How Green is Your Home? 6 Questions to Ask Yourself
We’re coming up on Earth Day on April 22, so it’s the perfect time to take some time to reflect on the greenness of your own life and how you can take immediate action to be more kind to our planet. Georgia Orcutt, an author for The Boston Parents’ Paper, has published an article offering a quiz to help homeowners and apartment dwellers asses the ‘greenness’ of their homes.
The following are the questions from the quiz. Ask yourself some of these questions to see where your home stands on the green scale:
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Do your household cleaning products have labels with the words "poison", "danger", "warning", "caution" or other toxic indications? Even artificially scented products can rely on very toxic formulas.
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How many water-saving devices do you have in your house/apartment? If you’re unsure, keep an eye out for low-flow faucets you could install, eco-friendly showerheads, more modern, water saving toilets, and new dishwashers or washing machines.
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What type of lightbulbs do you use? Toss out your incandescent bulbs in favor of the newer compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). Compact fluorescent light bulbs use 66% less energy than incandescent bulbs and generally last about 10 times longer.
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Where do you store your reusable grocery shopping bags? Trick question! If you don’t have any, it’s time to buy some. Many grocery stores offer bags right in the store that you can purchase, or you could use your own totes.
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How many plastic water bottles are in your home? Portable water holds a price when you’re buying disposable plastic water bottles from the store. Orcutt shows us that the bottled water industry in the U.S. alone uses enough fossil fuel to run 3 million cars for a full year! Time to get out your reusable thermos or sturdy water bottle and fill it up from the tap, with a filter if you like.
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What is your first priority when landscaping your yard? Using native plants that thrive in your local environment reduce water and fertilizer costs, and planting a tree will shade your home to reduce your heating and cooling bills year-round. Having a fruit or vegetable or herb garden in your yard is a perfect way to eat locally grown food, and besides, it’s fun!
