your inner chef. Making food at home is less expensive and you get to control what goes into it. Also, consider adding vegetarian dinners to the mix. Vegetables and grains are often less expensive than meat.  If you have leftovers, use them to create new meals.

-       Match your cooking method to your meal. Use the smallest heating element you can and try to cook with flat-bottomed cookware of highly conductive materials such as aluminum or copper on clean burners to maximize energy efficiency.

-       Avoid hand washing and pre-rinsing dishes that go into the dishwasher. Modern machines are more efficient than our hands. Also, make sure not to run the dishwasher until it’s full, but not too full, in order to properly and most efficiently clean your dishes.

-       Just as with dishes, make sure you load your washer and dryer the right amount when doing laundry, and wash your clothes on the coolest temperature setting you can to improve energy efficiency.

-       Clean the lint catcher in your dryer after every load, and dry on the lowest heat setting you can. It saves on energy costs and dries your clothes just as effectively.  If the weather is nice, consider skipping the dryer and hanging clothes outside to dry.

-       Check to see if there have been updates to your local recycling program. Many programs are increasing the types of items they will accept.

-       The average American receives 41 pounds of junk mail each year. In addition to recycling what you receive, both at home and at work, there are ways you can help to cut down on what you receive by contacting some providers, or using Internet services similar to the Do Not Call list, such as http://www.catalogchoice.org to stop receiving what you don’t want.

-       Need a new lawn mower?  Cut-down on gas costs and go green by trading in your gas-powered lawn mower for a self-powered push-mower. For people with a standard-sized yard, push-mowing your yard is not difficult or excessively time-consuming, and it can replace your work-out for the day.

-       If you have a yard and the space, plant a garden. Whether you plant vegetables, fruit or flowers, having a garden can reduce what you buy at the store and improve your environment. Look for green fertilizer options and plant flowers and shrubs that are native to your area—native plants won’t need as much watering and maintenance as those that don’t grow naturally in your region.

-       Start to compost. It reduces waste and provides rich nutrients for your garden.

-       Instead of throwing away clothing, books and household items you no longer want, donate them. Most cities have organizations, such as Goodwill Industries and The Salvation Army, who accept these items and give them to someone in need, or sell them as part of a fundraising program.

Shopping Green

      -     Buy canvas or reusable shopping bags. It’s inexpensive and helps save the

            environment, and you may receive credit from retailers, such as grocery

            stores, for bringing your own bag.

-       Natural or green cleaning products are available in most retail stores and, in addition to helping the environment, will keep your home chemical free. Another option, one that can also save money, is to make household cleaners yourself. You can find cleaner recipes here: http://www.thegreenguide.com/home-garden/cleaning/diy-cleaners

-       Next time you need to buy coffee, tea, herbs, chocolate or even rice and sugar, look for products that have been Fair Trade Certified™. Being Fair Trade certified means that strict social, economic and environmental criteria were met in the production and trade of an agricultural good.

-       For even more agricultural-friendly shopping, visit your local farmer’s market for fresh produce at good prices. This does double duty, promoting the local economy and cutting down on shipping costs, which contribute significantly to food costs in general.

-       “Use the used”—visit second hand stores for items like books, videos, music or clothes. Consignment shops can be a great place to pick up designer clothes for less. Bargain shopping reuses resources and uses less of your money.

-       Become a regular at your local library. You can often borrow music and videos as well as books that you might have bought otherwise.

-       Replace items, from cell phones and stereo systems to refrigerators and furnaces, less often. Check to see if an item can be repaired for a reasonable price before you replace it with a new item.

-       Use your power as a consumer to tell manufacturers what you prefer by making the decision to purchase greener items such as post-consumer recycled paper.

-       Buy a thermos and lunchbox. Purchasing reusable containers rather than plastic bags or Styrofoam cups cuts down on waste and the amount of money you spend on disposable containers.

Everyday Greening

-       Be aware of how much water you use daily. Since drinking water is a scarce resource and the desalination process to make seawater drinkable takes a lot of energy, if you turn off the water while brushing your teeth or shorten your shower by a few minutes, you are conserving energy as well as water.

-       Because shipping wine typically involves moving lots of heavy glass filled with less-heavy wine, the bigger the bottle, the smaller the carbon footprint. On dinner outings with groups of people, order one larger bottle of wine instead of two smaller bottles and save on both energy and cost.

-       Send invitations to your next party or event via email or on Facebook or another social networking site. Using your social media site also allows you to personalize the invitation with photos and lets your guests chat about carpooling or what to bring while saving paper. .