How to Make Your Home Eco-Friendly in One Weekend
Many homeowners desire a more sustainable living space, but lack the time and money to make major eco-friendly home upgrades. There are actually many ways you can make your home more efficient without extensive effort.
Improving your home for eco-friendliness not only benefits the world around you, but will likely lower your energy bills and resource waste, too. If you’re not sure where to start, it may be the best choice to choose improvements that you can take on in a single weekend.
Swap Out Your Light Bulbs
When was the last time you changed your light bulbs? If you’re not using efficient bulbs, they’ll burn out quicker, causing you to spend more money. They’ll also use more energy to light your home. Changing your bulbs to energy-efficient options can make a major difference in your home’s sustainability.
LED bulbs last much longer and use less energy to provide the same amount of light. As a bonus, smart bulbs can also be further programmed and customized depending on the type. Bulbs are easily changed out and highly affordable, perfect for any weekend chore.
Turn Down Your Water Heater
Most water heaters can be adjusted for temperature, and it’s not unusual for a home’s water heater to be set much higher than it needs to be. Water heaters that are set too high will run longer than necessary, running up your bills and energy usage.
If your water heater has an adjustable temperature, consider setting it to no higher than 120 degrees. Your bills will lower, and you’ll use less energy. Most experts recommend 120, as it’s high enough to discourage bacteria, but low enough to make it energy-efficient.
Plant a Small Garden
You can turn your outdoor space into a miniature nature sanctuary. Not only do plants help improve the air quality around you, but they also provide food and shelter for local wildlife. Consider planting native gardens, as they won’t disrupt the ecosystem around you.
If you like the thought of growing kitchen ingredients, you can also include a small herb or edible garden. Growing food helps eliminate food waste and provides a more economical grocery bill. Planting a garden is very easy—just choose your plants, put them in a planter or the ground, and water them regularly.
Testing your soil is a good choice to ensure proper plant growth, and you may need fertilizer depending on the results. Plants need varying amounts of water and sunshine; provide the right amounts to ensure plants grow fully and quickly.
You can store gardening materials and equipment in a garage or storage shed. A shed may be ideal if you want a designated space to harvest, too. Many storage sheds for sale are made with natural materials that last a long time.
Start Composting
Most homes go through a lot of organic waste that can be composted, from eggshells to coffee grounds. If you find yourself throwing a lot of food waste away, consider starting a compost pile instead. Composting involves using organic waste as a fertilizer; soil becomes rich with nutrients when the material decomposes naturally.
Composting is very eco-friendly; less waste goes to the landfill, toxic fertilizers are avoided, and you’re using a natural and healthy type of fertilizer in your yard that benefits many organisms.
Recycle Your Waste
Recycling, like composting, is incredibly beneficial for the environment. When you recycle material like glass and cardboard, you’re using less resources, contributing less to landfills, and allowing materials to be reused in the future. You can recycle many types of items with your city’s waste management companies—look up your county’s list of approved items for tailored advice.
Alternatively, you can recycle materials yourself by repurposing items instead of throwing them away, like using a shoebox as storage instead of tossing it in the trash. Recycling is a low-cost, highly rewarding way to improve the environment.
Adjust Your Thermostat
Do you change your home’s temperature when you leave the house? The largest contributor to high energy bills is almost always the home’s heating and air conditioning system. If you have a programmable thermostat, you can adjust the system to run less when you’re not at home.
When your system runs less, your energy bills are cheaper, you’re more energy efficient, and you will avoid overworking your HVAC system. You can also install smart thermostats that are energy efficient in other ways, allowing you to change your home’s temperature from anywhere on your phone or providing more energy-efficient temperature control methods.
Change Your AC Filter
It’s easy to forget to change your home’s AC filter. If you haven’t done so in a few months, you’re likely due for a swap. The AC filter traps dust, dander, and other contaminants from clogging your system. When the filter is full, the system must exert more effort to pull in the air, as it has to pass the blocked filter.
When you regularly swap out your air filter, your AC system will work less to get the job done, reducing wear and tear. As a bonus, you can enjoy better filtered air without sacrificing efficiency.
Conclusion
With our busy schedules, it can be difficult to find the time to renovate our homes for energy efficiency. Thankfully, not every upgrade takes a lot of time or money. Swapping out light bulbs, adjusting appliances for efficiency, and allowing your outdoor space to support local wildlife are all simple and quick ways to make your home eco-friendly.
Once you make these adjustments, you can plan for larger upgrades like switching to renewable energy, buying energy-efficient appliances, or insulating your home.