How to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

Maybe you’ve decided to make some changes to help reduce your carbon footprint and don’t know where to start. Or, maybe you’ve already made some lifestyle changes but don’t know what else you can do to help.

Whatever your reasoning, it doesn’t take too much effort to reduce, reuse and recycle and we’re here to help give you the tools you need to live a greener life and help make a positive impact on the planet.

Buy Reusable Items

If you haven’t already, consider buying permanent items to replace one-time use items. For instance, shopping bags, straws, plastic silverware and water bottles are all one-time use items that are often used and immediately thrown away.

Over time, these items add up and significantly damage the environment. Reduce waste by buying cloth shopping bags, metal straws, portable silverware and metal water bottles.

Try Composting

Composting is an excellent way to give back to the environment and even brings numerous benefits to your home garden.

Common items you can compost include:

• Fruit
• Coffee grounds
• Tea leaves
• Egg shells
• Cardboard
• Shredded paper (non-toxic)

Instead of throwing away these common waste items, consider composting them to help nurture your plants and avoid creating more waste. Just make sure you avoid composting items that may be harmful to the environment.

Calculate Your Household’s Carbon Footprint

Your carbon footprint includes the greenhouse gas emissions we produce from burning gasoline or electricity usage from coal, oil or natural gas. Greenhouse gas emissions damage the environment, contributing to heat trapping and severe weather events.

If you want more insight into your carbon footprint, try using this online calculator to identify daily habits that you may want to reduce or change altogether to lessen your carbon footprint.

Invest in an Energy Efficient Home

Reduce your carbon footprint and opt for an energy-efficient home. Shoreline is proud to have a low HERS® score of 49 and is third-party Energy Star® certified. Features such as High Performance Pella® low-e double paned windows and xeriscape landscaping can significantly reduce your home’s overall carbon footprint. Each Shoreline home also features Day & Night® 95% efficiency natural gas furnaces with sealed duct work running through conditioned spaces, (as opposed to the attic) to ensure no heat is wasted.

Source Local Items

Finally, sourcing locally grown food and other items can help ensure you’re not contributing to harmful farming practices while also supporting local businesses. Common farming practices are often not only unhealthy for the environment but can be harmful for you as well.

Making swaps can help contribute to your local economy and can actually result in a healthier lifestyle overall.

At Shoreline, we do our best to reduce our carbon footprint and give back to the environment with energy-efficient homes. See how we’re making a difference and book a tour now at www.shorelineparkcity.com.