My husband and I have been putting more effort into green living and learning affordable ways to make a house greener. Even something as small as paying attention to hot water usage can have a tremendous impact on me, my family, pets, monthly bill, and, of course, the environment. There are so many affordable ways to make your house greener this spring.
Why spring? You don’t have to wait until you start spring cleaning to implement changes. I tend to be more open-minded and welcome positive changes after I have cleaned and decluttered my home. Not only do I feel good about my house, but the fact that the sun is out, and I can enjoy having my windows open.
I am looking forward to spring cleaning! It’s been a long winter, and we’ve been stuck inside this stuffy house with no fresh air. When I spring clean, I open the windows, curtains, and anything else I can think of to get fresh air rolling through me through the house. I’m going to share with you a few of my favorite easy and affordable ways to make your house greener this spring.
10 Affordable Ways To Make Your House Greener This Spring
Come on spring! This year spring is even more exciting because we already added on to our home and are currently dabbling with several different remodeling projects as well as other small projects here and there. Regardless, I’m SUPER excited because I’ll have a chance to clean and organize the house. Of course, there will be a little decorating in there and probably a DIY project or four. Being greener isn’t only important to mom and dad, the kids are all about being green and doing things to make the world we live in a more beautiful place. It’s funny, but several years ago we started slowly going gree because it was so important to the kids.
Since we started remodeling and adding on to our home, we have been mindful of ways to go greener. Being greener in and around our house is important to not only my husband and I but the kids as well. Once you start going green, you won’t want to go back! I’m not joking, there are plenty of small affordable ways to make a house greener. Here are a few of my favorite easy and affordable ways to make your house greener this spring.
Cleaning products, go green
We’ve been using green cleaning products for years it’s better for us, our family, pets, and the environment. Plus, in my opinion so many of the green cleaning products smell better. You can pick up green cleaning products anywhere, or you can make them yourself. If you want to give it a try, you can DIY Cleaning Products.
Get indoor plants for the air
I love having my green plants in the house. They are like a living air filter for our homes. Most indoor plants are easy to care for, take up little space, and often look great in almost any house with any décor. You can find cheap pots to fix up to match your homes decor at the flea market, garage sales, and even thrift shops.
Buy CFLs or LEDs as your bulbs burn out
Replacing your incandescent bulbs with CFLs or LEDs can help you save money on lighting. Think about how much electricity we use in keeping our homes lite up, energy-efficient bulbs can help families save big bucks annually.
Get a smart thermostat
Regular thermostats just allow you to control your heating and cooling system. Smart thermostats allow you to take things a step further. A smart thermostat can learn your behaviors, show energy consumption, adjustings on the go by allowing you to control your thermostat remotely.
Whether you’re on vacation, work, gone for the day, sleeping, awake a traditional thermostat will stay at the same temperature unless it’s manually changed.. A smart thermostat allows you to set it to change throughout the day and night according to your schedule. Some smart thermostats can learn your behaviors, know if someone is home, if someone is cooking, or if the humidity gets a little out of whack and it can adjust itself as needed.
I love our smart thermostat. A smart thermostat can save money, time, and be convenient. I used to drive home several times a week to check my thermostat keeps me off the road and using less gas.
Use cold water as often as possible
When washing clothing tries to use cold water when possible. If you currently use warm or hot water and do as many loads of laundry as I do you’ll notice a difference on your next electricity bill. A friend of mine who works for the power company in my city told me that up to 80% of energy used to run the washer is spent heating up water.
No more plastic water bottles are allowed.
If you buy bottled water than you may want to consider getting a water filter. Buying a water filter will help purify your tap water, so you don’t have to spend your money on those plastic bottles.
Pay attention to appliances and electronics
If you’re not using it, turn it off and unplug things you’re not going to use for a day or two – kitchen mixers, curling irons, etc. I’m bad about my computer. I leave it on too much, and recently asked the kids to help me remember. They take the job serious, and (shhh you can’t tell) but it’s helping them pay attention and turn off lights when they leave a room. It’s a win-win!
Learn, grow, teach
Learn as much as you can about going green in your home and take it out into your community. Get your family involved, everyone will have different ideas, and it’s something children can carry with them into their adult years. My kids are all about learning to be greener and adopting new habits to support our greener lifestyle. What I like is the fact they know what being green does and can tell someone why we are doing it. They can also take what they know and teach others just as my husband and I can. Never stop learning, grow from everything you learn and teach others in your family, neighborhood, and community.
Donate & recycle
If you can’t recycle it, donate it. Donating and Recycling is such a better option than the trash. At least if you recycle or donate you are doing what you can to help our environment and someone else. As the old saying goes, “Ones mans trash is another mans gold.” Just because you don’t find something useful doesn’t mean it will help someone.
Check your faucets and toilets
If you have any leaking faucets or running toilets, replace them right away. A drip every few seconds might not seem like a lot, but I think you’d be surprised what one little drop would amount to in a months time. Replace and fix faucets, toilets, and anything else that might be leading right away.
Think rechargeable batteries
I only buy rechargeable batteries, it saves me money and helps to make my home greener, but I recently purchased the NEW World’s First Recycled Batteries/materials by Energizer. The Energizer EcoAdvanced brand batteries are their longest lasting alkaline battery, ad they’re made with recycled batteries/materials.
I have shared a few affordable ways to make your house greener with you and I would love to hear any tips or tricks that will help myself and others make their homes, cars, or life’s greener. Leave us a comment.
