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Wondering how to do your part in supporting sustainability and environmental wellness? Here are clever ways to reduce energy consumption, save money and protect your health while helping the environment.
1. Ditch The Dryer
While dryers are convenient, they also take up a lot of energy. Why not do it the old-fashioned way and dry your laundry on a line or clothes rack? Line-drying also has benefits for your health and your clothes.
The oxygen and sunlight disinfect and remove bacteria from your clothes. Hanging clothes protects them from snags and wrinkles while extending the life of your clothes, which ultimately saves you money from tailor repairs or replacing your favorite items.
2. Cook Up Your Own Cleaning Products
While store-bought detergents and cleaners are convenient, they also contain many chemicals that affect your home’s air quality by releasing volatile organic compounds. In large quantities, VOCs change the concentration of ozone, a strong greenhouse gas contributing to global warming.
Make your own cleaning products. Some recipes are as easy as mixing bicarbonate of soda with dish soap to clean the bathroom or a cup of vinegar and essential oils in water for surfaces and floors.
While you protect yourself from contact with these chemicals, you also protect marine life in oceans. Cleaning products will inevitably go down the drain. When they reach the wastewater treatments, some chemicals can remain if the system is not strong enough to filter them out.
You also reduce how much plastic packaging you use by making your own cleaning products. Considering only 10% of plastics have been recycled compared to all the plastic produced, it’s become increasingly urgent for people to decrease their use of plastics.
3. Invest In Insulation
Maybe you already have a smart thermostat that changes the temperature according to your routine and your time at home. Take it a step further with weatherstripping and proper insulation. While it may come at a cost, it’s worth the hundreds of dollars you will save on energy costs.
When looking for things to fix around your house, look at the weatherstripping on windows and doors. Are they in optimal condition? If not, replace them to ensure no cold air comes in and the heat stays in during the winter.
Protect your pipes from freezing with foam covers and insulate your water heater to improve insulation around the house. This lowers your energy bill since your heating system works less to keep your home warm.
Another excellent energy-saving trick is to get an insulated garage door since it contributes to keeping the air inside your house at a comfortable temperature. A new garage door will give you a 97.5% return on investment plus a reduction in energy costs.
4. Grow A Green Thumb
When you grow your own food, you reduce your carbon footprint by reducing the transport and packaging needed. You also improve the soil quality, which can reduce carbon emissions and cut back on pesticides and chemicals that drain into waterways.
If you’re new, you can start with herbs and vegetables that are easy to grow like mint and tomatoes. Work your way up to the more challenging vegetables like potatoes and fruit once you get the hang of gardening. You can start a garden almost anywhere, whether it’s a patch in your backyard or in portable planters in your apartment. If you need more space, look for community gardens where people grow food together and share it afterward.
5. Clean Your Coils
Maintain your fridge’s efficiency and reduce unnecessary energy consumption by cleaning the evaporative coils. These coils are responsible for heating up the coolant in your fridge, which keeps food at the right temperature without using too much energy.
You can clean your coils in four easy steps:
1. Unplug the fridge and remove the front or back panel to get to the coils.
2. Vacuum the evaporative coils gently.
3. Brush away any stubborn dust and grime around the coils.
4. Close the panel and switch your fridge on.
6. Become A Bulk Buyer
Another great way to reduce packaging waste is to buy items in bulk. Individual items are usually packaged in plastic, which costs more in the long run. Plastic packaging also contains harmful chemicals that will end up in landfills or oceans, affecting the environment and food chain.
You can prevent this issue by buying in bulk. You also lessen your carbon footprint and potential carbon dioxide emissions by taking fewer trips to the grocery store. Look for stores that allow you to bring your own containers to fill. To take it a step further, start or join a bulk-buying club with friends or family.
Help Yourself & Help The Environment
You can contribute to environmental wellness and reduce your overall carbon footprint with a few changes. Plus, you save more money for the things that matter most to you.
About The Author
Oscar Collins is the managing editor at Modded, where he writes about cars, fitness, the outdoors and more. Check out @TModded for regular updates!
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