Going Green: An Easy Guide to Follow

While it doesn’t yet have the stature of a global holiday, April 22nd, or “Earth Day” is still global in scope. It’s the day that asks everyone on the planet to think about the condition of our environment, and what we can do to make sure it’s still livable for those that come after us.

We can all do our part to contribute, and sometimes we can start right at home. Our team here at Plumb Crazy has come up with a guide you can use to start making the planet a greener place, one step at a time.

Make the Switch to a Tankless Water Heater

A conventional water heater uses gas or electricity to heat up a large volume of water in a tank. Once that water is heated, it’s sent to the shower, tap, or laundry.

Then after it’s spent, it needs more time and energy to heat it up again. A tankless water heater is a heat exchanger built right into your plumbing.

Once you turn on a tap, the water heats up and stays heated the entire time. This uses up to $100 less in energy every year.

It also means that you’ll never have a hot shower turn cold again.

Use a Water Filter

For many people drinking water means either bottled water, or a water cooler service, and this means paying a premium for your water. It also means having bottles and containers that need to be recycled if you want to responsible, or thrown in the trash if you don’t.

Installing a water filter in your home does away with all of these problems, and gives you all the clear, great tasting, safe water you may want for drinking, cooking or even washing. It’s an environmental alternative to relying on costly, outside sources.

Make Your Carbon Footprint Smaller

Carbon dioxide, better known as CO2, is a gas that acts as an insulator, retaining heat.

As more of it is created in the atmosphere, the Earth warms up, which has long term, large scale consequences.

A carbon footprint is a measurement of just how much a person, family or company adds to the global CO2 build up.

You can shrink your footprint by using products with lower CO2 emissions, like hybrid or electric cars.

You can also make a difference by going to companies with a mandate to lower their own carbon footprint in their operations.

Have Eco-Friendly Plumbing Fixtures Installed

Just because plumbing works, doesn’t mean it works well, and this is especially true for plumbing that’s over 20 years old. New, eco-friendly plumbing fixtures use less water than pre-millennial fixtures.

That means you can get big saves on your water bills when you make the switch. Low flow toilets, for example, use up to 50% less water per flush than their older counterparts.

High-efficiency showerheads give you the pressure you want without wasting extra water to do it. All these improvements add up to lower bills every month.