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The Front Porch Blog

Education on all things homeownership

How to Make Your Home Eco-Friendly

March 01, 2018 Lifestyle

We all love the environment. It keeps us alive and healthy, after all! So shouldn’t we treat it with the respect it deserves by making our homes more eco-friendly? There are many changes you can make in your home to save more energy, water, materials, and money. Here we will show you how taking care of Mother Nature can really pay off.

Save Energy

Trees

Planting strategically placed trees provides shade to keep your home cooler during the summer. That way your air conditioning system won’t have to work as hard. Experts recommend planting deciduous trees so the leaves fall off by winter, allowing sunlight to pass through your windows and keep the home warmer.

Weather-stripping

Make sure you have a good seal on your doors and windows. Install a weather strip if you don’t. Heat can escape through small cracks and waste energy.

Honeycomb shades

Cellular or honeycomb shades keep heat in when it’s cold out, and keep it out when it’s hot. Not only do honeycomb shades provide insulation, but they can also help keep unwanted noise out of your home.

LED light bulbs

Did you know that LED bulbs use up to 82 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs? As an added bonus, LED light bulbs also last 25 times longer than their outdated counterparts.

Rugs

You can be snug as a bug by placing a rug on your hardwood floor. This can cut the energy used for heating your home by four to six percent.

Save Water

Low-flow showerhead

Installing a low-flow showerhead can result in 25 to 60 percent less water usage. Get an adjustable showerhead—one you can switch between low flow and high flow—when you need the extra power to rinse off.

Fix leaky faucets

A leaky faucet can waste as much as 4,000 gallons in a year! Save some cash and Mother Nature by repairing drips as soon as you spot them.

Front-loading washers

Recent tests show that a front-loading washing machine uses less than half the amount of water used by a top-loading washer. Washing with cold water will reduce energy usage as well.

Rain barrel

Install a rain barrel in your yard to collect extra water for your lawn and garden. You’ll save both water and money. Many cities also hold annual sales on rain barrels.

Save Materials

Recycled insulation

Insulation can be made from almost anything. Old blue jeans or old newspaper are commonly used to insulate homes. More insulation will cut back on energy waste—and put more dollars back in your pocket.

Bamboo flooring

Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on the planet, so as a building material, it’s quite sustainable. There are many models of bamboo flooring to choose from, and they are practically indistinguishable from most hardwood flooring.   In addition to making eco-friendly changes to your home, you can establish many habits to save energy and water. See our blog post about cutting energy costs in your home for more tips on saving energy and helping the environment.

Sources: hgtv.com water.usgs.gov goodhousekeeping.com