With surging energy costs, living a more sustainable lifestyle can save you money. As a tenant, you may find that you don’t have the freedom to implement all the eco-friendly practices in your home that you might do if you owned. However, there are still plenty of things you can do.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at 7 steps that house renters can take to greener living.
1. Finding a Sustainable House Rental
If you’re still searching for your dream house rental, it’s never too early to start thinking about green living. Start by seeking out rentals that are more environmentally conscious than the competition. Using online listing services, you can often search for homes that meet certain sustainability standards. Be on the lookout for the following:
- Energy-saving appliances,
- Green construction certification,
- Recycling initiatives,
- Sustainable building materials and methods.
When viewing a potential rental house, be sure to ask the landlord or their agent about any green living standards they have in place.
Another important factor is location. For those striving to live as eco-friendly as possible, easy access to public transport should be high on the list. Proximity to local businesses is also a great bonus, meaning you can support local producers and service providers just a walk away from your home.
Of course, it’s difficult to tick all the right boxes, but if you can find a rental home that ticks at least a few, you’ll be well on your way to greener living.
2. Switch to Smart Tech
As a renter, you might not have the possibility to switch out major components, such as water heaters and HVAC systems, for more energy-efficient ones. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of changes you can make.
The quickest and easiest change is to swap out your lightbulbs for modern, low-energy LED ones. These use much less energy than conventional bulbs and will last a lot longer too.
Meanwhile, smart lighting and heating systems put you in full control of sustainability, ensuring you never need to waste energy again. Simply program them to suit your lifestyle and adjust with ease using a smartphone app.
3. Invest in Energy-Efficient Appliances
Even if you’re renting, you can normally speak to your landlord about bringing in your own appliances. If so, choose eco-friendly, ENERGY STAR-certified white goods, such as fridge-freezers, washing machines, dryers, and dishwashers. While they may cost more upfront, these energy-efficient appliances will use less power, meaning lower utility bills each month.
As a bonus, they’ll be yours to keep and you’ll be able to take them with you when your tenancy expires. Just be sure to discuss this first with the landlord to ensure they’ll remove the existing appliances or if you’ll have to take care of storing them.
4. Stay On Top of Recycling and Waste Reduction
Nowadays recycling schemes are active in most locations across Canada and the U.S., so be sure to split your trash and keep on top of recycling. But, beyond regular recycling, there are other things you can do too. Renting a single-family home typically means you’ll have access to some outdoor space, which can be a great place to set up your own household composting facility.
Next, focus on reducing your potential unrecyclable waste. Switch out one-use plastics for reusable materials, such as fabric shopping bags, glass storage jars, and stainless steel flasks for coffee on the go.
As well as reducing waste, it’s also helpful to repurpose and reuse things that might otherwise end up in landfill. So, instead of buying new furniture, think about refreshing what’s already there. Be sure to get permission from the landlord if you’re planning to renovate their existing furniture, but nine times out of ten they’d be happy for you to freshen things up a bit.
5. Reduce Water Waste and Heat Loss
Water waste is another area to focus on if you’re hoping to live a greener life while renting a house. It’s possible to install relatively low-impact plumbing upgrades to help you achieve this, such as low-flow faucets, shower heads, and toilet cisterns, as well as water recycling systems.
As always, discuss these upgrades with your landlord first. However, if you agree to cover the costs, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t give you the green light. Beyond these upgrades, you can also incorporate certain lifestyle changes, such as taking shorter showers, only switching the dishwasher on when it’s full, and collecting rainwater for watering the garden.
Reducing heat loss is another important step to living a greener lifestyle. Again, various low-impact upgrades can easily be implemented to limit heat loss, such as fitting draft excluders on your doors and windows.
6. Switch to Green Cleaning Products
Keeping your rental home clean is essential and now is the time to move away from hazardous chemical products. Instead, switch to non-toxic, eco-friendly products. From dishwasher tablets to shower sprays, you’ll find plenty of options available. And, in many cases, you can make your own sustainable cleaning products at home.
For example, vinegar and newspaper are great for polishing glass, while ash from the fireplace is an excellent, natural de-greaser, ideal for washing frying pans and pots. Plus, both baking soda and vinegar have numerous uses around the house, from declogging drains to killing mold.
7. Grow Your Own
Most single-family homes have access to at least some outdoor space, so be sure to capitalize on this to grow some of your own produce. Even if you don’t have a garden for growing vegetables or fruits in the soil directly, you can easily use containers to grow anything from potatoes and fresh mint to carrots and chili peppers.
When planting in your garden, try to avoid invasive and non-native species, and use containers where possible, to improve the sustainability of your outdoor space.
