Talking About Green

Adopting an eco-friendly lifestyle has never been easy since our society functions largely on a consumption mentality.  But these days it has gotten a bit less difficult to practice conservation, waste management, and pollution reduction within the home.  You’ve likely already started to tackle some issues in your life (looking for the recycling bins in public rather than tossing soda cans in the trash, for example, or using canvas bags at the grocery store instead of plastic), but you may be surprised at the many easy and inexpensive ways you can start to green up your property.  Here are just a few improvements that could add value to your home while doing more to create the sustainable environment you crave.

The first thing that most people opt for is recycling.  If you live in a place that has mandatory recycling, you likely already have a separate bin for aluminum, plastic, glass, and paper products.  But you can take it a step further by setting up a recycling center.  This could be as simple as placing color-coded bins in the garage to collect items to take your local recycling facility (for cash back) or as complex as creating built-in cabinetry to house these bins.  Whatever you decide, it will quickly make your home a greener space.

You may also want to create a composting area in your yard.  Rather than tossing smelly food waste in the trash, you can use much of this organic material as fertilizer.  You may be hesitant to place an unsightly structure in the open space of your backyard, but by creating an underground bin (with a lid at ground level) you can easily reduce the smell and provide for a much more pleasant view.  Just make sure to mark it clearly so that nobody falls in! Once you’ve got the compost going you can use it to fertilizer a gorgeous garden, full of organic fruits, veggies, and herbs.

Another great green idea that will definitely increase the value of your home is creating an open floor plan.  Knocking out walls between the kitchen, dining room, and living room will help to make the space modern and open.  And without all those walls in the way you can take full advantage of the natural light streaming in throughout the day.  Of course, this can turn into a pretty big project, so a smaller-scale plan could simply include the installation of compact fluorescent lights to replace higher energy incandescent bulbs.  Along those lines, you might also consider replacing your dinosaur appliances with energy-star options, as well as putting in low-flow toilets, aerated faucets, and a tankless water heater as a method of conserving water.

Once you have made some changes to your home, contact an insurance policy expert home insurance could be reduced by certain upgrades, or alternately, you may need to expand your coverage to account for add-ons (the latter isn’t too likely if they’re relatively small, but you never know).  Making eco-friendly changes could add to the value of your home, but even if there is no monetary return, at least you’ll have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that your actions will create a greener planet for all.