Thinking Green Throughout the Home – Easy Ways to Get Started
Neighborhood Information
Green living doesn’t have to involve a complete remodel or pricey purchases. There are simpler, less expensive ways to help achieve green living in your Jacksonville Beach home.
The following tips will lead down the road to environmentally friendly living in your new Jacksonville Beach home:
- Grab window and door caulking and weather stripping from your local hardware store and go to town on all of your exterior doors and windows. Make sure the caulking around the doors and windows shows no signs of cracking, peeling or wear, and install weather stripping around any door or window through which you can pass a piece of paper.
- Install low-flow toilets and showerheads.
- Switch out all of the incandescent bulbs throughout your house for compact fluorescent ones instead.
- If you replace any appliances, look for the Energy Star label for your new appliances. The Energy Star label can be found on a wide array of appliances, including refrigerators, washers and dryers and electronics.
- Change or clean the air filter regularly on your furnace to encourage efficient operation.
- Install a programmable thermostat to regulate the temperature in your house, for when you’re there and when you’re not.
- Choose low-water, native plants for your landscape and install drip irrigation for maximum water conservation. Ask your local nursery for low-water, native plant suggestions.
- Replace some or all of your lawn with a low-water garden or rock bed.
- Look for sustainable or recycled materials for your next home improvement project, such as bamboo flooring and salvaged architectural pieces.
- Choose low-voltage LED lighting for your landscape, or install solar landscape lighting.
- Install window blinds, shades or awnings and use them to shade the rooms of your house during the heat of the day as to cut down on energy bills.
- Install a solar-powered attic fan to draw heat out of the house.
- Check your local recycling guidelines and calendar and get in the habit of recycling.
Date: 2009-02-25 13:30:00
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