Environmental Awareness Starts at Home

On the news and in the papers you are constantly hearing about how the environment is in danger. Yet, it often seems costly to become more environmentally friendly at home. There are inexpensive ways that you can help the environment and save yourself some money as well.

Helping the environment does not have to be a big chore either. Many of the suggestions listed below are not only inexpensive but easy to do task that we should probably be doing anyway such as furnace maintenance.

Inexpensive Ways to Conserve Energy
Reduce the temperature setting of your water heater to “warm” (120Ã?°F).

Add an insulating blanket to your water heater.

Repair leaky faucets.

Repair running toilets

Add insulation and seal air leaks.

Set your home thermostat as low as comfortable usually 65�°F-68�°F when the house is occupied. Think about in the summer at 70�°F you feel hot but in the winter at 70�°F you feel cold. Keeping your thermostat at a steady temperature stops large jumps in the energy being used.

Set the thermostat to 50�°F-55�°F when the house is unoccupied for more than 24 hours.

In the winter, open curtains, blinds and shades to allow the sun to help heat your home.

Caulk and weather-strip doors and windows. Use Low-VOC adhesives. Prevent air infiltration by sealing gaps at window frames, cracks at building intersections, and weather stripping at doors leading to lower energy usage and costs

Replace furnace filters once a month during the winter.

Save the Environment by Reusing items & Conservation

Invest in rechargeable batteries and a battery charger.

Buy electric razors instead of disposable. Can’t afford the investment? Buy disposable razors with replaceable razor heads.

Use reusable cloth gift bags and/or save reusable paper for wrapping gifts.

Use washable cups or travel mugs instead of disposable cup (convenience stores and fast food restaurants will often refill your reusable mug at a discounted price).

Use washable napkins.

Use hand towels instead of paper towels.

Wash and reuse plastic food storage bags and plastic utensils.

Use canvas or cloth bags when shopping

Reuse plastic bags at your local supermarket. Many will give you 2 cents back for every plastic bag you bring in to bag your groceries. Others have bins to collect used plastic bags so that the store can recycle them.

These are not the big changes that many think of when trying to be environmentally aware but these small steps add up to a lot when compounded over time. If you and hundreds of others make these small changes the impact on the environment becomes much more significant.