So you’ve made the switch to cleaner energy by installing solar panels on your roof or your property from Total Solutions. You may have done so because the savings were too hard to pass up, but let’s look at the big picture. There is great satisfaction in knowing you’re helping better the environment by being a part of generating cleaner electricity. What about the rest of your home? Going Green doesn’t have to stop at solar panels, there are so many other ways to green up your home and decrease your carbon footprint! Plus, it’ll be saving you more money!
Tips to further reduce your carbon footprint in your day-to-day life
Change out all your old light bulbs for LED bulbs
Replacing your traditional incandescent light bulbs with LEDbulbs will save up to 75% more energy while significantly reducing air pollution. They have a whopping lifespan of 25x longer than regular bulbs. If every home replaced just one lightbulb with an LED, we could save enough energy to light 2 million homes for one year. Wow!!
Don’t forget to unplug those Appliances
All of the things we keep plugged in are still using up electricity and racking up your bill even if they aren’t turned on. Like your cell phone charger, when left in the wall will consume 1 watt of electricity. Did you know that when your TV is turned off it still generates 13 watts of electricity? Even your coffee machine can produce 1 watt when it’s in sleep mode. Think about other everyday items like your Alexa’s, laptop or desktop computer, gaming systems and microwave. Anything that is left plugged in is costing you money and generating unnecessary power. Time to unplug, save more, and be greener!
Don’t forget to open the blinds during the day
Sunlight not only powers the panels on your roof – it can help you conserve more of the energy you consume. You can save 15% of the energy used to heat your home if you open the blinds during the day
House plants are a must
Wouldn’t it be awesome to breath even cleaner air? Total Solutions thinks so too. You can benefit significantly and improve the air quality in your home by reducing more C02 emissions by adding more house plants throughout your home. They also look nice too.
Don’t let the faucet just run
Do not leave the sink just running while you’re brushing your teeth. It wastes a lot of water. Also, pay attention to the toilet to make sure they are working properly and not running for a long time after flushing. If either your faucet or toilet is leaky, get it fixed as soon as possible. You could waste up to 48 gallons of water, depending on the severity of the leak.You could waste nearly 200 gallons of water a DAY if you neglect a leaky toilet.
Change out your current shower head for a low-pressure version
There are many affordable options for lower pressure showerhead available.On average, a family of 4 can save over 42,000 gallons of water a year with this minor change. If you are willing to reduce your shower pressure just a bit, you will be helping Mother Earth out tremendously.
Recycle! Recycle! Recycle!
This one is so important! There are so many homeowners out there they do not recycle. If just 50% of Americans recycled every day, we could help reduce the same carbon emissions as taking 25 million cars off the road.
Use cold water for your washer
Unless absolutely necessary, don’t use hot water to wash your laundry. Between 80-90% of the energy used actually goes right into heating the water.
Hopefully these tips will shed some light on a few very easy everyday things you and your family can do to reduce energy usage and therefore reducing unnecessary carbon in the environment.
Total Solutions can barely see your carbon footprint anymore! Thanks for being so awesome!