Are you carrying your own reusable bags to and from the grocery store? Are you diligently sorting your paper from your plastic every recycling day? If you answered “yes” to either questions, odds are you’re eco-friendly. The good news is that a lot of people are lately becoming more aware of how their behavior affects the environment, so they’ve embraced recycling and reusing.

Many folks also want to know how they can make their homes more eco-friendly. While some green measures can be pricey, many are actually very affordable.

If you want to live green, consider:

• Avoiding the use of endangered timber species when remodeling or adding onto your home. Instead, when building or remodeling, use recycled or reclaimed wood whenever possible.

• Using natural building materials to insulate and drywall your home. (But be aware that many of these building materials are more costly up front than standard insulation and drywall. Your savings come in the long term).

• Investing in energy efficient windows that help temperatures stay more consistent throughout your home. (Do you have one room that is consistently chilly while another is a sauna? Then energy efficient windows—or an HVAC—system may help).

• Talking to your HVAC contractor, especially if you are experiencing a situation like the one listed above where one room is cold while the other is too hot. There are a number of energy efficient HVAC solutions that can help curb your heating and cooling costs and make your home more comfortable in the process.

• Inspecting your home for mold and mildew. If you find either of these, you should speak with your HVAC contractor at once. Air-quality can be immensely improved with green building solutions.

• Purchasing Energy Star washing machines, dryers, dishwashers and refrigerators. Appliances use a great deal of energy, so making sure that your appliances are energy efficient is a tremendous first step in the living green movement.

• Using environmentally friendly materials in your home decorating; whenever you can recyle or reuse materials, you’re doing a favor to the environment. For example, if you don’t want an old dresser, perhaps donate it so that someone else might be able to refinish it and use it again (thus, keeping it out of a landfill!).


FIND OUT MORE ABOUT ENERGY STAR PRODUCTS HERE