I think, like many of you, that I want to do the best I can to help the world.  While how to help is not always the easiest thing to decide, with different opinions on what will help keep our planet happy, I think there is an urge to do what is right.  There is a lot of talk about sustainable living, energy saving, and going green, but while the brochures and advertisements give us some idea about simple things we can do around the house, they don’t talk as much about what these things mean on a practical level.  While there are definitely people who are willing to spend more money on environmentally friendly goods and services, and there are also people who will put in the time it takes to grow their own food and forsake convenience with the idea that they are acting locally to help globally, what about the general population? What about those who are just scraping by? Who are short on time or money or both? What can realistically be done that will do something to help, but is something that is not so onerous that it will become a sustainable behaviour. With this in mind, I took a look at some home improvement projects that I (not very handy, cheap and busy) could do that wouldn’t cause a lot of extra work once the project was completed, didn’t break the bank and I could do in a weekend. 

Heating and Cooling: energy audit (LiveSmartBC cover $150); install a high-efficiency heating system; weatherize your home – weather stripping; insulate you pipes; insulate your hot water heater; install a programmable thermostat; clean your furnace filter; get the most from your fireplace; use curtains; install ceiling fans (energy less to run a fan than air conditioner… in summer, make sure the fans blades are rotating anti-clockwise for a cooling effect. In winter the fan should be running clockwise pushing the warm air down. Use an electric fan and skip the air conditioning.  On hot summer days, place a bowl of ice in front of a fan to cool down instead of using the A/C.

Water: Fix leaks, fix leaking taps (One drop per second equals 7.000 litres of water wasted per year) install a filter instead of buying bottled water

Lighting: Change light bulbs to Energy Star rated bulbs; use sensor lights outside; keep it dark to reduce light pollution and encourage night life (bats and frogs one bat can eat tens of thousands of mosquitoes nightly; holiday lights – use LED.

Next up… a bit bigger commitment to going green