Climate change is a real deal, and the sooner people start to realize that, the sooner it can be stopped. In the last few years, the attitude towards it has been changing positively - more people are now aware of it. They start to take seriously something that not so long ago was treated as a myth.
In a survey conducted by Yale University and George Mason University in December of 2018 revealed that 29% of Americans defined themselves as ‘very worried’ about it. That’s an increase from the survey conducted in April of 2018 by the same institutions when only 21% of people defined themselves as ‘very worried’.
But just because people are more aware, it doesn’t mean that they are doing something to change or stop it. And a lot needs to be done. However, most of these cannot be done by one individual. What you can do by yourself is change the habits in your house to make it more environmentally friendly.
Here are some ways in which you can achieve that.
Start With Water
If you want to reduce the amount of water wasted in your household, the first thing you can do is fixing all the leaks. If you don’t have any, don’t worry - there are more ways in which you can save water. For example, remember always to turn off the water when you are brushing your teeth - when you have a toothbrush in your mouth, you won’t use the running water anyways. Use it just to wet the toothbrush and wash your mouth after. Simple, right?
Another thing that you can do is changing from a standard tank water heater to an electric tankless one. They are more economical and can save you more than $100 annually. They also last two times longer than the standard ones. And these are just a few of the advantages that they have above the standard ones. If you are considering it, check the
electric tankless water heater reviews online to choose the one that will be the best for you.
Smart Meter
Heating not used correctly is usually the reason for wasted energy, especially during the winter, when everyone wants to make their house as warm as possible. It’s easy to leave the heating on the maximum temperature for the whole day and night, but is it really necessary? Not really.
What you can do in this case is to install a smart meter. With this device, you can control at what time your heating turns on and turns off. For example, you can program it so that it will turn on before you come home from work, and stop working before you go to work. In that way, you will have your house always warm without unnecessary costs.
Solar panels
Wise energy use is essential in a sustainable home. By installing solar panels, you will not be eco-friendly, but it will also be an excellent economical decision and a long-term investment since they can last for 20 years or longer. They will provide you with completely clean electricity and can produce so much energy that you might even be able to sell some back to the grid. Doesn’t it sound amazing?
Natural Cleaning Products
You probably have a favourite detergent to clean. But is it necessary to use the ones that contain many chemicals harmful to the environment? If you use dish soap, you are putting the substances that are inside it into the water. It will result in more time needed to make it safe to use.
However, in most cases, instead of those store shelf products, you can use the natural ones, like vinegar, bicarbonate of soda, or citric acid from the citrus fruits. Water is also a good option, for example, to clean the windows.
Small Things Matter
You might think that small things like recycling will not make a difference, but you’re wrong. Let’s say that an office in which there are 7,000 workers is recycling their paper waste during the whole year. The result would be the same as if almost 400 cars were taken off the road. Makes a difference, right?
Conclusion
It doesn’t take a lot to have an eco-friendly home. You can easily learn how to be more environmentally friendly and how to save money without sacrificing the planet. As individuals, we might not be able to do a lot to stop climate change, but we can still do at least something. In the end, doing something is always better than doing nothing.