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As the push to go green gets stronger each year here in the GTA, we know many of our clients are looking for ways to make their homes eco-friendly. It can seem like a daunting task, especially when newspapers report on those proactive individuals who outfit their houses with newly installed solar panels, roof insulation, energy efficient appliances, and underfloor heating. Large projects like these can take a huge bite out of your savings.

But running an eco-friendly household doesn’t have to come with an astronomical price tag or a long list of home renovations. In fact, it can wind up saving you money! All you have to do is make minor adjustments to your household’s routine, and the cash and energy savings will start rolling in. In an attempt to help you go green, we’ve collected a few of our favourite eco-friendly tips and broken them down room by room.

Kitchen

If you have a dishwasher, you’re already on the right track. The average appliance uses just over 22 litres per cycle, while Energy Star appliances use 15 litres. Make sure each litre of water goes to use by loading your dishwasher to capacity each time you turn it on.

Some of us don’t have dishwashers, especially if you’re renting an older apartment. Though washing by hand is considered the more wasteful option, you can “greenify” you method to cut down on waste water. Don’t wash each dish individually by running it under the tap. Instead, fill the basin of your sink with soapy water, turning the tap on briefly only to rinse, remembering to turn the tap off when you go back to washing. Better yet, if you have two basins, use one as a washing station and another as a rinsing station. This second sink only needs a shallow depth of water in order to rinse suds off your dishes, saving you water.

Washroom

In this room, the toilet is the reason why your home is getting an ‘F’ on your eco-report. The average toilet uses over 13 litres of water per flush, which means the average person flushes over 70 litres of water down the toilet each day. Installing an ultra-low-flow (ULF) isn’t always in the budget, so try flushing one less time each day. It really adds up!

If your toilet has a leak or has been running longer than normal, roll up your sleeves and be prepared to do some DIY. Or call a local handyman – we won’t tell! Same goes for any leaking taps or showerheads. Fixing all of the leaks in your home can save over 35,000 litres of water each year!

Laundry Room

Like your dishwasher, it’s a good rule of thumb to use your washing machine only when you have a full load. As you wait to collect enough clothes, wear some of your clothing more than once (or twice) before it finds its spot in your laundry bin. Jeans, pants, and over sweaters don’t need to be washed every time you wear them, especially if you haven’t stained them. Once you’ve collected enough clothes to fill your washer, use only cold water with the recommended amount of detergent for your load.

When the weather allows, skip the dryer and hang out your laundry to dry in the sun. It’s an easy way to save on energy, and it’ll get your clothing smeller fresher than ever.

Office

Between the paper you receive in the mail (like spam, bills, and invoices) and the paper you print, your office produces a lot of waste. Set it up so that your various financial institutions, cell phone carrier, and utility providers send you e-bills instead of paper versions.

Unfortunately, a paperless future is still a long way off. Until then, our home offices are going to produce waste. In the meantime, make sure your paper gets properly recycled by registering for our document destruction service. Our mobile trucks will shred all of your bills, documents, and important files as well as old electronics. After our shredding service can guarantee their complete destruction, we transport the shredding waste to a recycling plant.

You can schedule a one-time pick-up as you transition to e-bills or create a regular document shredding schedule. It’s up to you; whichever you choose, you can join the thousands of GTA residents and business owners who have helped us save over 11,000 trees, 17 million litres of water, and 1,400 cubic metres of landfill space.

Call us today if you want to add our shredding services to your household routine. This and our above tips are easy and affordable ways to create an eco-friendly home. You’ll find that once you implement these and any other environmental tips to your routine, your home will be green in more ways than one as you benefit from huge energy and financial savings!