Being Green in Your Apartment
Do you want to do more for the environment? Many people who rent apartments want to be environmentally conscious, but they are not always sure of how they can do so. If you want to live a greener lifestyle, we can help.
Take some time and learn about the different initiatives we put in place to make our apartment rentals more eco-friendly. Afterward, keep reading to see what you can do to go green while living in an apartment.
How Garden Communities Goes Green
To reduce our carbon footprint, we have been actively working to implement eco-friendly amenities into our New Jersey apartment communities. To start, we have replaced the regular lightbulbs in our units with more energy efficient ones that do not waste as much energy. At our Vail Manor community we installed solar panels to help reduce electricity consumption. We also installed electric vehicle charging stations for residents and visitors to use at the Fair Lawn Promenade community. Our Oakes Pond community also has car chargers, and we are planning to install them at Pondview Estates in the near future.
Garden Communities New Jersey strives to benefit the environment, so you should consider moving into one of our communities if you want to live a greener lifestyle. If you want to make a bigger impact on the environment, use the following tips to make your apartment more eco-friendly.
Conserve Electricity
One of the best things you can do to make your apartment greener is to conserve electricity. An easy thing you can do to conserve energy is to unplug any electronic devices that are not in use. Even when a device is switched off, it can still consume some electricity while it is plugged into the wall.
To make this process easier, you should think about plugging your appliances into a power strip. By plugging devices into a power strip, you will only have to worry about turning it off when you want to power things down. Not only will this help the environment, but it will also help you save on your electric bill.
Maximize the Use of Your Washers
Another easy tip for going green is to make better use of the washing machine and dishwasher in your unit. Many people are tempted to wash the dishes after every meal and clean clothes every day. While this does help you keep things clean in your apartment, it also wastes water and increases the cost of your water bill.
If you want to be environmentally aware, try using your washers only when they have a full load. To give an example, you should only wash your dishes when the dishwasher is filled with plates and utensils. By maximizing every individual use of your washers you can get more done without needlessly wasting water.
Use Your Central Heat & Air Wisely
Another common source of wasted energy in apartments comes from the overuse of central air devices. During the summer many people crank up the air conditioning, and during the winter lots of people dial up the heat. Doing this does help you combat the extreme weather, but this does waste a lot of energy.
If you find the heat to be unbearable during the summer, buy yourself a misting fan to keep the temperature down without having to turn on the air. During the winter, try bundling up a little bit before you try turning up the heat. If the sun is shining on a cold day, try opening the blinds to let its light peak in.
Relying less on the central air and heating throughout the year will benefit the environment and keep the electric bill down.
Recycle What You Can
One last thing you can do to be conscious of the environment is to recycle whatever you can in your apartment. Recycling certain materials makes a huge impact on nature, so remember to set aside any recyclable objects so you do not toss them in the trash. If you do not know where to put your recyclables, ask people who live in your community.
The staff at Garden Communities has been encouraging residents to install recycling bins in specified areas so they have an easy place to put recyclable materials. Try to convince your neighbors to recycle too, because when more people recycle the environment benefits a lot more.
Thanks to its high efficiency boilers, the Mill Run apartment community is a great option for anyone who is looking to be eco-friendly.
