From Guest Blogger Dixie Somers: Five Green Services to Start Using Right Now
If you want to reduce your carbon footprint and help the environment, you can switch to using green home services that will enable you to create a more eco-friendly living space. Here are five of the top green services you should consider using.
Solar Energy
Instead of using electricity, gas, and other power sources that can be harmful to the environment, you can make the switch to solar energy. You can install panels around your property that will capture natural energy from the sun that you can use to power your home. Although the initial investment for solar energy equipment may be expensive, the government can often help with this purchase, and you will actually end up saving money in the long run by making the switch in any case.
Carpet Cleaning
Getting your carpets cleaner can be accomplished without harming the planet. There are environmentally friendly products that certain companies use to safely remove dirt, pollen and dust mites from carpet fibers. Carpet cleaning equipment that requires less energy to operate can also be used to make your carpets and rugs more sanitary.
Pest Control
Certain pesticides are known to be harmful to both humans and the environment, and using a green pest control service like Green Pest Control in Manassas will be a better alternative. Some of the top eco-friendly pest control companies use products containing natural ingredients that are still powerful enough to do the job. Green pest control solutions may also involve trapping and releasing certain animals back out into the wild instead of exterminating them.
Water Services
Certain companies are able to install water softeners that allow dishwashers, washing machines and water heaters to run using less energy. A reverse osmosis system can also be installed in your home that purifies your drinking water and eliminates the need to buy bottled water and discard used bottles in landfills. You can also request to have a water collection system installed that allows you to get your water directly from rainfall and save money on your water bill.
Lawn Care
There are even greener solutions for caring for your lawn. Manual lawnmowers and other lawn care equipment that does not require as much energy can be used to trim your grass. Mulch and compost are natural materials that are capable of keeping grass and plants healthy. The use of an organic herbicide is a great way to prevent weed growth.
Utilizing eco-friendly services can help you create the greener home environment that will allow you to keep your household in order while doing some good for the planet. The money you will likely save can also help you keep some extra green in your wallet as well!
The article recommends reverse osmosis water purifying systems. That is probably reasonable in some places, but definitely not where water is scarce.
Here is a quotation from another site:
“The fact is that properly designed and efficient reverse osmosis systems do not waste water but use it to create pure water. Pure water is not produced without a cost, no matter what the technology. For a properly designed and efficient RO system, this may be one-to-three gallons of water for every gallon of pure water produced. This is a relatively low cost when compared to the alternatives.”
Here is the link to the above site:
http://optipurewater.com/blog/royseibert/do-reverse-osmosis-systems-waste-water
Note that even though the quotation states that RO systems do not waste water, it also states that they dump from one to three gallons of water for every gallon of pure water produced. That means that if all the water used by a household were purified by a RO system, that household would at least double its water consumption.
Wasting that amount of water may not be a problem in areas where water is plentiful or if the waste water can be used for other purposes. However, in the southwestern states in the U.S., water is in short supply. That must be taken into consideration.