9 Micro Actions That Make Your Home Greener AND Save You Money

9 Micro Actions That Make Your Home Greener AND Save You Money

9 Micro Actions That Make Your Home Greener AND Save You Money

There are plenty of big, expensive projects you can undertake to make your home greener, such as insulating, adding water filtration, and retrofitting with energy-efficient heating/cooling systems and appliances. Here are 9 much less daunting things you can start any time—most of which will help you to save up for those bigger green home improvement projects.

  1. Don't just turn off lights, appliances, and electronics, unplug them when not in use. That goes for all chargers, too, which continue to draw power any time they are plugged in. The drain from a single device or appliance might not seem too great, but when you multiply it across all the plug-in-able items in your home, you might be looking at hundreds of dollars in savings.
  2. Say "No!" to over-packaged and disposable consumer goods. Five easy swaps guaranteed to save you money are: concentrated for un-concentrated detergents; bar soap for body washes; refillable for disposable razors; cotton dish towels for paper towels; and linen for disposable napkins. The latter three have an added benefit of making your home more luxurious too.
  3. Keep oven and refrigerator doors closed when operating. Estimates vary but at least one says you can lose up to 150-degrees in just 30 seconds. Not only does it waste energy, it extends cooking time and contributes to poor results, such as dried-out meat or underdeveloped flavors.
  4. Check out your local farmers' market. Okay, this one might be a little more expensive, but locally raised produce and meats have far lower environmental impacts and are generally more nutritious than those shipped from distant lands and stored for extended periods.
  5. Cut food waste by: shopping more frequently, checking to see what you have in stock before shopping, searching for recipes that use what you already have, and composting food scraps. By at least one estimate, a family of four can save more than $2K in a year.
  6. Get educated on how to minimize VOC air concentrations. A big part of living green is focusing on creating a healthy home environment for your family. Since it's virtually impossible to avoid or remove all VOCs from the air, try cultivating some air-cleaning houseplants.
  7. Plant your yard and garden with native plants that thrive in local climate conditions. The reason: Native plants are already well adapted to the characteristics and typical variations in your climate (including, dry spells and heat waves, for example). This means they don't need as much extra watering, feeding, and fertilizing as non-native plants do. They also support native ecosystems of birds, bees, insects, and other wildlife.
  8. Fix leaky faucets and toilets, which might be literally pouring money down the drain. According to isustainableearch.com, a leaky toilet can run you nearly $1K per year and can be very difficult to detect. If your water bill is high compared to your neighbors, check with your local DPW to see if they can help or provide a dye kit to help diagnose.
  9. Lower your thermostat by a few degrees (in winter). Turns out that, in addition to conserving energy and saving money, keeping even a slightly colder house can have plenty of other benefits, including prolonging plants' lives, boosting metabolism for weight loss, and sleeping better.

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