Louie Santaguida and Green Homes: Top 20 Ways to Make Your Home Eco-Friendly Today

Being environmentally-friendly is not just a fad, it’s a true necessity. We’ve all contributed to the destruction of our planet in one way or another, so it’s our responsibility to start reversing our effects by going green. It doesn’t have to entail too much effort or a big investment to go green, just start at home!

Here are some easy ways you can go green without breaking the bank:

1. Replace your incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs. Even just a single replacement to a CFL bulb saves up to 400 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions.
2. Unplug your appliances when you’re not using them. Gadgets like TVs can use up a lot of energy even when not in use since they’re on standby for an average of 17 hours a day.
3. Use rugs on wooden floors. You can save up to 4% to 6% on your energy expenses.
4. Open your blinds during the cold season. You let the sunlight in to warm up the house, and that can save you up to 10% on your heating.
5. Turn down your thermostat just by a single degree °C. This can save you about $73 per year and you don’t really notice the difference anyway.
6. Are you thinking of installing new hardwood flooring? Consider putting in bamboo flooring. Bamboo replenishes quickly as it’s the fastest growing plant in the world.
7. Move your fridge in the shade. When it’s in the sun, it’s forced to work harder and uses up more energy.
8. Stop opening the fridge too frequently as that can cost you up to $50 a year.
9. When you’re buying new appliances, look for the Energy Star rating. These appliances use up to 10 to 50% less energy than their non-compliant counterparts.
10. See if you can use a microwave oven instead of a conventional oven. The microwave uses 50% less energy.
11. When you’re using your oven, keep it closed. Don’t check your cooking too often. Opening the oven door drops the temperature considerably so the oven needs more energy to bring the temperature back up.
12. Improve the air quality of your home by growing houseplants.
13. Use organic sheets instead of cotton linens. A full 25% of the insecticide use in the world is due to cotton linens.
14. When you’re buying a new mattress, pick one that hasn’t been treated with toxic materials and synthetic chemicals.
15. Turn off the tap when you’re brushing your teeth.
16. Check your faucets for leaks and fix them. A leaky faucet wastes up to 182 liters of water a week.
17. Fix your leaky toilet as well. That can waste up to 757 liters of water a day.
18. Prevent mold by opening windows, since mold is caused by excess humidity. Without the mold, there’s no need to use harmful chemicals to get rid of them.
19. Don’t use tap water when you shave. Instead, use a cup of warm water.
20. Put a cover on your pool when you’re not using it. This keeps the water from evaporating so you save on refilling water. The cover also keeps the water clean.