Everyone can make an effort improve their energy efficiency at home and get into more sustainable habits. Getting the right tools and modifying some of your behaviors can have a substantial impact on how green your home is. Here are some ways that you can make an effort to embrace green living at home.

Create Less Waste

Home is a place where you should be fully prepared to give up most disposable items. Some of the biggest volume of waste that homes create is from things that people really don’t need to use once and throw away. Get reusable bottles, bags, and straws. You might also consider getting a trash compactor so that you can reduce the size of the total waste that you take out to the trash bin and use fewer garbage bags.

Make sure that you’re taking full advantage of the recycling program in your city or municipality. Don’t mix recyclable items in with your regular trash. Moreover, you may want to start thinking about composting if you’re not already doing it. Composting enables people to convert all biodegradable food waste into green friendly waste. Cumulative efforts to implement composting can dramatically reduce the volume of trash filling landfills.  

Upgrade Appliances to Energy Efficient Models

Make energy usage a priority with your appliance purchases. ENERGY STAR ratings display energy consumption information in addition to annual operating cost approximations. You can see how much electricity an appliance will use, and you may be able to get a sense of how it compares to your current model.

Of course, the things that you use most often such as your washing machine and refrigerator are important to prioritize. However, really all appliances that you get for your home should be energy efficient. Even if you do not use an appliance as frequently as you use others, it may need a nearly continuous power supply in order to work properly. An air purifier, for example, is something that you do not use all of the time but runs continually. Look for the most energy efficient air purifier when you replace a model that has stopped working well or has become noisy. Likewise, make sure freezer cases and ice makers are energy efficient. A Hoshizaki ice maker does not require a significant amount of power to make a large quantity of ice, and it can keep it cool efficiently.

Change How You Use Appliances

The way that you use large appliances can affect their power consumption significantly. Think about how some of your current habits may be causing you to use more energy than you really need to. For example, most of the electricity that goes into putting a load of laundry in the wash goes towards heating the water. In reality, it’s okay to wash your clothes in cold water most of the time. So long as you use a good quality detergent, your clothes will get just as clean as they would in a hot cycle. Likewise, you may be running your dryer loads for longer than necessary. The amount of time that it takes to dry a load will depend on the size and the contents. If you use a timed dry cycle, consider checking in on a small load sooner than you would check in on a large load.

The refrigerator is an appliance that people commonly waste energy using. Unnecessarily leaving the door ajar causes refrigerators to lose all of their cold air. Instead of leaving the door open while you prepare something that you’ve taken out, close the door immediately after you remove food or drink items. Also, don’t hold the door open for an extended period of time while you decide what you want. Try to pick what you’re going to have before you open the refrigerator.

You don’t have to sacrifice the comforts of home to participate in saving the planet.  A few small steps towards sustainability can help you do your part.