Household waste, that is *.
Here are 10 quick ways to reduce the amount of garbage that goes into your bins every week. Even if you’re not thinking about the environmental impact of doing this; it’ll be less to carry.
Monitoring Your Energy Usage
Having access to any sort of information – in real time – can help make almost anything more effective. A car’s speedometer, a wristwatch; that thin red line you see on televised swimming finals.
When it comes to energy use around the house, this idea certainly holds true. Having an idea of the amount of electricity, water, gas etc which is being used can help you make real changes – quickly. And as you’re likely to be saving money in the process, the first place you’ll notice the benefits may just be your utility bills.
As with most things on the market, there are a number of options when it comes to energy monitoring. Here are a few of my favourites.
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Saving Water : Designing a water-efficient house
This is the sixth and final article (part I, II, III, IV and V) in our series on Saving Water. Living in Sydney, Australia I’m acutely aware of the value of this precious resource.
Designing a new house? Great. This article looks at the many things you can do at this point which will radically reduce the amount of water you use – without adding anything at all to the total cost.
By how much can you reduce it? In many areas, it’s quite possible to disconnect from the mains supply altogether – or at least to stop using water from that source.
Let’s get started.
Water conservation can be broken into three broad areas. These are :
- reduce the amount you use
- collect your rainwater *
- re-use it where possible (clean it as necessary)
Looking at it this way, you’ll see that it isn’t a single problem to be addressed. Several small changes will have a major impact.
* I realise that this could be placed in the ‘re-use’ category, but it’s such a key change that it’s been given a category of its own.
Saving Water : How To Save Water Around Your House
This is the fourth article (part I, II, III) in a 6 part series on Saving Water. Living in Sydney, Australia I’m acutely aware of the value of this precious resource.
No matter where you live, there are a number of ways you can save water in the house you already have. There are many excellent environmental reasons for doing this, but you’ll also benefit from something much more tangible – you’ll save money.
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Saving water : Guttering and Drains
This is the third article (see Saving Water Part I and Saving Water Part II)
in a 6 part series on Saving Water. There are many environmental benefits of saving water of course, but for the end consumer, saving money seems to be the key. Living in Sydney, Australia I’m acutely aware of the value of saving water.
Have you ever caught yourself standing indoors during a heavy downpour, wondering where all of the excess water ends up? Obviously the garden can only drink so much, the pool may take a little and the
water tank takes whatever it can.
However, the rest – the vast majority – is simply thrown away.
This article – on guttering and drains – looks at several ways to improve the flow of water around your house (so you can make the most of it), and take a few steps toward the ultimate water goal : any water that falls on your property, stays on your property. No more water bills. Ever.
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