How to Make Your Home Better for the Earth
Being green is quickly turning in to quite the trend.
Using bamboo flatware instead of plastic, not using straws to save the turtles, and doing away with one time use water bottles are all becoming the “norm” in our society, but what if there was a way to make a bigger impact? Here are just a few small changes to make in your home to take better care of the only planet we have!
- Get a smart thermostat. This will help with cutting back on excessive air conditioning. If you are gone often during the day, schedule your temperature to go up while you’re gone, and back to a comfortable setting shortly before you’ll get home. If it’s a beautiful day out, shut off the thermostat completely and open the windows to enjoy the breeze!
- Get high quality, energy efficient windows. Like using a smart thermostat, energy efficient windows will keep the outside out and keep your home comfortable! They may be a higher cost at the start, but will save you money in the long run!
- Install smart LED bulbs. LED bulbs last up to 50,000 hours of use! That’s 12 years of using them 8 hours a day, where the cheaper fluorescent bulbs last maybe 10,000 hours. That’s one bulb in a landfill vs five! It may not seem like a lot, but multiply that by all of the lamps in your house, then the 123 million other households in the US. That’s a lot of bulbs and only in the US! Using smart bulbs helps to ensure lamps don’t get left on accidentally and can be scheduled to turn on and off when needed!
- Add a space to hang laundry instead of drying! When possible, hang your laundry to dry, especially bigger items like towels and comforters that take more time and energy to dry.
- Use smart outlets when possible and flip them off when not in use. This can be for TVs, computers, and so much more!
- Install rain bins and use them for watering instead of city or well water! This can also help with puddling around your home!
- Install a water filtration system. This is a great way to do away with one time use water bottles in your home. Keep a reusable bottle close by to take with on the go as well!
- Use a low flow shower head. You may see low flow and think low power, but with the right shower head that is not the case! Do your research and find the best one for you!
- Install double ovens with a smaller oven and a full size! This way you don’t have to heat your entire oven for some chicken nuggets or a slice of pizza!
- Clean your dryer filter regularly. Not only is this a fire hazard, a clogged dryer uses a significant amount of energy to dry your clothes. Remove lint after every load, and deep clean it at least once a month to prevent build up!
Doing these things is a simple way to help save the earth! With most of these you won’t even notice a change in your daily life! If anything, you’ll find that these make your life significantly easier! Contact our team to find out other ways to remodel your home to make it more earth friendly!
When building a custom home from the ground up, you have a lot of options. One option you should explore is post-frame home construction. We’ve gathered the Top Pros & Cons of Post-Frame Homes below. We hope this makes your decision a little easier!
