With the rising cost of energy these days, it is important to find ways to reduce your bills. You can kill two birds with one stone by making your house more sustainable. On the one hand, you will reduce your costs and see lower energy bills. At the same time, you are also helping the planet by lowering your carbon footprint.
There are many green energy solutions as well as changes to your lifestyle and habits that will help you lower your energy dependence. These little changes add up to big results over time. If everybody were to do the same thing then we can make positive changes. In this article, we will go over several ways to reduce your carbon footprint.
1 – Get new appliances
Updating your appliances is going to make its mark on your monthly bills. The newest versions of things like dishwashers, washing machines, and refrigerators are all made with energy savings in mind.
The old ones you are using now are energy hogs and use far more electricity or gas than you should be consuming. By simply upgrading to new appliances you will be making a major move to reduce your consumption.
You’ll save money in other ways, too when you have new appliances. There are a lot of rebates from the local and federal governments as an incentive to buy Energy Star rated appliances. You can save hundreds by purchasing new ones. There is also the possibility of adding a home warranty plan that covers your appliances in case they stop working so you’re covered there.
2 – Use less water
As the world heats up, droughts are more frequent. We need to conserve as much fresh water as possible so we can reduce the frequency of these droughts. You should start by adding some low-flow fixtures to your sinks and showers. This reduces the consumption of water by up to 50% or more.
You will still get the same water pressure that you’re used to so you don’t have to feel like you are sacrificing. You should also replace any old toilets since they also use a lot of water per flush. New toilets use a fraction of the water.
3 – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
It should be your goal to make your house a zero-waste one. This may not be possible, but if you make it your goal then you will reduce how much waste you produce by a considerable amount.
The most important thing to do is to reduce how much you consume so there is less waste, to begin with. Look into buying things used instead of new since there won’t be as much packaging that gets thrown away.
You should also upcycle the things that you no longer use instead of throwing them out. What may be trash to you is somebody else’s treasure. Lastly, look into composting your kitchen scraps to make rich, fertile soil so you aren’t adding methane gas to the atmosphere.