Eco Friendly Apartment Living
The lack of complete control and ownership over your space, it makes it difficult to make all the necessary changes for sustainable apartment living. Also, the smaller spaces can make it difficult to store quality items that you might not use everyday.
It is possible to still make sustainable changes to your living space, so we don’t have to throw the idea of sustainable apartment living out the door! These ideas will also save renters money.
Ways to be More Sustainable in an Apartment
1. Update lightbulbs for Sustainable Apartment Living
One of the easiest switches you can make is light bulbs. Remove the halogen light bulbs and switch them to LEDs.
This will also reduce your electricity bill and LEDs last quite a while, which can offset the initial cost. If you hold on to the halogen bulbs, you can change them back when you leave, which will also help reduce waste.
Since LEDs are a little spendy, hold onto the halogen bulbs. You can swap them back when you move out and use them in your next place. Plus, you’ll maximize the life of the halogen bulbs and keep them out of the trash.
2. Add Plants
The original air purifier. Now, I get that extreme circumstances you might need a machine to purify your air, but did you know, that plants also absorb toxic chemicals and release harmless by-products, as well as soaking up heavy metals deep into the plant tissues–away from you. Impressive, right? Also, buy the plant once instead of having to replace the HEPA filters you can buy for your vacuum or ventilation system to filter out these toxins.
3. Recycle
One of the great things about apartment complexes is that usually they have amenities at no extra cost, since the fees are usually included in the monthly payment. One of these is recycling services. You can ask the maintenance workers or the apartment receptionist if this is available at your complex.
As alternative options, you can:
- Ask friends who have access to curb side recycling if you can bring your recycling over to their house.
- Take your recycling to a local drop point.
- Ask your landlord to get curbside recycling or set up a recycling area. You may need to get signatures from others in your building/complex.
- Use the recycling bins at work
Make sure you recycle correctly, so the community recycling programs can continue benefiting everyone.
4. Apartment Composting
Most people assume food scraps break down in the landfill, however the food doesn’t have access to the air it needs in order to break down, so it’s frozen in time just like everything else, including other organics such as paper, cardboard, and leaves. Composting has a ton of benefits, even if you don’t have a garden yourself.
This is one of my favorite topics because most people assume that you need a backyard to compost. BUT, with a little creativity, you can compost in your apartment or rental. My favorite way to compost in apartment is vermicomposting, which includes worms. It’s composting system that didn’t require space or a yard, while also being budget friendly. It was a win-win.
I get this approach isn’t for everyone, but there are still plenty of apartment composting options!
If composting just isn’t for you, check with farmers at the local farmers market to see if they will take food scraps. You can keep them in a bag or tote in the freezer until it’s time to bring them.
5. Insulation
This is another subject I’m always excited to talk about. My apartment was pretty old and had these huge windows that made the entire place a greenhouse. Plus, we were on the top floor and during our second spring, the tree that was providing decent shade had to come down. It was HOT and the electric bills were so high. The first summer I really didn’t think I could do that much, but after we got our first electric bill, I knew I had to figure something out. I am also planning to have my customised loft insulation solutions installed to help me reduce my electricity bill and lessen the heat coming from the sun.
Curtains
I knew that curtains would help, but later I learned that black out curtains can actually help reduce heat by 33 percent. It was definitely felt in that apartment. Curtains can also reduce cold draft in the winter. Adding curtains made a huge impact for us, and we could also take them with us when we left. Curtain fabric will also help me protect my furniture from direct sunlight.
Window Insulation
Really, window insulation is probably what saved us. We were able to save about $120 when I put this up. You can buy plastic window insulation or foil window insulation, but I used a layer of bubble wrap, which yes is also plastic but much cheaper, and a layer of newspaper. It made a HUGE difference for us and if we didn’t live on the top floor, it probably would have been enough to reduce our electric bill by half.This definitely wasn’t the chicest look, but I was desperate and financially it made the most sense.
6. Sustainable home design
Unless this is your first apartment, you’ll probably be moving with some furniture and it’s always sustainable to use what you have. However, if not, buying second hand is the greenest thing you can do. Thrift stores offer the chance to find cute pieces at the fraction of buying new and without the waste of buying new.
Green Apartment living
When you don’t have complete control over your living circumstances, it can seem impossible for renters to save money or energy. However, green apartment living isn’t as difficult as some might think. It’s important to remember renters can save money. Just start small and be encouraged by those differences that start to add up. These tips or combinations will help save green, not just for our pocketbooks, but also for the environment. For a complete guide to green apartment living, check out this book:
Hopefully, this ideas will give you inspiration for your own sustainable apartment living ideas! Feel free to share your best tips in the comments below! Don’t forget to save this information for later!
