While many people associate going green with inconvenient and expensive lifestyle changes, there are actually several easy and inexpensive adjustments you can make to your home to significantly reduce your carbon footprint. To make it as easy as possible to transform your home into a clean energy haven, we’ve rounded up a list of the easiest green changes you can make. So read on and come to the satisfaction that comes with being a do-gooder by having a greener home with these great ideas.
Get a more ecological home by following these ideas
Use a pressure cooker
You’ll be doing both the environment and yourself a favor by investing in a pressure cooker. The kitchen appliance, which speeds up the time it takes to cook a stovetop meal, reportedly cuts cooking time by up to 70 percent, meaning less energy is used in preparing your favorite roasts, pastas and potatoes .
Opt for the toaster oven
If you’re cooking a small meal for just one person, opt for your toaster over your larger electric oven. Toaster ovens use up to half the energy compared to a conventional electric oven, mainly because a conventional oven requires preheating or opens and closes more frequently throughout the cooking process, allowing heat to escape.
Light up the house with LEDs
According to the US Department of Energy, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) use 75 percent less energy and last 25 times longer than incandescent lighting. And not only do they have the potential to save the environment, but they’ll also save you a ton of money on your energy bill.
Compost your waste if you are looking for a greener home
Even the most efficient eaters are going to end up with leftover food to throw away at the end of a meal. But instead of throwing them in the trash, it’s greener to store them in a compost bin. As a University of Washington study found, food waste in landfills is a major cause of methane, but composting prevents food spoilage and the subsequent release of greenhouse gases.
Putting food waste in the compost bin can really help reduce methane emissions from landfills, so it’s an easy thing to do that can have a big impact.
Don’t throw away plastic bottles
Putting your plastic water bottle in the recycling bin doesn’t make up for the fact that you’re using a plastic bottle in the first place. According to The Water Project, approximately 80 percent of all plastic water bottles in the United States are thrown away with the trash, and only 20 percent of the bottles that are recycled can actually be used for recycling. And as for the bottles that are thrown away, they take more than 1,000 years to biodegrade. Instead, buy a reusable bottle and help the environment with every sip. You can also recycle the cans by making a garden of edible plants.
adopt the Meatless Monday
Skipping the sausage for just one day a week can have a surprisingly huge impact on the environment. According to the Earth Day Network, eating one less hamburger a week for a year has the same environmental impact as taking your car out for 300 miles. And if you really want commit to the ecological cause And by becoming a true vegetarian, you could reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 63 percent.
Fix a leaky faucet
The slow, excruciating drip of a dripping faucet is enough to drive anyone crazy. Add to that the fact that one drop per second adds up to five gallons of wasted water per day, and you have no excuse for not calling a plumber ASAP. If you are looking for a more ecological homethere should be absolutely no leaks in your house.
shorten your showers
Don’t dawdle in the shower just because warm water feels good on your skin. Shortening your shower by just one minute can save up to 570 liters of water per month. And if you keep your shower going for up to five minutes in total, you can save up to 3,700 liters per month.
Unplug unused electronics
Do you want to take care of the planet in seconds? Just unplug. The simplest and most obvious way to eliminate energy losses is to unplug products when they are not in use. If you don’t feel like taking all your lamps and charger out of the outlet when you leave the house, use a power strip or power strip; It will leave you only one thing to disconnect.
Limit the use of your electronics
How exactly are your electronic components and the environment related? Well, according to a study by the McMaster University, the data centers that run our electronics consume quite a bit of energy, and most of them are powered by fossil fuels. “For every text message, for every phone call, for every video you upload or download, there is a data center that makes this happen… [y] they consume a lot of energy to serve you,” said study author Lotfi Belkhir.
Turn off the lights for a greener home
Turning off the lights is a simple act that goes a long way. According to an investigation by imperial college london. “Any reductions we make in our electricity use — for example, if everyone turned off lights they aren’t using or turned off electric heating at the beginning of the year — could have a bigger impact on the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by power plants. than previously thought,” said study author Dr. Adam Hawkes. And if you’re too lazy to physically turn off the light switch, you can always invest in smart lights that respond to audio commands.
Use a water-saving toilet
It is estimated that there are ecological models that can save up to 49,300 liters of water per year, in addition to reducing water bills.
Don’t use paper towels anymore
You don’t have to give up paper towels entirely, but it’s best to use them sparingly. The scientists of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) compared the seven most common methods of drying hands and found that using paper towels generates 70 percent more carbon emissions than cold-air powered hand dryers. Of course, you probably don’t have a hand dryer at home, but even using a cotton towel is 48% more environmentally friendly than drying with a paper towel.
Wash your clothes in cold water
Believe it or not, nearly 90 percent of the energy a washing machine uses goes into heating the water. By using the cold water setting on your washing machine, you can eliminate up to 1,600 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per year.
Decorate with indoor plants
Plants will always be part of the ecological in a home, although taking care of house plants requires quite a bit of responsibility. However, the ends justify the means: the scientists of the Australian University of Technology found that potting soil can cleanse indoor air of toxic substances like benzene. Scientist Bill Wolverton, author of the famous NASA study on air purification, recommended Boston fern and golden pothos for effective air cleaning.
reuse shopping bags
Whether you opt for paper or plastic is irrelevant, as long as you reuse the bags you get from the supermarket. An extensive report from Environment Agency determined that paper bags should be reused at least three times to offset their environmental effects compared to plastic bags. And reusable cotton bags must be reused at least 131 times to compensate with a plastic bag due to the environmental impact of their production.
Of course, paper is compostable, while plastic has a huge carbon footprint, so in the end, any bag you use is fine, as long as you keep using the same one. if you are looking to be greener.
Keep your cat indoors
Almost everyone’s second favorite household pet has the fate of the environment in its clutches. According to a study published in Nature Communications, cats that are allowed outside (including stray dogs) are responsible for the deaths of up to 3.7 billion birds and 20.7 billion mammals per year in the United States alone, which could cause dramatic changes to ecosystems along the way. If you have a cat, make sure it stays inside for the good of all the other animals.
Grow and produce a garden
If you want to take your green eating habits one step further, you can use your backyard space to start growing your own produce. By growing your own food, you eliminate the emissions that come from transporting goods to your local markets and massive grocery stores.
Turn off your ice machine
Most people don’t consume dozens of ice cubes a day, yet leave their ice machines running all day. This small slip has a big impact on energy consumption: the average ice machine increases energy consumption by up to 20 percent when running 24/7. Turn off your ice maker when you’re not using it, or better yet, buy an ice tray and create carbon-neutral cubes.
Stop buying plastic plates
When you don’t feel like doing the dishes, plastic cutlery and plates are like an easy way out, but these single-use products are costly for both your bank account and the environment. Single-use items make up a large proportion of the plastic trash that seeps into the ocean.
Reduce the use of microwaves
Microwavable meals are cheap, easy, and sometimes even delicious. But a study of University of Manchester it’s making us question our confidence in the kitchen appliance: reportedly, microwave use in the European Union emits as much carbon dioxide per year as 6.8 million cars. Instead of throwing out your microwave, the study authors suggest adjusting cooking times based on the type of food you’re preparing and using your microwave only if you have no other choice.