Stuart Zullo Earth Hour is coming up this weekend and whether or not you will be actively participating I think it is a good time to look at how green our homes are and what we can do every day to help combat climate change (rather than just turning our lights off for an hour).
The first and easiest way to help make your home greener is obvious – plant trees! If your home is surrounded by lots of trees and shrubs then it will help to cool your house down in summer (it blocks the sun’s infrared rays) but it also helps to warm it in winter (because the branches will be barer and let the sun radiation through).
If you have insulation however plants and trees will have less of an effect but insulation is again another green tool you can add to you r home to help save energy. If you get effective insulation than it slows the rate at which heat flows throughout the house so less energy is needed to heat or cool your house down.
Unfortunately the Federal Government Home Insulation Program was recently discontinued but you should be able to get an insulation rebate under the Government’s Renewable Energy Bonus Scheme from the 1st of June 2010!
Another great idea is to get yourself a solar energy system or other renewable energy system in your house. In fact if you get one of these you can even earn yourself credits for the energy that you create, which is also part of the Renewable Energy Bonus Scheme. So what better reason do you need to start using renewable energy in your home?
But apart from things that you can do around the home there are so many ways you can help to reduce your carbon footprint. What about walking to the shops instead of driving, or buying less new shiny luxury goods (there are some great old antiques and pre-loved stuff out there). There are a few more great green-living tips here .
And last but not least Earth Hour may be onto something because turning your lights off will help to make your home greener too! But don’t just turn your lights off for Earth Hour, try and only use the light that you need and not only will you help to save our planet but you might even save yourself some money too!
For any more information on The Renewable Energy Bonus Scheme or ways of keeping your home green feel free to come into the Professionals Casula Real Estate office for a chat!