Eco-Friendly Earth Day Tips

Earth Day, or every day, is the perfect time to look at your environmental footprint. Whether you’re new to the idea of conservation, or you’ve been sorting out your trash from your recycling for years, there are probably still areas where you can minimize your impact. Here are a few eco-friendly home ideas you might not have considered before.

It starts with the little things.

Home Decorating

Choose accessories that are made from reclaimed materials, such as wood, reusable glass bottles, or even rubber tires. Whenever possible, use solar sources for accents or landscape pathway lighting.

Lighting

One of the quickest efficiency tricks is to switch to LED lighting. They’re cheaper to power, offer longer lifespans so they don’t end up in a landfill, and provide brighter light than traditional filament bulbs.

Skylights provide natural light, year round, without using any energy at all.

In addition to personalizing the mood of a room, dimmer switches are a good way to minimize the amount of energy a light uses.

With the new generation of smart bulbs, you can control the lighting in your home on a timer, or on an app when you’re away from the house for security reasons. These technology equipped bulbs have a long life and help you save on your energy bills.

Little steps lead to big strides.

Fans

To get the most out of your fans, make sure the blades are spinning in the correct direction for the weather. In the summer, the blades should turn counterclockwise to push air downward. In the winter, reverse the direction so the blades turn clockwise to redistribute warm air. Upgrading to EnergyStar approved fans can improve the efficiency of the fans operation.

Like lighting, the ceiling fans in your house can be switched to LED lighting to help reduce energy use.

Another option is to install a whole house fan to minimize the use of your air conditioning system and circulate the air in your house more effectively.

Faucets

Installing a touchless faucet in your kitchen and bathroom can make a big impact on the amount of water you use at the sink. Any faucet that has been WaterSense Certified or is marked as California Drought Compliant will reduce the amount of water a faucet can use.

Showers

A new California drought compliant shower system provides a whole new look without costly renovations, and the right valve trim can provide you with more control over the water temperature and amount you use. Even an updated WaterSense Certified hand shower that comes in under 2 GPM can go a long way toward water conservation.

Toilets

An older model toilet can use between 3.5 to 7 gallons of water with every flush. You can save water with an easy upgrade to a WaterSense Certified, low-flow toilet that uses only 1 to 2 gallons per flush.

Tankless Water Heaters

Switching to a tankless water heater can save energy and save water. These systems warm the water as it flows through the pipes, eliminating the costly energy wasted by maintaining a full heated tank. Hot water is delivered to the faucet faster, with no more wasting water waiting for it to get warm enough to use.  

Smart Home

Going green doesn’t mean going back to candles and outhouses. Smart Home technology has expanded to make it easier to save than ever before.

Thermostats

Use less energy by keeping your home temperatures monitored and consistent year round.

Leak detection

Let water sensors do the work anywhere leaks might happen, with an electronic monitor that can notice any drips and alert you via a message to your phone. They’re an easy, invisible way to avoid damaging wastes of water.

Refrigerators

An EnergyStar rated refrigerator can enhance the look of the entire kitchen, with high-end features the whole family will love, while still cutting back on energy use.

Washers and dryers

The benefit of technology is that the chores done by those old appliances can now be done using much less water, less energy, and even less cleaning detergent. They may even take up less space than your old washer and dryer set.