How To Make Your Home More Eco-Friendly in 48 Hours

This real estate article “How to Make Your  Home More Eco-Friendly was written by Sharon Paxson of Newport Beach Real Estate. With experience since 2005 representing sellers and buyers with their real estate transactions, we welcome the opportunity guide you through your transaction. We look forward to working with you and list your home with a top Newport Beach CA Realtor.

Posted on Tuesday 2nd July 2019
How to Be More Eco-Friendly at Home

Making your home more eco-friendly is not complicated. Some online resources would have you spending a small fortune to conserve energy and water. But. do you really need to do that? Turning your property into an eco-friendly home is a lot easier than you think. As a matter of fact, you can get most of the work done in 48 hours. That would be a great way to spend a weekend.

Planning Ahead Is the Trick

The first thing you need to do is to list all of the areas of your home which you suspect are less than eco-friendly. Having an action plan will make the job much easier and you may even be left with some time over to enjoy a bottle of organically produced Chardonnay from the Napa Valley.

But, there is another reason why you need to make a list. There are a few things you will need to invest in to kick start conserving energy and making your home more eco -friendly.

Water and Even More Water

Water is one of the natural resources we waste the most in our homes. We are guilty of a variety of environmental offenses when it comes to using water.

You may find this hard to believe, but if we all fixed our leaking faucets, we would save millions of gallons of water per year. Saving water is a quick fix. Start by making sure none of your faucets leak, and then fit a low flow showerhead. Utilize low flow toilets as well which also saves water usage.

After that, check out that your home appliances are efficient when it comes to water usage. If there are only two or four of you, do you really need to use the dishwasher? It will not take the entire family long do the dishes. The bonus is that you even get a chance to talk to each other.

And what about that washing machine of yours? Using a larger washing machine will save you money in the long run as you can do more laundry at a time. Many of the newer washing machines are eco-friendly and do utilize less water. Select a shorter cycle to utilize less energy. Also, don’t forget about line drying. Who needs a tumble dryer? Your laundry will smell better air drying in the outdoors.

Cooking to Save Money

Before you turn on your oven, consider if there are better ways to cook your food. Why not put a steamer on your shopping list. A steamer is not only a great way to conserve energy and make your home eco-friendly, but it will conserve the vitamins and nutrients in your food. Nothing beats saving money and getting healthier at the same time.

Did you know it takes only about 30 minutes to cook a family meal in a steamer and the energy use is next to nothing?

Compost Your Stuff

Stop taking out the trash and get composting. Start to think of compost as a resource. You can use it in your garden and your indoor plants will love it. Creating a compost heap is easy to do, and will only take you a few hours.

While you are at it, create a home recycling station. It takes a few minutes to do and will last a lifetime. You need three areas - plastics, glass, and paper. Before you put anything in the correct recycling category, take another look at it and try to figure out if you can re-use it.

Plastic bottles can be reused to start off seedlings and tin cans should be washed out and used for storing things in. We simply throw too much stuff away. Learning how to reuse stuff could one day help to save the planet.

Turn It Off!

How to Make your Home Eco-Friendly in 48 HoursIs your living room or den looking like the bridge on the starship Enterprise? We love to have all of our gadgets on standby. That is handy, but this bad habit does not belong in the eco-friendly home. All it does is to suck up electricity.

Many new homeowners have saved a third on their electricity bills by turning off everything that flashes or has a little blue light telling you it is ready to go the moment you press the remote. Unless you are using an appliance or gadget, there is no point in having it on. If you are not utilizing appliances in the kitchen and they are plugged in, then you are utilizing un-necessary energy.

Finally, make sure all of your home appliances and insulating materials are up to date. You don’t need to replace everything in one weekend, but doing so gradually will save you a lot of money and conserve energy. When you do replace materials such as insulation, make sure you buy environmentally alternatives. Most of them do not take long to fit and are easy to use.

Final Thoughts

Creating an eco-friendly home is easier than you think. Doing so in the right way, can save you money and improve your health. Let’s be honest, is that not what we are all trying to achieve?

Bill Gassett has written an excellent article about being more eco-friendly in your home. Utilizing solar panels can dramatically cut down energy use and ultimately saves money.

Another excellent resource has been written by Michelle Gibson with tips for being more energy efficient at home. 

Kevin Vitali discusses going green with your home is to use green building materials. He has written an article about green flooring options to consider when installing new flooring.

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