Sustainability: business, life, environment

Spring is here!  The anticipation of sunnier days and fresh air inspires many to embark on home repair projects.  Whether you're looking to freshen up your home or add some spark, why not opt for eco friendly options for your repair projects?   Sustainability concepts of energy efficiency, water conservation, and eco awareness can not only save you money and brighten your living space, but also reduce the load on the environment.

As a green living consultant introducing sustainability concepts to living a green/ sustainable lifestyle, it makes sense to look for different ways to integrate eco awareness into your life.  With so many eco friendly alternatives available today, it's easy to green your home.
 
 
Here are 30 ways homeowners can go green and save money with home repair projects: 

1. Have a new energy efficient HVAC system installed. While the initial financial outlay can be up to several thousand dollars, the energy savings will pay for themselves several times over during the lifespan of the system.
2. Recycle the gray water discharged from your clothes washing machine to use for watering landscaping.
3. Replace leaky, drafty windows with ultra high efficiency windows to save thousands over the next several years.
4. Use a programmable thermostat to control your home’s heating and air conditioning system. With a programmable thermostat, there’s no need to give up comfort-it allows your home’s system to operate at a more efficient temperature when you’re away or tucked under the covers at night.
5. Switch your shower heads to high-efficiency water saving units.
6. Having storm windows installed can improve the thermal envelope of your home significantly at minimal cost.
7. Have your landscape designed with low maintenance, low water plants.
8. New refrigerators use only a fraction of the energy than those just ten years old do. This means that upgrading can pay for itself in just a couple years.
9. Installing CFLs (compact fluorescent lighting) throughout your home will save hundreds or even thousands of dollars in electricity over the CFLs’ lifespan when compared to traditional incandescent light bulbs throughout an entire home.
10. LED lighting is even more efficient that CFLs are.
11. Improve insulation.
12. Install a heat exchanging drain pipe for your shower. A plumber will install a drain pipe for your shower that actually spirals around the shower’s hot water supply line. This is an effective way to “pre-heat” and reduce hot water used.
13. Wrap hot water pipes with pipe insulation.
14. Convert to low flow toilets.
15. Dual flush toilets are even more effective at saving water.
16. Wrap traditional tank style hot water heaters with specially designed water heater blankets.
18. Modify gutter downspouts to empty to a rain barrel with a hose spigot for easy, free, eco-friendly watering.
19. Wash clothes in cold water instead of hot water. Some detergent makers sell special formulations designed specifically to work best with cold water.
20. Only operate your appliances with a full load. Water and heat consuming household appliances like dishwashers, washing machines, and clothes dryers often use the same amount of water, heat, and detergent no matter if you’re washing just one item or a full load. Ensuring full loads as often as possible will add up to significant energy and water savings over the course of a year.
21. Line dry clothing on nice breezy days.
22. Invest in power saving power strips. For home electronics that constantly use small amounts of electricity in “standby mode” while you’re not using them, using smart power strips that switch all power off when the device is turned off can be wise-especially for devices where it doesn’t matter if they lose any stored information.
23. Unplug chargers when they’re not in use.
24. Check your home’s faucets for aerators. Aerators installed on the spout of faucets are designed to help energize the strength of the water flow, producing a more useable stream of water while using less of it.
25. Have your landscape designed with low maintenance, low water using plants.
26. Recycle more.
27. Plant a strategically located tree or two. Trees not only produce oxygen-rich clean air and look beautiful-their shade can also effectively be used to block harsh summer sunlight from the home, reducing air conditioning costs and energy consumed.
28.  Compost your food waste. Your organic garden (whether it’s vegetables, fruits, flowers, or other plantings) absolutely thrive on the plant nutrient-rich, free compost material.
Look in to your lawn. While lush, green lawns are beautiful to look at, very rarely are they used to their fullest extent. Replacing a portion of a grass lawn with the useable outdoor living space created by a beautiful patio is a great way to reduce high resource consuming lawns.
29. Switch to organic fertilizers. Lawn and plant fertilizers are among the greatest sources of watershed pollutants there are. When fertilizing, use compost and safe organic fertilizers as often as possible for a healthier landscape and a healthier environment. Mulching is also quite natural, green, and effective.
30. Fix leaky toilets and dripping faucets. They might not seem like a huge deal initially, but consider the fact that even a small leak will add up to tens of thousands of gallons of wasted water per year.
 
Don't forget to check if you are eligible for Federal Tax Credits for Consumer Energy Efficiency.  And, if you are looking for more ideas, check out the U.S Green Building Council's Green Home Guide for eco inspiration.