Benefits of Going Green
Going Green has been the hip new trend over the past decade. Everyone talks about it, but not everyone seems to know and understand all of the benefits of going green. All kinds of people are talking about ‘going green’– from the small homeowner to big businesses all over the world. For just about every product or service, there are people out there offering a way to go green for that specific functionality. There are numerous benefits for both homeowners and businesses in this new wave of going green. For people who own homes, there can be a number of benefits you get from the green wave, even though many of them may cost money to begin with, and they wind up saving you money in the end. For business owners, there is a huge amount of money to be saved if you make the right decisions within your business, and you may even win over new clients who appreciate your focus on going green.
Going green isn’t a new trend, it has been around for quite a while. Although the green movement has gone through the roof over the last decade, discussion of green technology has been around for many years. Many folks all over the world have been watching but not really paying attention, and blew the green movement off as irrational and ridiculous. Over the last several years, as the market crashed, the gas prices went through the roof, and people began losing their homes, people started paying more attention to things that would save them money and do the right things. Many people who own their homes who are in trouble financially are looking to save money in the short run (lesser electric bills), or in the long run, to add value to the cost of their home. And many of them are also encouraged to do the right thing in regards to the environment. All of these factors, together, mean a win win for all involved. It is really simple for people to do the right thing for their homes and their businesses by going green.
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Homes
The easiest thing homeowners can do to go green at home is to update their appliances. If you own an older home or even a home that was built from 1970-1990, the appliances that you have in your homes are not at all energy efficient. The older appliances, compared to current appliances, just drain fuel and money away from the environment and the homeowner. While it may seem costly to replace your appliances, which can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars, the amount of energy savings is absolutely incredible. The newest appliances are built to use just a small percentage of the electricity that units did years ago, which means that everyone saves. The cost out of pocket may be difficult up front, but after several years each and every homeowner will see a savings on their electricity and repair bills. Many homeowners have quoted that they have saved thousands of dollars a year on their electricity bills, making the cost of the appliances negligible.
Another major benefit to homeowners who want to go green is that the newer your appliances are, the greater the value of your home. This is especially true if you upgrade the major appliances like the air conditioning unit and the refrigerator, but it can also pay off in smaller appliances from the microwave to the stove. Energy efficient appliances like the washer and dryer can also save you loads of money on your electric bill and help to increase your home value as well. Besides saving you money monthly, as well as making your home more valuable, upgraded appliances also make your home more attractive to people who are in the market to buy your home. The kitchen is one of the most important areas to potential homebuyers when they are in the market to buy a home, and upgraded appliances always catch the eye of savvy buyers. Some buyers appreciate the energy efficient appliances and how it will save them money, or feel that green technology is extremely important to them. If you are shopping for new, energy efficient appliances with these things in mind, you will want to look for products that have high ratings for being energy efficient and that are also pleasing to the eye for you and also other potential homeowners that may wind up in our house.
There are also other alternatives in the green category to help you make your home environmentally friendly. Something that may seem off the wall but is becoming more and more regular in wind heavy areas is wind turbines. When people think of wine turbines, they often think of the huge turbines that you see when driving through the countryside or the photos of huge turbines that are off shore. But there are many smaller wind turbines that can be installed in your back yard that are not terrible looking. They are even creating some now that are natural looking to fit in with your landscape. Wind energy is a great idea for people that live in windy areas, but unfortunately don’t create as much energy as other alternatives like solar panels. It does however save you money on your energy bill and can help you to eventually sell your house as features like these are becoming more and more in demand.
As mentioned, another option is solar panels. The benefit of solar panels can vary depending on where you live. If you live in a primarily sunny area, your solar panels will be a tremendous value to help you save on your energy bills. This is also a feature that people really look for when buying houses in areas likeCalifornia, where they are huge fans of the green trend and it is so sunny most of the year. If you live in a place that is cloudy and overcast most of the time, you will not get the same value on your electricity bills, so you really need to consider the up front expense you will have to take on and if it is worth it to you financially in the end. There are amazing programs offered by the government currently that you to purchase solar panels. They can help with the cost of the initial purchase and even with the costly construction on your home to install the panels. Some homes run entirely on solar energy if they are designed and run properly, so these homeowners do not have to pay an electric company. Most homeowners though are somewhat reliant on energy companies as a back up plan. Solar panels are extremely expensive to have installed, so taking advantages of the government help is a very smart idea. You will have to save quite a bit up front to afford the installation, but the costs quickly pay off when you aren’t stuck paying huge electric bills. That, on top of the good you are doing for the environment are two good reasons to make the initial investment.
Business
Many individuals are investing in green technology at their businesses as well. There are a wide range of ways to go green at work, and they can start small and inexpensively. You can do simple things like changing all of the light bulbs in your office to CFL light bulbs. Because most offices have so many light bulbs, this can save a large amount of energy and lower your electric bill and most of the CFL light bulbs last much longer than regular light bulbs.
For quite a while, only really big businesses could go green, or so it was thought, because the costs were so significant. As the years have gone by, innovative companies have learned how to create recycled materials and green appliances that are much less costly that can allow small business owners to go green.
For new business owners who are looking for an office or are interested in building one, there are a large number of resources out there to help you make sure you have the greenest possible work place. There is government funding available for people are interested in building a green office or changing and existing building to a green one. Although the up front investment may seem hard to handle initially, there are many financial savings that you will experience in an ongoing form that should help you consider the many benefits of going green.
Businesses are able to do many of the same things to help the environment that are really similar to the advice that is given to homeowners. You may be able to install solar panels or wind turbines at your business location which will help with your energy consumption. The usage of energy by businesses is significantly higher than a home, so it is even more important that we look at the places that we work to help go green, not just our homes. Again, this not only helps the environment, but can also help your bottom line. You will incur a much greater expense during the first year due to the cost of construction, but the following years, you will see a drastic decrease in what you normally would have spent on your electric bill. Some businesses that spent thousands of dollars per month on electricity are able to completely eliminate their electricity bill, or at least to cut it in half, by the use of solar panels specifically. There are all kinds of innovative ways to help you save money and do the right thing at the same time.
It is important to understand what you are doing when you are going green. There is something you may have heard of called your footprint- this is the impact we have on the environment by the products that we use. Businesses usually have a much higher footprint than any individual. A lesser footprint is better, and to have a lower footprint you will use less energy and items from the earth itself. A product made from a recycled source has a much lower footprint than something that is created from a nonrenewable source. Any material that can be recycled over and over has a much lower footprint than traditional materials. Many customers appreciate that the businesses they go to regularly are focused on have a lower footprint, so if you are one of these businesses, you may build up a group of loyal supporters who will also tell their friends about you. People are becoming more and more focused on what they are doing to the environment and how businesses impact the footprint as well. So you may gain, or at least retain clientele simply because they support your efforts to go green. You may want to use reusable shopping bags or recycled paper in your company as a simple starting point.
Businesses can also go green by doing most of their work online and utilizing their computers as much as possible to eliminate waste of paper. They can also recycle the paper that they do use, rather than throwing it in the garbage. Most companies now are moving towards having recyclable containers on location for a variety of products that are picked up with the garbage each week. Having water dispensers, as opposed to bottled water for your employees is another way you can simply go green. Making simple and smart moves to get your business to go green will help the environment, and in almost every case, save you money at the same time.
If you still have questions about how your home or business can go green, and the many benefits of this process would be, most counties now have government assistance and programs to help you understand going green. Green homes and businesses save money over the long run, businesses often have an appreciative and loyal client base, and can feel good about doing the right thing for the environment.
