Healthy Home Habits for the Environment

Sometimes the thought of being eco-friendly appears to be such a conscious effort that some people think it is only for the serious environmental activists. But do you know that there are actually habits you can develop in the home that does a lot of good to the environment while also being beneficial to you on many counts? These practical habits in the home are easy to develop and impart to kids, and can contribute a lot to the environment in the long run:

1. Make sure to turn faucets off all the way

Sometimes, it is mere carelessness that makes us waste water. It may not be a leaky faucet, but a person who fails to turn faucets off all the way may cause a constant, though appearing minimal, dripping. When combined, these drops of water can become a whole chunk over the course of, say, a month or a year. Conserving water not only helps the environment, you also save on your water bill.

2. Unplug all electrical appliances when not in use

This is as much for safety as it is for electricity conservation. Experts show that many appliances, such as TVs and DVD players, consume as much energy while plugged in and in sleep mode as they do when they are in use. Also, they pose a fire hazard. As such it would be to your benefit too to make it a habit to unplug all electrical appliances after every use.

3. Turn off all lights when you are not in the room

Again, this is both for energy conversation as it is for practicality. Perhaps you have the habit of leaving every light on in your entire house even though you actually spend the whole time cooped up in your room. Do yourself a favor and switch off all unnecessary lights. You might think it’s minimal, but multiply the energy wasted by 365 days a year and you might think differently. Besides, you could use the extra cash that you don’t spend on your electricity bill, right?

4. Schedule air-conditioning and heater time instead of running it all day

In times of extreme temperatures, we are tempted to keep the air-conditioning or the air heater on the whole day. But if you can actually stand up to temporary lulls, you can schedule them, for example, a few hours in the morning and a few hours in the afternoon. For example, instead of turning on the air conditioning, you can spend some time in front of a fan turned full speed. In the case of cold weather, a manually burning fireplace might do wonders to your electric bill.

These habits may sound simple and automatic, but oftentimes they do not come as naturally at first. As such it is important to start to do them consciously at the start, and pretty soon it will become just like second nature. That way, you will be doing your fair share for the environment while also keeping a good hold on your electricity bill.