The Sustainable Home, Room-by-Room

When touting sustainability it becomes easy to step up onto a soapbox and preach away. And no matter how hard I try to avoid sounding self-rightious, one of the most common laments I hear from friends and colleagues is how hard it is to "live sustainably." It's true—we live in a culture that functions on consumption, making it extrememly hard for "normal" folks to live a completely sustainable lifestyle. As a result, many of us get overwhelmed and just give up trying altogether.

But even the smallest choices can yield big results over time. Here are just a few tips that you can implement at home, whether you rent or own, to increase your sustainability and decrease the size of your environmental footprint:

1. In the kitchen:
   Reuse plastic and glass food containers instead of throwing them away;
   Reduce your usage of ziplock baggies by using those containers you just saved;
   Turn off the kitchen faucet as you scrub your dishes;
   Wait until the dishwasher is completely full before running it;
2. In the bathroom:
   Turn off the faucet while you brush your teeth;
   Opt for baths over showers whenever possible;
   Fix that running toilet or leaking faucet ASAP to conserve water;
   Install a water-saving shower head
   
3. In the bedroom:
   Buy organic or recycled bed linens;
   Hang heavy curtains over windows to keep the heat in
   
4. The whole home:
   Change your lightbulbs to warm, energy-saving compact fluorescent lightbulbs;
   Open your curtains to let in natural light instead of flipping the light switch;
   Use rugs and carpets on hardwood floors to help retain heat;
   Bring in living plants to help the air quality;
   Use non-toxic cleaning products whenever possible;
   If renovating, consider non-toxic, sustainable or salvaged materials and energy-efficient appliances

Implementing just a few of these things into your daily life can make a real impact and chances are you'll never even notice the difference.