Making Your House “Green,” Easily

Posted under environment by Jerry Dyess

Due to environmental concerns, many wonder how they can live greener at home. As people learn ways of conserving and recycling, they are amazed to discover how easy it is to go green. Not only does a green home support a better environment, but it can also be cost-effective. With a few adjustments, everyone can enjoy the benefits of green living.

One of the major ways your home consumes energy is through heating and cooling costs. If you set your home’s thermostat to 20 degrees Celsius or 68 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter and to 25 degrees Celsius or 78 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, you’ll both conserve energy and save money, too.

Also, by creating shade at windows at the east and west ends of a home, indoor temperature can be kept several degrees cooler as the morning and afternoon sun passes. Preparing meals before the air heats up or after it cools will also keep heat from becoming trapped inside of the home and reduce reliance on air conditioning. Ceiling fans also help circulate air and delay it from becoming too hot.

Another way you can go green is to watch your own consumption. Reduce or your use of or avoid using polyethylene plastic bags, such as those offered at grocery stores. These bags are made with petroleum, which is a fossil fuel. In addition, 100 billion of these plastic bags are thrown away every year, so that their disposal presents a hazard to the environment. Instead of using plastic bags, invest a few dollars in some reusable cloth grocery bags. This will greatly reduce the amount of plastic bags that are wasted every year, which will positively impact global warming.

Plastic water bottles, too, cause significant damage to the environment because they are not biodegradable; they spend years and years in landfills. Do your part to keep this from happening by buying every member of your family their own reusable water bottle and then filling it with tap water from home. (If you’re concerned about the quality of your own tap water for drinking purposes, filtration systems are still a very environmentally responsible and economic way to drink your tap water from home.)

Another negative impact on the environment is the carbon emissions caused by so many cars on the road and the resulting air pollution. Here, again, you can do your part to reduce those carbon emissions and your own expenditures on fuel costs by using public transportation or carpooling whenever you can, if you must take motorized transportation someplace. This will save you hundreds to thousands of dollars every year. For short distances, instead of taking the car, consider riding a bicycle or walking to get where you need to go. This is a very good form of exercise and again, is a great way to cut fuel emissions and fuel costs, too. As the demand for fossil fuels decreases, fuel prices themselves will drop and save you money even during those times you must drive.

When you remodel your home, choose bamboo floors instead of traditional floors made of wood. Bamboo is environmentally friendly because it replenishes itself very quickly as compared to wood. Bamboo can mature in 6 to 8 years, as compared to the 50 or 100 years it takes to grow the trees needed for hardwood. When you install your bamboo flooring, use glues that are free of formaldehyde, which is toxic.

Finally, dispense with paper bills whenever you can and use electronic bill paying instead. Many companies will in fact give discounts if you pay your bills electronically and opt out of getting paper bills in favor of electronic ones. When you must use paper products, choose recycled paper products, so that fewer paper waste products and up in landfills. In addition, choose paper products that have not been bleached, since the bleaching process is toxic to the environment.

Though some believe that going green is a painstaking process, the truth is that consciously doing so isn’t as difficult as it sounds. People who go green can feel satisfied about doing their part to nurture the earth and will find it rewarding to save a few pennies in the process.