It can be difficult, time consuming, and expensive to completely customize your home to be earth friendly. If you have the time, willingness - and more importantly, money - to install solar panels on your roof and redesign the flooring and plumbing to circular hot and cold water to facilitate a heating and cooling system—then by all means go ahead. But for the rest of us - whom will have to wait until this becomes the standard way homes are built—what can we do to make our homes to be more earth friendly?
Here are a few simple and inexpensive suggestions for you:
Check Appliances: Many appliances we purchase nowadays do not shut off (entirely). They remain on standby while not in use. These include products such as DVD players, computers, TVs, stereos, etc. While they are in standby position they are not completely powered off. Therefore they still consume wattage. They slowly go unnoticed tapping your power, your wallet, and contributing to the green house effect by emitting carbon dioxide. After identifying which household items are responsible you can connect all of them to a power-strip. By connecting them to a power strip you can shut off the power strip when the appliances are not in use. I admit, this idea may be a hard sell because the results are not immediate and may not appear that significant. However, the more we all do, the greater the impact.
Replace Light Bulbs: Besides not leaving lights burning in unoccupied rooms, you can replace your light bulbs with the spiral shaped eco-friendly bulbs. They burn up to seven times as long and use about one-tenth of the wattage of an incandescent bulb. Now, sometimes these bulbs are somewhat pricey, costing as much as $10 for a single one. So, you will have to do some shopping around at a discount or wholesale store. I have found them as low as $0.99 each. When you find them on sale or discounted, stock up and if they live up to their advertisement, you won’t have to stock up again for seven to ten years. I should mention, there is some controversy about these bulbs because they contain certain toxic substances like mercury. But basically, they are eco-friendly; they just need to be disposed of properly.
Solar-Powered Outside Lamps: Even though solar roof panels are expensive, this does not mean you can’t harness the power of the sun. Many department stores now sell solar powered yard lamps and other outside lights. These are similar in price to their non-solar-powered counterparts and don’t lack any aesthetic appeal. If you like to use exterior lighting, please consider this option.
House Plants: Plants are green by nature. So, logically the more plants we have the greener our earth will be. Make your house greener by adding more houseplants. Because plants absorb carbon dioxide and expel oxygen, they reduce the greenhouse effect. Bamboo, for example, is said to be a great oxygen producing house plant. Bamboo plants are inexpensive, require little sunlight and water, and need minimal attention. Of course, there are a multitude of other house plants to choose from.
Biodegradable Household Cleaners: Finally, using non-toxic, biodegradable household cleaners reduces the amount of potentially harmful chemicals added to the environment. Every time anything is flushed down the toilet or poured down the drain, it contributes to the contamination of our air, water, and soil. Many brand name products now produce a line of green, eco-friendly alternatives. These products usually cost a little more, but they work just as well and won’t pollute the planet.
No matter how you live, it’s not easy living green. From all the created needs modern society has bestowed upon us, everything seems to be set in opposition of living green. It is truly a struggle that frequently seems inconvenient, practical or cost effective. Those of us who are concerned do this not because it is an easier way to live or because it saves us money. We do these things because we care and want to be responsible to our children’s generation by leaving them a clean planet instead of leaving them a global pile of trash to clean up.
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