Save Money at Home by Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling

You can save money and help the environment by reducing, reusing, and recycling right at home! One of the great benefits of owning your own home is that you have the power to make your own choices about what you use in your house, and you have access to many options to save money and create the greenest possible culture at home.

Green living is trendy right now, but is that the only reason why you should reduce, reuse, and recycle? Or is it more than jumping on a social media bandwagon? Why are our natural resources important? Keeping things out of landfills, conserving energy, and producing fewer products are all ways to diminish the harmful effects on our planet. It’s not necessary to leave faucets running, create unnecessary garbage with single-use plastic, or throw food away because we ate out so much last week. Let’s protect our planet for future generations. It takes a little thinking ahead to reduce, reuse, and recycle, but it’s so worth it!

The biggest impact this will have in your life – aside from the internal sense of making a difference – is to save money!

All of those inefficient acts have a cost attached to them. Cutting back on wasteful living will prove useful in your bank account. We pulled together a list of some easy ways to reduce the consumption of energy in your home, reuse in the kitchen, and recycle and repurpose, all in an effort to save money and create a lifestyle of respect for the planet.

Save Money by Reducing Your Energy Use and Need for Natural Resources

The biggest way to save money is to cut down on the amount of electricity, water, natural gas, and other fuels you are using to power your home.

• Run dishwashers and washers and dryers at night. When these appliances run during the day, it puts more stress on the energy grid due to lights and other appliances running at the same time.
• Wash clothes using cold water.
• Use LED bulbs; they practically last forever and barely use any power!
• Energy-Star appliances are the cleanest on the market in terms of energy usage. Opt for these when your budget allows.
• Turn off the lights EVERY time you leave a room and teach your kids to do the same.
• A programmable thermostat will help avoid over-correcting with heat and air conditioning during fluctuating Virginia temperatures.
• Check faucets and shower heads for leaks. A showerhead that drips 10 drips of water per minute can waste more than 500 gallons per year!
• Unplug appliances when not in use. Just being plugged in draws a small amount of electricity that isn’t necessary.
• You can also do a home energy audit to see how well your home is performing.
• Seal air leaks in windows, doors, and attic ceilings.
• Using an alternative to grass in your landscaping reduces water consumption, as well as the need for fertilizer and pesticides. Consider using rocks or mulch instead, they will not only save on water but create a unique look!

Save Money in The Kitchen

There are many ways to cut back on what you use in the busiest room in your house, the kitchen.

• Start seeds in paper egg cartons. The cartons stay out of the landfill and will compost once you plant the seeds, plus you will save money by growing a few veggies or flowers in your backyard!
• Buy food from a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture farm) or a farmers’ market.
• Purchase what you need for a day or two at a time from the grocery store. This helps reduce wasted food that goes bad and doesn’t get eaten. It is estimated that the average American family of four spends $1600 each year on food that gets thrown out.
• Chop up leftover herbs before they go bad and freeze them in individual portions with olive oil in an ice cube tray.
• Switch to reusable coffee filters or use a reusable basket for your coffee maker.
• Compost paper towels, food scraps, and cooked rice and pasta. A simple countertop composter will make a big difference!
• Try out reusable paper towels: super absorbent cloths that can be washed and reused many times over.
• Use leftover scraps for soup bases.
• Instead of tea bags, try tea crystals or use loose-leaf tea and a tea infuser.

Recycle and Repurpose

In addition to glass and aluminum cans, many other things are recyclable, so it’s worth finding out what your city recycling service will accept and using that as a guide. However, you can do more than recycle. You can repurpose to keep things out of landfills.

• Donate items to charity or buy and sell on different Marketplaces. Buying new things is fun, but a lot of the time you can find what you need for a lower cost by buying second hand, which helps you save money and keeps that item from getting thrown out.
• Use worn out towels and washcloths for cleaning rags rather than buying sponges and cleaning cloths brand new.
• Use a refillable soap dispenser and buy bulk refills so you rarely – if ever – have to dispose of a large plastic soap container (this works for laundry soap, shower gel, shampoo… most of the cleaners in your home).
• Reuse condiment jars for storage.
• Reuse cereal box liner bags to store, marinate or mix ingredients.

We hope you found some inspiration in our list of ways to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. These are just a few of the many ways we wanted to share with you to help you save money and help the environment.

Small changes do add up

You don’t need to approach an earth-friendly outlook thinking you have to change everything overnight. Or if you don’t do it all correctly then none of it matters – that’s not true. We need more restaurants choosing paper takeout containers over Styrofoam or plastic, more kids packing their lunch in lunch boxes with reusable containers, and more people recycling cans and bottles and leaving plastic on the shelf. Not everyone can or wants to be a total crunchy hippie and that’s ok! Making an effort to save money is always a good thing no matter what your style is.

The Dan Lawson Real Estate Team

We are passionate about helping you find the right home for your life. Whether it’s an existing home or building a home, we can help. If energy efficiency is important to you, talk to our team about how building a home can help position you with the most efficient lighting, roofing, insulation, windows, and other features available to make your home as green as possible! Call us to explore your options at (757) 435-9900.

Source: Buffini & Company 2023 Item of Value Reduce, Reuse and Recycle to Save Money buffiniandcompany.com