What steps to make one's home environmentally friendly?

Question

What steps to make one's home environmentally friendly?

Answer 1

A few ideas:

*Use a lid on pans when cooking (saves up to 90% of the energy used)

* Use ES lightbulbs

* Turn your thermostat down by one degree (more if poss) (and reach for warm socks and a jumper before you turn it up again!)

* Insulate your house well

*Wash laundry at 30 degrees and hang out to dry.

*Decorate using Eco friendly paints & natural floor coverings responsibly sourced

Answer 2

Put more insulation in the attic. Put a water heater blanket on your H2O heater and put pipe insulation wrap on at least the first 10' of your hot water line. Switch to the fluorescent s***w in bulbs. Reuse your gray water for the lawn and garden. Use the air condtioning at little as possible. Park your car and walk more or ride bike. Take shorter showers. Dark shingles absorb heat light shingles reflect. Use a reel mower. They are quieter, don't use fossil fuels and they are just neat.

Answer 3

Don't use power that you don't need - switch lights and appliances off when you are not using them. Many appliances like TVs and PCs use power, even when they are on stand-by. Turn them off instead.

If you are buying new appliances, try and get ones that are certified as being energy efficient.

Answer 4

Here is broad list of renovations, repairs, upgrades, and projects you can take on to strengthen your green-home-owner muscles.

>Swap your inefficient incandescent light bulbs for fluorescent ones that last up to 10 times longer and uses 2/3 less energy, saving you money.

>Install a recirculating pump under your sink.

>Replace weatherstripping seals around your windows and doors that are either letting your heat or air-conditioning out, and the undesirable outside air in.

>Planting trees around your house provides shade that will significantly cut your utility costs, eat the carbon in the air, and add value to your home.

>If you’re in need of new appliances, paying the extra price for an energy efficient model will more than pay for itself in what you will save on your utility bills.

>If you can’t pronounce what’s in the bottles under your sink, it shouldn’t be there. They’re not good for you, your family, or the environment.



>Install a programmable thermostat that knows your schedule so you’re not paying to heat or cool your home while your not around, or when it’s otherwise not needed. Why pay to heat or cool your empty house?

>What better way to engage your kids in this process than to build a compost pile? They’ll gain a clear understanding that trash has to go somewhere, how much we create, how long it takes to decompose. Maybe now they’ll start taking out the trash on the lookout for worms.

>Use your water heater carefully.Heating up water uses a great deal of energy. Correctly regulating the temperature setting of your water heater will save a lot of electricity, even if you lower the temperature just by a couple of degrees.

>Separate and recycle your household waste.Separating your waste is easy and soon becomes second nature and because recycling waste uses less energy and less polluting chemicals than making products out of their raw materials, your effort will make a big difference to your family’s environmental impact.

>Dispose of hazardous products carefully

Not all waste can be thrown in the regular waste collection system. Solvents, oils and other household chemicals are a particular example and should be disposed of through the proper collection system in your area.

Answer 5

Try not to f**t.