Eco-Friendly Household Tips That Save Money

If you want to reduce your family’s eco-footprint, start by making some environmentally friendly changes in your home. While you most likely won’t be able to effect global warming or prevent offshore drilling, you can help to make the world a little greener by making small adjustments in your household. You can make your home eco-friendly by investing in items such as low-flow shower heads and fixtures, smart power strips and energy-efficient appliances. In some cases, retailers offer hefty discounts on these types of appliances. In addition to helping the environment and reducing your negative impact on the earth, you will spend less on your monthly bills and overall household costs.

Get Eco-Friendly Light Bulbs

One of the easiest ways to make your home more eco-friendly is to switch out your light bulbs to compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). Why make the switch you ask? In addition to saving cash on multiple light bulb purchases over the year, CFLs use less power and have a longer life when compared to incandescent light bulbs. These handy bulbs generally last anywhere from 6 to 10 times longer than standard bulbs and can save your family hundreds of dollars in electricity costs over the course of the year.

Try A Smart Power Strip

If you’ve heard recent news stories concerning vampire electronics, you may be looking for a way to pull the plug on electronic devices that suck power from your home, even when the devices are in stand-by mode. While touted for their ability to save power while in sleep mode, consumers are watching their electricity bills climb as a result of these devices that utilize small amounts of power over the course of the day, even when they are not in use. While most people use standard power strips to prevent electronics from being destroyed by power surges, the basic power strip does nothing to prevent vampire electronics from stealing power from your home. The best solution to turn off these electronic items permanently is to purchase a smart power strip. Smart power strips reduce your home’s power usage because they completely shut down power to any product that goes into standby mode.

Wash With Cold Water

Changing your clothes washing habits is another great way to help the environment and save money on your monthly expenses. When you wash your clothes in the washing machine, the machine uses a certain output of energy. When you choose to use hot water instead of cold, the washing machine uses hot water from the hot water heater. In addition to the energy used to power the washing machine, the water heater unit also uses energy to heat up the water that is used by the washing machine.

According to the US Department of Energy, if you wash 80 percent of your laundry loads in cold water, you can save anywhere from $60 to $100 each year. If you choose to wash your clothing in cold water, be sure to purchase laundry detergent that is specially formulated for cold water. If you live in a warm climate, save more cash and hang your laundry outside to dry instead of using a clothes dryer. If you want to keep your whites bright, hang them outdoors in the sun. The sun will not only give your clothes a refreshing smell but will also help to bleach them as well.