Are you renting? Living with your family?
A lot of eco home tips I see are for people who own where they live and can make permanent changes to their house (ie: solar, composting/gardening, etc.). But what about the rest of us who want to have good eco habits, but don't have as much control? Or - if you have a home but want that happy medium of actional tips that are still convenient? Moving to a new apartment made me to think about how I can be more eco in my space. I tend to focus on how shopping habits affect the environment, but I was curious of some other easy ways I could be eco, specifically when it comes to energy & water.
Here are 3 areas I found where you can become more energy efficient (& save some money on your utilities!):
Water
While water isn't really *energy*, it isn't quite as unlimited as a resource as it seems. According to National Geographic, "Only about three percent of Earth's water is freshwater. Of that, only about 1.2 percent can be used as drinking water."
Two simple ways that you can be more intentional with your water use at your home or apartment are 1) use less water when possible and 2) wash your clothes/dishes with cold water! Take shorter showers, turn off the sink when your brushing your teeth... These small habits might not seem like a lot, but every effort counts :)
A/C & Heat
Air conditioning and heaters use up a lot of energy! If you're wanting to make your rental more energy efficient, this is a great area to focus on. There's an easy solution to conserving energy that you might not have thought about (to be honest, I read this somewhere and I felt silly for not thinking of it first!)
If you're feeling cold, change your first instinct from turning the heater on/up to instead layering up and wearing a jacket or cuddling in a blank. If you have hardwood floors that get cold, invest in a rug and some comfy slippers/fuzzy socks. You can find nice rugs at thrift stores for a much better price than new if you're wanting to save some money. Another idea is to make a diy rug! Here's the link to a rug diy using old tshirts - I'll be making this later this month and sharing my results on my Instagram.
You can also do the same tips but vice versa. Does your apartment get really hot in the afternoon during the summer? I don't blame you for cranking up the A/C (our last apartment didn't have A/C installed so I honestly, really don't blame you) but an idea of how to cool down if energy conservation is your goal is to close your blinds to block the sun or open some windows. If this is consistently happening, you can also wear lighter and cooler clothes.
I'm not saying don't take advantage of your A/C and heaters, there's a reason we have them instead of having to build a fire to stay warm - but if you are wanting to conserve some of the energy in your rental, this area can really make an impact!
Lights & Electricity
I remember one of the first 'eco tips' I learned when I was a kid was to turn off the lights when you're not in the room!! I haven't thought about it in a long time, but after reading about ways to be more energy efficient in my apartment, I found that this is still a good thing to practice! Along the same lines is unplugging electronics you're not using in the moment. Even if you're not activity using these appliances, they're still using something called 'phantom power' or 'vampire power'. Unplugging them results in them using no power! ;)
Also, if you change out lightbulbs in your apartment or are buying new appliances, try to use LED lights or buy items used/refurbished!
A lot of 'eco' alternatives and solutions require a lot of effort, but after researching ways to be energy efficient as a renter, it's refreshing to know that there are simple habits we can practice to make a difference.
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