Green Renovations - 5 Ways to Help Save the Environment When Renovating Your Home

Energy conservation is finally starting to become mainstream, and families are realizing that even they can make an important difference. If you are planning on doing any renovations, this gives you a great opportunity to make some environmentally friendly changes to your house.

Before doing your renovations, plan ahead and try to think of different ways you can save energy, or at least minimize the damage you´ll cause to our environment. Not only will you be saving the atmosphere, you will save a bunch of money in the long run.

Insulate, Insulate, Insulate!

Old houses are very poorly insulated. If you are replacing walls during your renovations, make sure to properly insulate them. Often times, the insulation is not thick enough, or the insulation has deteriorated due to moisture. Without proper insulation, your furnace will work much harder to try and heat your house.

You should also make sure that the room you are working on does not have any cracks or gaps to the outside creating a draft. These can and should be filled.

You can also install energy efficient windows, which make a huge difference in energy savings. You can now buy windows that are up to 40% more efficient!

Save more water

If you are renovating your bathroom, this is a perfect opportunity to use products that help to save water. In the shower, make sure to use low-flow showerheads. These help to limit the amount of water you are using while taking a shower.

In the sink, be sure to install faucet aerators. These “add” air to the water as it comes out of the sink, resulting in less water being used.

When you buy a toilet, be sure to buy a high efficiency one. They can save up to 4,000 gallons of water per year!

Bamboo Flooring

If you are putting down a new floor in your house, consider bamboo flooring instead of traditional hardwood floorings. Bamboo is like a super plant when it comes to the environment. It is the fastest growing plant on earth, and once a bamboo forest is harvested, a new crop can be ready for harvest in only 6 more years. Compare that to a traditional hardwood forest, which can take up to 60 years! If that wasn´t enough to convince you, did you know that bamboo emits 30% more oxygen into the air than other traditional hardwood forests? Sounds like its time to plant more bamboo!

For flooring, bamboo comes in two main options. Regular bamboo flooring, and strand woven bamboo flooring. Both look great aesthetically, but the strand woven bamboo is a more popular choice, as it is very hard and durable. Bamboo flooring is also a great value economically, and with proper care, looks great for a long time.

Paints and Adhesives

When choosing which paints and adhesives to use, make sure to buy ones that are environmentally friendly. Depending on what they are made of, some paints and adhesives are made of things that are really bad for the environment. Not only do they damage the environment, but they also release toxins into the air….not exactly something you want to be breathing while drinking your morning coffee. Try to choose paints that are low in volatile organic compounds, and adhesives that are low in chlorinated solvents.

Re-use and Recycle

You´ve been hearing this for years now, and in general, we have all become accustomed to recycling our cans, bottles, and jars. However, re-use and recycle should be thought of for much more than just our everyday garbage. They should also be considered when doing a large renovation in your house. You can reduce huge amounts of waste by re-using as many materials possible, and recycling the others. This will save various trips to the local dump, which is an important step leading to a cleaner environment. If you replace your appliances, try to sell the old ones, or donate them to a charity.  Make sure to buy new appliances that are energy efficient, such as ones with the Energy Star logo.

There are literally dozens of things you can do to save energy around the home. Many people do not do these, often because of the cost. Replacing what seems like everything in your house can be a costly affair. This is why renovations are the perfect opportunity to make your house more energy efficient. You are already making changes and replacing parts of your house, so you may as well pick the environmentally friendly options. Even if it costs more initially, it will usually save money in the long run. And if you think about it, saving our environment, as Mastercard would say, is priceless.

Extra Resources for making your home “Green”:

http://www.greenhomeguide.org/

http://www.homeimprovementmag.com/

http://www.treehugger.com/gogreen.php?dcitc=th_nav