21 Innovative Ways to Green Your Home
Ever felt that there is more to be done to save money, the environment and your sanity? Check out these 21 tips on ways to be kind to the environment and your wallet.
Shred bar soap to conserve water. Shredding a bar of soap into smaller pieces will allow you to lather up much quicker and use less water to do so. Also, on the germs spectrum, you will never touch soap with dirty hands to contaminate it.
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Install low-flow aerators on your faucets and showerhead. In order to conserve water, you can either run your water less or at a lower flow speed. This tool will allow you to save up to 77% more water and energy than you standard faucet and showerhead. Major $$$ saver!
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Use hand-cranked kitchen appliances. Nothing like getting a bit of a workout while using your kitchen appliances and saving money on energy because the only energy you are expensing is your own!
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Plant a garden. Using recycled items to create your garden in is even greener than building one with new materials. Challenge yourself in finding unique and innovative containers to create your garden in. By having a garden, you will save on cost for gas to go and buy your groceries, and time and money. 3 great costs savings for having a garden.
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Start your seeds in a newspaper planting pot. Here you will save money on buying plastic planters but also buying your plants already grown to plant. Buy starting your seeds yourself there is a cost savings to garden building and also using the newspaper, its biodegradable and environmentally friendly.
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Make a re-usable shopping bag from an old t-shirt. Use old shirts that are too small, too ugly or too torn to wear into shopping bags. This way you don’t need throw away the torn shirt or subject someone else to your ugly shirt. Or buy one for a few bucks.
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Collect and use rainwater. This can save you a good amount of $$$$ on your water bill especially if you have a garden or large lawn to water. Might as well use the water that is rained upon us the way we want to instead of just donating it to the storm drains.
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Blog: www.westmarkconstruction.ca/News/tabid/955/entryid/1208/benefits-of-rain-barrels.aspx
Connect your rain barrel to a DIY sprinkler. Take an old plastic bottle with cap still intact. Poke 15 holes in it big enough for a pen to poke through. Take all the guts out of the pens and shove them through the holes and voila, you have a homemade sprinkler head.
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Replace dryer sheets with re-usable wool balls. Who would have thought that these balls would help reduce static cling, be a chemical free fabric softener and shorten your dry time? Once your cat is done playing with the wool balls around the house, through them in the dryer!
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Make solar chargers out of playing cards. Instead of having to use a charger that uses electricity to charge the batteries, why not create one of these and save on cost and use the sun’s energy to do the work for you? Click here for a Tutorial on how to make a solar charger.
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Displace water in your toilet tank with a filled plastic bottle. It will function properly with the bottle in the tank and will need less water to fill it up each time you flush. Win/win!
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Make re-usable waterproof sandwich bags with beeswax cloth. They are water proof, reusable and environmentally friendly. Goodbye Ziplock bags and hello Beeswax bags! For more info on how to make a beeswax sandwich bag, click here.
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Turn a plastic tub into a compost bin. Using a plastic tub makes your composting portable to bring to the garden to lay your compost and also manageable to move and handle. If smell is of concern to you, add some carbon filters to remove the smell.
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Slide draft stoppers underneath doors to lock in heat. Nothing like making your own draft stopper and save on energy costs for your home. They aren’t just practical but they can also be a statement piece! Click here to make your own draft stopper DIY or purchase one from Amazon.
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Make your own cleaning supplies. Clean with lemon juice, baking soda, and vinegar. All of these items will clean your home chemical free and will leave $$$ in your pocket compared to commercial cleaners. More detailed recipes, click here.
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Hang your clothes out to dry. This is a great $$$ saver in the summer. It will give your clothing a nice fresh smell and will save on energy to cool your home from the dryer running and money for running the dryer.
Photo Credit: Kasia & Reference: www.theartofsimple.net
Use the sun, not your lights. Open your blinds & curtains and turn off the lights. Sunlight is the cheapest form of energy we can use. Might as well use it to save on light in your home. If you have the choice, build a home with lots of windows to let in natural light throughout the day which will save you electrical costs year round. Another great way to utilize the sun is to have solar panels installed. Check out the benefits of solar panels here!
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Seal electrical boxes with foam gaskets. To save energy in your home, it is best to insulate everywhere you can, including the electrical boxes. This will insure breezes cannot come through and will save you on your heating costs.
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Run your computer on solar power. The SolarGorilla Portable Laptop Charger allows tech-geeks/eco-nerds to power their laptops, cell phones, and even portable DVD players with the sun. Yes, it’s great for the environment, but hello, it’s convenient for you! Charge your stuff while your kids are at the park, while you’re on vacation or working outside.
Photo Credit & Reference: www.ecogeekliving.com
Save $$$ with less vibrations. EcoPods absorb shock and vibration from washer & dryers, something that wastes a lot of energy and money. EcoPods says you just prop the appliance up on the pads, and they’ll be clean, green, washing machines, that make zero noise, break less frequently, and are energy efficient.
Photo Credit & Reference: www.bgreeninnovations.com
Use Sensor Plug. Plug the Sensor Plug into the wall, and it will automatically turn off electronic devices when no motion is detected for 2-6 minutes. You’ll save loads of energy and money without even realizing it.
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