Sustainable Tips: For the Home

Rethink your wrapping paper

This holiday season, opt for recyclable wrapping paper — steer clear of glitter, foil and glossy coatings, which can't be processed. Even better, try alternatives like butcher paper or newspaper — or skip single-use paper entirely by wrapping your gifts in reusable boxes or bags.

Retire your dryer

Consider using a drying rack whenever possible instead of throwing your clothes in the dryer. You'll save money,  save energy and prolong the life of your clothes.

Switch to better bulbs

Ninety percent of the electricity used by incandescent light bulbs is given off as heat, which is wasted energy and money. Here's a bright(er) idea: Switch to LEDs, CFLs or halogen bulbs instead. They use as little as 20 percent of the electricity — reducing your energy bill and your carbon footprint.

Refresh your air filters

Clean — by vacuuming or rinsing with water — or replace your HVAC filters every three months. Your heater or air conditioning will blow more efficiently and draw less power

Dial down your heat or A/C when you're away

Adjusting your thermostat 7 to 10 degrees (higher during the summer, lower during the winter) for eight hours each day will yield up to a 10 percent savings on your annual energy bill and help shrink your carbon footprint. Go a step further by adding insulated window curtains to block drafts in the winter and sunlight in the summer.

Switch to rechargeable batteries

Are you still using old-fashioned, single-use, alkaline batteries in devices like your TV's remote control? Try rechargeable batteries instead. You'll save money over time and help cut down on the billions of dollars worth of batteries sold each year in the United States, most of which never see a recycling facility. And for dead batteries collecting dust in your drawer: Drop them off at a local recycling that accepts them (be sure to check regulations and restrictions first). Just don’t toss them in the trash!

Make standard shipping your new standard

When you’re shopping online, combine your orders into a single shipment by clicking the “fewest packages/deliveries possible” option. While you’re at it, choose the slowest shipping option (instead of one-day).

Dine in instead of eating out

Most of the energy used by the average restaurant goes toward things like sanitation, refrigeration and lighting, while only 35 percent goes toward preparing your meal. Cut some fat from your carbon footprint — and save a bit of money — by eating at home instead.

Steer clear of steer - Go meat-free — especially avoiding beef — at least one day each week. Beef is not great for the planet: Production of one quarter-pound burger requires 460 gallons of water and emits 0.126 pounds of methane — a greenhouse gas roughly 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Globally, about 15 percent of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are due to livestock, nearly two thirds of which come from cattle.

Keep your friends close, your farmers closer

Buy locally produced food whenever possible. The farther away your food was grown or raised, the more greenhouse gases were likely emitted in shipping it to your grocery store. Many farmers have started participating in “Community Supported Agriculture” (CSA) programs that deliver produce — including discounted “ugly” fruits and vegetables — directly to your door.

Grow it yourself

Get your hands dirty and try growing some of your own herbs, fruits and vegetables. The more you can avoid the grocery store, the more you'll help reduce emissions related to shipping and refrigerating all of that food. And if you don’t have a backyard, don’t fret: Many food items, from scallions to celery to herbs, can be grown on your windowsill.

Pull the plug on your devices

Thanks to standby mode, electronic devices consume power even when they are turned off. Almost 10 percent of your energy bill goes toward this "phantom power" consumption. Save money — and reduce your carbon footprint — by unplugging your devices at the end of the day or when they’re not in use.

Opt for refurbished electronics

If you're in the market for a new phone or computer, consider picking up a refurbished unit. You'll keep at least one device from languishing in a landfill while reducing the environmental impact posed by manufacturing and shipping a new unit from overseas. If your device is damaged beyond repair, a little research should point you to the right place to properly recycle it.

Put your phone purchase on hold

The manufacture of one new smartphone — including mining rare earth elements and shipping the completed unit to stores — eats up as much energy as a decade's worth of typical phone use. Make a smarter call: Keep your current phone for three to four years. It's simply greener than buying a new one. And when it’s time to hang up, check the manufacturer’s recycling program.

Get a solar charger for your phone

Over the course of a year, a traditional wall charger uses about 7 KWh of energy to charge your phone (assuming you plug it in every day), and a plugged-in charger uses energy even when it's not charging anything. With more than four billion smartphones in the world, that's billions of watts of electricity that could be saved if everyone switched to solar chargers, which simply need to be placed near a sunny spot in your home.

Compost your food scraps

Trashed food ends up in a landfill, where it rots and emits methane — a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes more to global warming than CO2. Toss your leftovers in a compost bin instead. They'll emit no methane, and you'll reduce the energy needed to haul your garbage to the dump. And if you're a gardener, adding compost to your soil will enrich it while increasing moisture retention, reducing the amount of watering you'll need to do.

Ditch plastic trash bags

Opt for paper bags or simply go bagless — wash out your trash and recycling bins instead. Those plastic garbage bags can take up to 100 years to decompose, damaging ecosystems and harming wildlife in the process.

Make your own cleanser

You can create a variety of powerful, homemade cleansers using basic pantry staples, such as baking soda, vinegar or even toothpaste. Make your own glass cleaner, grease buster, detergent booster and more. New direct-to-consumer companies will send you glass containers and refills in the mail; to cut down on shipping weight, some companies even send tablets you dissolve in water. No matter the route, you'll reduce your plastic consumption and help keep nasty chemicals out of the environment.

Bag your polyesters

When washing clothes made from synthetic fabrics, e.g., polyester or nylon, use a washing bag — like a Guppyfriend bag — to catch microplastic fibers that would typically go down the drain and end up in our waterways. According to one 2016 study, as many as 700,000 fibers could be released per wash.

Turn your bathroom into an eco-room

Try to make your bathroom a plastic-free zone. Buy bar soap and shampoo; get a bamboo toothbrush (some have replaceable heads); and switch to toothpaste tablets instead of tough-to-recycle tubes. Remember: It may only stay in your home for a few weeks, but it will linger in landfills or oceans for generations.

Swap your paper towels for washable cloths

Instead of single-use, disposable paper towels and napkins, try making your own reusable, washable cloths. Buy fabric in bulk and cut it into squares — or repurpose some of your old t-shirts or towels. You'll save trees and help reduce the billions of pounds of non-recyclable paper that ends up in our landfills annually. If you need to use paper towels to clean up a non-toxic mess, many compost programs accept them.

Wash your clothes in cold water

About 90 percent of the energy used by your washing machine simply goes toward heating the water. Save that energy — and around $40 each year — by washing full loads in cold water instead.

Repurpose your water

After boiling pasta, let the water cool and use it to water your plants or garden. As you wait for your shower to heat up, capture that cold water in a bucket. And if you're feeling ambitious, look into installing a grey water system to collect laundry water and reuse it for, say, flushing your toilet.

Showering beats soaking

A five-minute shower uses 10 to 25 gallons of water, whereas a bath can use up to 70 gallons of water. Even a 10-minute shower uses less water than a typical bath. Each time you opt for a shower over a bath, you'll save water and the energy required to heat those extra gallons of tub water. Install a waterproof timer on your shower wall to challenge yourself to take shorter showers.

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