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Green Seattle Guide : In Your Home

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Eco Action Specifics


Your home is your own small piece of the urban ecosystem. People consume most of the planet’s resources available to them here — water, air, food and energy, and resources like wood and petroleum that are manufactured into paper and plastic. They also produce large quantities of waste and hazardous materials such as household chemicals. Every home has a significant impact on the environment. Every person can diminish that impact while making the home more environmentally friendly.

There are hundreds of eco-actions you can take around your home to preserve and protect the urban ecosystem. Some are as simple as turning off the faucet when you brush your teeth. If you feel more ambitious, you can start with a “green” redesign of your home. Green building incorporates building features that save resources (and money), provide a healthier environment for you and your family, protect the planet and often provide added value to your home in the form of comfort, durability and increased resale value.


  #   Eco-Action Ecosystem Benefits
  1. Set your thermostat to 65 degrees during the day, and 55 at night
2. Insulate your home
3. Join Seattle City Light's Green Power program
4. Consider green remodeling
5. Install a clean burning natural gas or propane fireplace or stove instead of wood
6. Replace old toilets with 1.6 gallon low flow toilets
7. Properly dispose of hazardous waste
8. When replacing major appliances, buy the most efficient ones you can find
9. Air-dry your clothes on a clothes line or drying rack when weather allows
10. Consider installing solar-electric or solar hot water systems
11. Fix leaking faucets and toilets
12. Tune up your home heating system
13. Install high efficiency showerheads and faucet aerators, and fix leaks
14. Follow the city's new recycling guidelines
15. Sign up for micro-can garbage service
16. Burn only clean-burning wood products
17. Consider moving to a condominium
18. Replace or remove aging and inefficient refrigerators and freezers
19. Compost food waste
20. Wear warm clothes in the winter instead of turning up the heat
21. Wash full loads of dishes and clothes using cold water if possible
22. Turn off lights when not needed
23. Install compact fluorescent light bulbs
24. Collect water while waiting for the hot water to reach your faucet and use it to water plants
25. If you use a wood stove, make sure it is EPA certified
26. If you have a newer dishwasher, don't rinse dishes before loading
27. If you burn firewood, make sure it has dried or seasoned for at least six months
28. Take shorter showers
29. Use on-line tools to get personalized results
30. Turn off the water when brushing your teeth, washing dishes or shaving
31. Turn your water heater down to 120 degrees
32. Wrap your water heater in an insulating jacket
33. Close the curtains on cold days
34. Make sure sleep functions are enabled on computers