Ways to Make your Rental Unit More Eco-Friendly

In today’s world, being more eco-friendly is a soaring trend in the housing market. If you can market your rental as a more earth conscience option, you appeal to a demographic of people who truly care about the environment and who take conscience efforts to reduce their carbon footprint.

When you imagine what it means to be eco-friendly, you may automatically think of recycling, walking, or biking to work instead of driving and even participating in Meatless Mondays. There are many options to incorporate eco-friendly practices into your property, check out the options below!

1. Solar Panels – The most common first step in implementing more eco-friendly products into your home would be solar panels. These panels come in a variety of sizes, capacities, and styles. Most commonly they are installed directly onto the building’s roof, so that the sun hits it directly with no interference. Solar panels collect energy from the sun’s rays and convert it to electricity for the home. This is great because you are using nature’s biggest powerhouse to power your home. Now the solar panels do come with some maintenance, as do most things. The biggest maintenance with these panels is to ensure that they are clean. While most claim to be self-cleaning, with the rain washing most debris off, if you live in a dry climate that doesn’t get as much rain, you may need to hire a company to clean them off a couple of times a year. They can be slightly expensive to install, but there are some programs that offer deals, and grants for converting your home to be more energy efficient.

2. Sustainably Sourced Supplies – When you are thinking of renovating, don’t go straight for the laminate flooring or LVT or brand new carpeting. Research places that offer sustainable options that don’t contain harmful chemicals and are recyclable. You can even get salvage flooring from old barns, and bricks for new fireplaces from old buildings. If you prefer to have new flooring, you can try bamboo flooring or even flooring made from recycled glass or plastic.

3. A Low-Flow Toilet – This can save you a great deal on your water bill and avoid water waste. That’s a win-win! Low-flow toilets use less water to flush, so you are quite literally flushing less money down the toilet.

4. Invest in a Smart Thermostat – With a smart thermostat, you will be able to control the temperature from anywhere on your phone. You can set a certain temperature and set different time frames for when you will be home, to be more comfortable and when you’re away, to save money on utilities when you aren’t home.

5. Use LED Light Bulbs – LED light bulbs last longer than traditional light bulbs and they use much less energy. This is a simple fix, and you can make the switch instantly, if you were looking for a quick start to home efficiency.

6. Install a Compost Bin – Installing a compost bin is a great addition to an eco-friendly home, as it saves food waste from sitting in your garbage bag. Did you know that when you throw out kitchen scraps in your trash, they create greenhouse gases from being trapped inside the bag and not being able to escape? Installing a compost bin is a great option because you can throw out your food waste and it will break down back into the soil and create nutrients for a garden if you do decide to have one. (Which is another great way to be eco-friendly, as well!)

7. Installing Energy Efficient Windows – Installing these windows will keep your house cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, by keeping the temperature in the house from escaping. When you do the upgrades to things such as the windows, this further insulates your home, and therefore you waste less money on your energy bills.

There are so many things that you can do to make your home a more eco-friendly oasis, these are just a few! Each step you take to create less of a carbon footprint, the more in-tune you will feel with the Earth and how much damage we really do to the environment every day. Even a small step is a step in the right direction!