Florida homeowners are always looking for ways in which they can be more environmentally-friendly at home. While combating climate change can seem like an overwhelming prospect, even minor steps that you can take to conserve resources and reduce your carbon footprint can go a long way in helping the environment.
To help get you started on your journey towards living a more sustainable lifestyle, here is a look at just a few of the ways in which you can make your home more environmentally-friendly.
Don't Over-Water Your Yard and Watch the Weather
Doing everything that you can to reduce water consumption in your home can go a long way in reducing your household's impact on the environment.
While you could try to take shorter showers, many homeowners do not realize how much water they waste by overwatering their lawn. In fact, depending on the size of your yard, watering your grass more than necessary can waste more than 6,000 gallons of water per month. However, it can be difficult to know how to set your watering cycles in order to ensure that your lawn stays lush and green without overwatering it.
A simple way to do this would be by installing a smart water irrigation system; doing so can help you to reduce your water consumption as the system will automate the watering of your yard based on weather conditions, ensuring that just the right amount of water is used.
Also, keep an eye on the weather reports. It rains almost daily during the summer months in Florida, don’t leave your sprinkler system on just after a rainstorm. Instead, time the waterings to days that will see less precipitation.
Update Your Home's Lighting
Another easy way to make your home more environmentally-friendly would be to update the lighting in your home. If you still use traditional incandescent light bulbs in your home, lighting could account for as much as 20% of your electricity bill.
Not only could upgrading to compact fluorescent or LED light bulbs significantly reduce your home's carbon footprint, but it could also help to save you money as energy-efficient light bulbs use as much 75% less electricity than incandescent bulbs.
As an added bonus, while incandescent light bulbs generally last about a year, fluorescent bulbs can last 10 years, and LED bulbs can last up to 25 years, further saving you money.
Invest in Solar Panels
Of course, by now you have likely heard people talk about how great residential solar panels are; however, one cannot underestimate the environmental and financial impact installing solar panels on your home can have.
If you have the means to invest in solar panels, this can provide you with a near steady supply of clean energy compliments of the Florida sun. Not only can this significantly reduce your carbon footprint by limiting your reliance on traditional energy sources, but creating your own power can drastically reduce, or even eliminate, your energy bill.
You may even be able to make money if your solar panels generate more energy than you consume by selling unused energy back to the power companies.
Add Greenery to Your Property
Adding plants to your property can be another great way to reduce your home's carbon footprint. Plants rely on carbon dioxide, allowing them to act as a natural purifier removing toxins and greenhouse gases from the air.
Adding native Floridian plants to your property can help to compensate for your household's carbon footprint, and planting native plants will ensure that you don't have to use an excessive amount of water, but these plants will still filter carbon dioxide out of the air.
Florida's sun and humidity create the perfect environment in which many plants can thrive, and adding additional greenery to your property will help to make your home more inviting in addition to helping you create a more eco-friendly home.
On top of all of that, you can plant produce and become more self-sufficient by growing your own crops at home.
Your Next Step
Put these into action! Many can be done cheaply and at anytime to provide a quick first step toward creating a more efficient home in Florida.
