Today’s world is not only expensive to live in, our lifestyles are also very taxing on Mother Nature. If you’re someone who’s caught in the trap of endless cycle of consumption, your day-to-day activities may be inadvertently hurting the environment.

The simplest way to change is by making your home more environmentally sustainable.

What is Environmental Sustainability?

When you talk about sustainability, it means you’re turning something that has to be maintained over an extended length of time into something more affordable in the long-term. This means that you’d have to look at your decisions from a certain perspective while asking yourself the question, “Just how long can I maintain this kind of expense with the cash flow that I have?”

Adding “environmental” into the mix, this simply means making decisions that can both save money in the long term while minimising your impact on the environment.

• Upgrade to the Latest Appliances

Are your appliances more than 10 or 15 years old? Many homeowners make the mistake of believing that keeping their older appliances will save them money. Turns out, it might be hurting them, and their electricity bill, more.

While it may seem that you’ve saved some money by putting off an upgrade to the latest appliances, this unfortunately translates to higher power consumption. Older appliances are beasts when it comes to power consumption. A CRT TV, for example (those old box sets of your childhood) are vastly inefficient compared to the latest flat screen TVs.

• Be a Gardener

A green thumb is not something everyone is born with, but it doesn’t mean you can’t learn how to become a good gardener.

Maintaining a garden is not only a fulfilling hobby, it also helps in reducing carbon emissions. For starters, did you know that you can also grow your own food in your own backyard? You know what that means for your finances: you get to save money on food because they’re grown right in your own yard.

Just imagine. If everyone in your neighbourhood would start their own organic garden to grow their own food, it would reduce the fuel they’d use to go to the market, which in turn would reduce the fuel needed to transport food from farms to stores.

• Move Over Fluorescents, LEDs are Here to Stay

The eco-revolution has also made its way into the lighting industry. Countries all over the world have taken bold steps to phase out inefficient incandescent bulbs—Australia being one of the first to do so.

The alternatives are fluorescent lights, halogens, and light-emitting diode bulbs. But LEDs are beginning to replace aging fluorescent lamps and halogen bulbs, beating both devices in terms of lighting output, quality, and energy efficiency. Plus, LEDs have a lifespan that’s 15 times longer than your ordinary incandescent bulb. That’s savings from reduced electricity consumption and lighting replacements.

• Go Solar!

If you can afford it, then it’s good to set up a solar-powered electrical system in your home. You don’t even have to install a full-fledged solar-powered system. You can, for example, set up a system with fewer panels and a smaller battery, to power 30 percent of your home’s electricity consumption.

Although harnessing solar energy can be expensive, don’t forget that your government may offer tax breaks and incentives for if you install your own solar panels. You can even sell your excess electricity to your utility provider, which can then be fed back to the grid.

• Rain Barrels, Anyone?

Flooding is a serious problem, especially in highly urbanized cities. While flooding is typically caused by poor drainage systems, it can sometimes be traced back to an unusually high volume of rainfall. This presents an opportunity for you to put all that water to good use.

Of course, you first need to devise a way to collect rainwater. The simplest option is to place rain barrels around your property, which you can then use to water your plants and lawn, wash the driveway, and even wash the car. And remember, rainwater is free—it’s just a matter of figuring out how to collect rain and use it to offset your expenses.

• Be Smart with Your Air Conditioning and Heating

Let’s face it, during the summer cold air-conditioning is a necessity. Unfortunately, keeping your air conditioner running 24 hours a day 7 days a week can translate to a huge utility bill.

And the opposite holds true for when it comes to heating in the winter. If you have it running all throughout the day, don’t be surprised by your bill.

If you want to save money and still keep your HVAC system running, consider these options:

• Upgrade to a newer, more efficient HVAC system
• Look at your home’s insulation. Plug leaks where cold/hot air can escape, causing your AC/heater to work harder
• Program your HVAC system to run at select times of the day—you probably don’t need your AC running at night
• Keep your heater running at lower temperature. If it’s cold, bundle and wear a jumper and socks inside your home.

• Use Reusable Shopping Bags

Most people don’t really pay attention to single-use plastic bags. We get them with our purchases and throw them in the bin after. What’s the big deal, right?

But plastics are a major eco disaster waiting to happen. In fact, we’re seeing it happening right now. Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean is a floating soup of plastics and chemicals called the Great Pacific garbage patch. Most of the plastic we throw in the sea is carried by currents to this patch and other similar patches around the world.

Bottom line? Your plastic bags go somewhere after you throw them in the bin. But it need not be this way, not when you have alternatives like reusable shopping bags that are, well, reusable. Made from durable fabrics like cotton, jute, or canvas, reusable bags can be washed and reused when you go shopping or when you need something to carry multiple items.

Although these tips are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to sustainable practices in your home, they’re nevertheless a great place to start. Follow these tips and do your part to help protect the environment today.