Easy Ideas to Make Your Home More Environmentally Friendly
Where My Sustainability Journey Began
Both my mom and I keep bags of slightly used paper towels in our kitchens. Before I remember learning about “sustainability,” I learned how to be thrifty, care about nature, and conserve resources. It was just part of life with a budget conscious family. The coastal town where I grew up in Maine had somewhat of an environmentally minded culture as well. Everyone has a blind spot, though. Even though I grew up with curbside recycling, I also went sledding at our town dump a short walk away, never once considering where waste ends up.
From College to AmeriCorps: Expanding My Perspective on Waste
At least not until later on when I was a college student at the University of Maine, where I would drive past “trash mountain” along I-95. In graduate school, at Illinois State University, I once wrote a paper on the culture of trash and included a photo project where I captured curbside trash bins and dumpsters around town (if you scroll to the end you’ll see a few of those pictures!). After graduating, I joined a residential AmeriCorps program where I learned practical ways of living sustainably with more than 20 other young adults. Everything we did to maintain our camp was discussed by the community and looked at with a lens of how to be more environmentally friendly. For example, we implemented the mantra “if it’s yellow, let it mellow” in our bathrooms and even created a game of “battleshits” to encourage people to use our pit toilet to conserve more water.
I may not be an “expert” in sustainability, but this is a lifelong interest of mine and I want to share some helpful resources for this topic. I’m sure I will continue learning and welcome hearing from you and having discussions so we can feel inspired from each other.
Why This Blog Isn’t Just Another “Green” Shopping List
I won’t prescribe what anyone should be doing at home. Any time we talk about the home, I want people to be aware of what that means for how and who implements these changes. We still have a lot of division of labor in our society and women carry an oversized burden of management of the home and emotional labor. Whatever your situation is, you can also imagine how living alone, having roommates or being a parent could impact someone’s capacity to make more sustainable choices. Socioeconomic background impacts what choices we see as available to us and how much time, energy, and money we can invest in certain options, especially ones that have a higher price on the outset (like buying in bulk or the higher investment of something that will last longer). That’s not to say that wealth and status in our society frees someone of examining their choices. Conspicuous consumption or “keeping up with the Joneses,” is worthy of self reflection.
So, this blog isn’t simply a list of products to buy that will make your home more environmentally friendly. We must challenge overconsumption and the belief in exponential economic growth. Have you heard of the term “green-washing”? Unfortunately, we can’t trust everything that’s being sold to us and need to think critically when we shop. Furthermore, if we believe that we can buy our way into an environmentally safe future, we may feel less compelled to find solutions together. We can still take action to protect ourselves, but we also must remember to connect with others and make changes on a broader level.
How to Assess Your Home’s Energy Use (and Save Money)
Anyone can do a home energy assessment. I have Xcel Energy and used their built in “home energy assessment” with the goal to reduce my carbon footprint. You’ll answer some questions like about the age of your home and appliances, and what you use for climate control (heating/cooling). Even if you’re a renter, you can still make your best guesses and find out a list of recommended tips. If you don’t have Xcel Energy, you can use a third party household carbon footprint calculator listed under resources, below.
Each of my recommended tips showed my dollar savings and lifetime carbon footprint impact. The number one tip I received is to only run my clothes washer and dryer with full loads of laundry. That would give me a $146 lifetime savings and conserve 707 lbs CO2. That’s a great tip. However, when I was growing up we always put laundry outside to dry so I do the same thing. Living in sunny Salida, that’s most of the year. That could potentially save up to hundreds of dollars annually! I still dry certain items like bath towels and flannel sheets, but try to air dry as much as I can.
Ways to Save Water (and Get Rewarded for It)
Guess how much water a typical household needs per year? Colorado State University Extension reports that planners estimate about half an acre-foot of water per year (approximately 150,000 gal). However, CSU Extension estimates outdoor water use accounts for about 55% of the residential water use in urban areas along the Front Range, most of which is used on turf. Wow, sustainable landscaping would be a great topic on its own!
It’s easy to find stats for all the little ways reducing water consumption in your home helps in a big way. For example, turning off the tap while brushing your teeth or shaving can save up to 200 gallons of water per month. Low-flow shower heads are another way to conserve water without even thinking about it.
I also want to ask, on a community level, how could we encourage water conservation? For example, I pay the minimum water bill for the city of Salida every month for my house, because I don’t use more than the minimum. I simply don’t use enough, so there’s no reminder or incentive to conserve water.
One example I found while researching this is that the City of Fort Collins offers rebates on new qualified water-saving toilets and clothes washers, smart home water monitors and shower heads. There is more we could do as municipalities to encourage water conservation!
Simple Swaps to Reduce Toxins at Home
There are a lot of contributors to environmental pollution and individual homes are only one piece. However, homes are the primary spaces where we live our lives, make a lot of decisions, and come into contact with toxins through our skin and our lungs. In the last decade, you might have heard about studies looking at endocrine-disrupting chemicals, such as BPA, phthalates, and PFAS ("forever chemicals") in water, food packaging, and personal care products. It’s a great place to start thinking about where we can be more environmentally friendly with cleaning and personal care products, fabrics/furniture, and more.
For me personally, this is an overwhelming topic. One approach is to focus on the largest organ being your skin. I try to prioritize anything coming into contact with my skin, including natural and organic fabrics and furniture when my budget allows. I will save money elsewhere to spend a little more on soaps and shampoos, considering which products contain chemicals that can be harmful to ecosystems when washed off into water systems, including microplastics, synthetic fragrances, and endocrine disruptors. I also look at which lotions, deodorants, and sunscreens I use that can be absorbed into the body.
Cleaning with vinegar or other home remedies are affordable and easy as well. Get a reusable glass spray bottle and fill it with a multipurpose cleaner rather than trying a different eco-friendly cleaning product for every surface in your home. You can make your own solutions (just be sure to know what you need to sanitize versus clean) or buy something from concentrate.
Beyond ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’: Rethinking Waste
You’ve probably heard of the 3 R’s from waste management’s hierarchy to avoid just throwing away items. Rethink/recover takes it a step further and encourages us not only to think outside the box and live a more creative life with less consumption, but to reclaim, compost, or otherwise find uses for items. Here in Colorado, we’re officially not winning any awards for this. In 2021, the state diverted just 16% of its municipal solid waste, half the national average of 32%. However, we passed an exciting producer responsibility bill in 2022 that is going to make recycling “as convenient as trash” and free to all. So, if you pay for recycling pick up with your trash, you won’t have to pay anymore. And if you don’t get trash picked up, you will be able to. There are people in our state currently working on making recycling accessible to all and they’re setting up the systems needed to make it happen. I can’t wait to update this post once it’s in place! Next up, how about we make composting more accessible? And the state is also looking at establishing stewardship programs for certain batteries.
Reducing waste is also a social justice issue. Communities of color, low-income, or other marginalized communities unfairly bear the health and safety impacts of toxic hazards of production facilities or places like landfills, incinerators, and waste transfer stations.
While the overall goal might be environmental health both at the production (where does it come from) and end cycle of (where does it go disposal/downstream) of things, there are health benefits to many of these efforts like avoiding toxins in your home and personal items. It’s okay if the reason you decide to start doing XY or Z is because of your own personal health reasons for you or your family. I also think if convenience is the last thing holding your mental health together, don’t add to your stress by guilting yourself over it. For example, I don’t have a dishwasher. Sometimes I can’t handle one more container or bag to wash by hand and single-use items can be a big help.
Let’s keep the conversation going and remember to talk to your friends and family. I know I’m more likely to listen and implement change when someone I care about talks about it with me. Imagine if you shared just one small sustainability habit you’ve adopted at home that has made a big impact with a friend. Think about what problems we could solve if we talked about the challenges we face and how to overcome them together. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any resources you’d like me to add to this list, below!
Sustainability Resources for Everyone
Calculate Your Carbon Footprint - The Nature Conservancy
Home Assessment with Xcel Energy - Must be logged in to your account
Household Carbon Footprint Calculator - Environmental Protection Agency
The EPA Safer Choice - Provides standards and criteria for products to meet. It’s a great resource for household products.
Environmental Working Group Consumer Guide - Has a “Skin Deep” guide for cosmetics and other personal care products. They also have information about tap water.
Natural Resources Defense Council - Provides research on toxins and can alert us to risks not being addressed by the EPA limits.
Toxic-Free Future - Provides research and information about common toxic chemicals
Local Chaffee County Resources
Battery Stewardship Programs - Track SB25-163
Chaffee Mobile Gear Library - not open to the public, but you can check out the Greater Arkansas River Nature Association’s (GARNA) events to see when it will be available.
Drift & Amble - Eco-friendly products like laundry sheets, dishwasher tablets, refillable hand-soap or cleaning kits, reusable non-paper towels, silicone lids, bamboo toothbrushes and more.
Elements Mountain Compost - Residential & commercial composting, finished compost & soil products
Free in Chaffee County Facebook Group - One way to avoid buying things & repurpose what you don’t want
Lettucehead Food Company - Shampoo, conditioner, body wash in bulk & other eco-friendly items
Library of Things - Salida Library - Follow on social media to see if they are having any gear repair workshops!
Methane Emissions in Colorado - Make your voice heard!
Mountain Phoenix Coffee Roastery - Bulk & Sustainably Sourced Coffee
Natural Grocers - Eco-friendly products
Producer Responsibility - Recycle Colorado - Check here for updates
Recycling Guide for Chaffee County - Maintained by GARNA
Sustainable Chaffee County Resources - Also maintained by GARNA
Vital Living Herbs and Nutrition - Handcrafted skin care, bath & body care, mineral make-up & more
References / Additional Reading
Carson, Rachel. (1962). Silent Spring. Houghton Mifflin.
Hochschild, Arlie. (1989). The Second Shift. Viking Penguin.
Leonard, Annie. (2010). The Story of Stuff. Free Press. https://www.storyofstuff.org
Szasz, Andrew. (2007). Shopping Our Way to Safety. University of Minnesota Press.
Steingraber, Sandra. (2010). Living Downstream. De Capo Press.
Waring, Marilyn. (1988). If Women Counted. Harper Collins. https://www.marilynwaring.com/
