Regardless of your thoughts on global warming, there are many great reasons to go green around your home. A very practical reason is that it saves a considerable amount of money over time. It also decreases the chance of our planet being overrun with waste in the foreseeable future. Landfills that currently exist are already overcrowded eyesores. Try being green in your house to see real improvements in energy and money savings and to lessen your ecological footprint.
Conserve Water
It saves money, protects potable water sources, minimizes health risks, reduces the need for new waste water treatment plants, and saves energy. You can save up to 20,000 gallons of water a year by doing the following:
Installing eco-friendly fixtures
Look for the EPA’s WaterSense sticker on your shower heads, faucets, and toilets. Check out the Stealth toilet, which can save you up to 40,000 gallons a year by using low flow technology. It’s the premier water-conserving toilet on the market
Shutting off water when it’s not needed. Shut off the water when you’re getting soapy in the shower, brushing your teeth, or scrubbing plates.
Timing your garden watering appropriately. Water your plants before the sun rises or after it sets so it is less likely to evaporate before it is absorbed.
Shutting off water if there’s a leak. Knowing where your master shut-off valve is located can help you save a lot of water and money in the event of a severe leak.
Conserve Energy
Working to conserve energy in your home saves you money, improves the economy, saves the environment, and even improves national security by promoting energy independence. Here are some ways to save energy in your home:
Switching to high-efficiency light bulbs. High-efficiency bulbs use between 25% and 80% less energy than traditional incandescent bulbs, and they can last up to 25-times longer.
Turning out the lights. When you’re not using a light, turn it off. You’ll increase the lifespan of high-efficiency bulbs and save even more energy and money by doing so.
Leaving the thermostat on 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Doing so in the winter and keeping it even lower while you’re sleeping or away can give you 5-10% savings on your heating bill.
Conserve Waste
The average person creates about 4.5 pounds of waste every day. Multiply that by the 7.125 billion people on Earth, and you can see why conserving waste matters. 75% of waste is recyclable, but only 30% is routinely recycled. Here are some ways to conserve waste at home:
Reusable bags. Even though it’s hard to remember sometimes, less than 5% of all the plastic bags consumers use every day are recycled in the U.S. These plastic bags often end up causing serious pollution problems in rivers and oceans and hurting wildlife.
Composting. If you have a garden, great. If you don’t, composting can still keep food waste out of your garbage cans and back into the environment where it can decompose properly and return to the earth.
Recycling. Start out with the easy things and take the time to haul plastics and aluminum cans to a recycling plant if you don’t have a pickup service.
When you need a plumbing company you can trust, call The Eco Plumbers! We proudly serve the Columbus, Ohio area.
