Going Green: An Easy Guide

April 22nd is an important day for people that care about the environment. “Earth Day” as it is known, is the day when we are encouraged to look not just at our home, but our home’s home; our nation and planet. It is a big, beautiful world, but also a delicate one.

We have to do what we can to ensure it continues to be a safe place to live for future generations. When we all do our part—even if it’s just small actions at home—we can achieve this goal. Our experts here at Plumb Works came up with a guide you can use to start making the planet a greener place, one step at a time.

Your carbon footprint is a measure of just how much carbon dioxide (CO2) you contribute to the atmosphere.

CO2 is a greenhouse gas that contributes the global warming phenomenon, and many of our actions, like breathing or driving a car, add more CO2 to the air.

By taking steps such as driving less, using cars or other products with lower CO2 emissions, and giving your business to companies concerned lowering their own carbon footprint, you can help.

When all of us do this, it starts to tip the scales.

You may want a smaller filter installed on your tap, or go for a more elaborate system built into your plumbing, but getting a water filter has some big benefits. The most direct benefit is the clear, clean, great tasting, safe water you can enjoy in unlimited amounts.

The other benefit is you help the environment. It’s nice to know your water is screened out for elements like arsenic—which chlorine can’t eliminate—but you also save on bottles that need to be recycled if you buy bottled water. Or containers from your water cooler service.

How old are the plumbing fixtures in your home? Did you move into a house that has plumbing taps and toilets that predate the 21st century? If you do, then despite the fact that they may work well, you’re paying more on your water bills than you need to.

New, eco-friendly plumbing fixtures, from toilets to showerheads, all use water more efficiently. A low-flow toilet can use 50% less water than a 20th-century toilet with every flush. High-efficiency showerheads give you good pressure without wasting water, which means you don’t waste money.

Traditional water heaters require a tank taking up space in your home, and a sizable amount of energy used to heat up the volume of water in that tank.

Once you run the shower, bath or laundry, that hot water gets used up, and you don’t have any more until the new volume gets heated up.

A tankless water heater puts a heat exchanger directly onto your plumbing. This means less energy is used to heat up the water, up to $100 less every year, in fact.

And it means that once the water is hot, it stays hot, so you can shower as long as you like.