Green Lodging in Maine, Eco-friendly tips

green101 eco-friendly tips

Everyday Eco-friendly tips for home and on the go.

You may already be familiar with some or all these suggestions, however, a friendly reminder  never hurts.

Conserve water

Water is our most precious natural resource.  However, the average person in the US unknowingly wastes up to 30 gallons of water every day.  Here are some simple suggestions to help curve your water consumption. When it comes to conserving water every small drop saved  can have a big impact. Following these everyday water-saving eco-friendly tips:

  • Brush and shave without running the water. It is estimated that 1.5 billion gallons is wasted daily in the U.S. because running while you shaving and brush your teeth.
  • Continually check for and respond to leaking faucets and toilets.
  • Install water-saving devices on your shower, faucets and toilets.
  • Don’t rinse. Skip rinsing dishes before using your dishwasher and save up to 20 gallons of water each load. Plus, you’re saving time and the energy used to heat the additional water.
  • Wash and dry only full loads of laundry and dishes. Doing a half-load wastes water.
  • Once a week go vegetarian. One less meat-based meal a week helps the planet and your diet. It requires 2,500 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef. And could reduce your waist size.

Conserve electricity

  • Use the sun! Take advantage of natural light, plus it is a great source of the feel good vitamin D.
  • Switch to energy efficient LED or fluorescent light bulbs — typically use about 25%-80% less energy than traditional bulbs, saving you money; plus last 3-25 times longer.
  • Turning off televisions, computers and other electronic devices rather than leaving them in standby mode, which uses up to 10% more electricity than necessary.
  • Unplug your charger.  Did you know,  cell phone charger, laptop cable and other electrical plugs drain power while they are plugged in, even if they are not in use?  In fact, only 5% of the power used by an average cell phone charger is used to charge the phone—the other 95% is wasted energy.

Save on your oil and gas  bill

  • Close/open drapes (window treatment) to reduce the need for heating / air conditioning.
  • Close/open drapes (window treatment) to reduce the need for heating / air conditioning.
  • Keep your fireplace damper closed unless in use. Keeping the damper open is like a 48-inch window open during the winter allowing warm air to escape.
  • Opt for products with an environmental logo whenever possible.
    Buy in bulk, such as a one-kilogram bag of rice rather than four 250-gram bags. This reduces packaging and can also save you money.
  • Wash in cold or warm. If all the households in the U.S. switched from hot-hot cycle to warm-cold, we could save the energy comparable to 100,000 barrels of oil a day.
  • Use your cruise control. When using cruise control your vehicle could get up to 15% better mileage.
  • Choose matches over lighters. Plastic  lighters filled with butane fuel, both petroleum products.  Since most lighters are considered “disposable,” over 1.5 billion end up in landfills each year.  Choose  cardboard matches over wood, since wood matches come from trees, but most cardboard matches are made from recycled paper.
  • Get a clothesline to dry your clothes by the air. In addition money saved, clothes will maintain color, shape and smell great.

Go that extra mile

  • Start a compost pile.  Composting is fun, free, and can yield  rich organic soil for use in you garden. Plus, a compost pile pretty much takes care of itself.
  • Put up bird-feeders, birdhouses, and birdbaths.
  • Pull weeds instead of using herbicides.
  • Use only organic fertilizers.
  • Teach your children and grand kids to respect nature and the environment.

For more eco-friendly tips please visit our sources below:

Sources:

Top