Are you wondering how you can live the green life you want if you’re renting an apartment rather than living in a space you own? We’ve teamed up with apartment search website RENTCafe to bring you these great ideas for enjoying an eco-friendly lifestyle in an apartment, condo, or home you rent.

How to Green Your Rental Apartment

 If you live in an apartment, you’ve likely made several changes to the décor to help suit your style.

But if you aren’t also making green improvements to your home, then it may not be as healthy or as energy efficient as it could be.

And while you may think that creating a more eco-friendly home isn’t possible as a renter, there are several ways you can green your rental apartment to save money and make it more comfortable to live in at the same time.

BONUS! You can get these done in one day and reap the benefits for a long time!

Invest in Drapes

The biggest source of energy loss in most homes is right around the window area. Even with double paned windows, if the area surrounding them isn’t well sealed, you could still be losing a lot of the energy you use to heat and cool your apartment.

By investing in good quality, thermal drapes, you can help stop this energy loss, eliminating drafts and making your apartment more comfortable at the same time.

As a bonus, most thermal drapes are also light blocking, so you can control how much sunlight your apartment gets – perfect for weekends when you want to sleep in.

By the way, if you install floor-to-ceiling drapes, you can easily take them with you when you move. They’ll fit other windows.

Swap Out Your Lightbulbs

Even if the light fixtures in the apartment need to stay as they are you can still lower your energy bill an get better ambient light at the same time by investing in new LED lightbulbs.

LEDs use far less energy than incandescents and last for at least a dozen years!

Plus, they can give off more lumens per watt (which means they produce more light for less energy), so you can get a brighter living area while saving energy at the same time.

Here’s how to choose the right LED for your apartment.

Replace Your Water-Wasting Showerhead for a WaterSense Model

It may be best to leave the main faucets and toilet in your apartment alone and encourage your landlord to make them more water efficient. But it’s easy to replace your shower head with a low-flow WaterSense model. Just look for the WaterSense logo, pictured right, when you shop.

Older shower heads use as many as 7 gallons of water a minute. New water saving units that meet EPA’s WaterSense standards use around 2 gallons. WaterSense technology helps make up the difference by spinning the water droplets as they leave the head, making the shower feel fuller.

You’ll reduce your water bill, paying for the modest cost of the shower head in no time.

Plug Into Power Strips

Many appliances end up sucking up energy even when they aren’t on or in use.

Sometimes known as “energy vampires,” these appliances and devices add a lot to your monthly energy bill.

To help save energy and money, put a power strip at each outlet, then plug your standby devices like lamps, televisions, gaming sets, and computers into these.

When you’re not using any of the items, turn off the power strip to stop the energy drain.

FYI, here’s one of the power strips I have my video monitor and Roku plugged into.

Purify the Air

If your apartment was painted in the last five years, chances are that it’s still giving off VOCs or volatile organic compounds, into the air. The effect is worse the closer you get to the time the paint was applied. In fact, about 50% of the VOCs are given off in the first year after the room was painted, with the rest “off-gassing” over the next four.

Plus, you might use air fresheners or cleaning products that are filled with synthetic fragrances, chemical compounds that can cause head aches, flu-like symptoms, and even trigger asthma attacks.

To help clean the air you breathe and eliminate some of those harmful toxicants, first switch to no VOC paint when you repaint.

In place of air fresheners, remove the sources that stink (like rotting food, dirty clothes, pet waste), circulate fresh air, and make potpourri out of fragrant natural herbs and dried flowers.

Use baking soda, vinegar, and fresh squeezed lemon juice for most cleaning projects. Open boxes or bowls of baking soda can also help absorb unwanted odors.

Monitor what’s in your air using a system like HomeLab’s, which will tell you what chemicals you’re breathing, and how you can turn your space into a healthy home.

Add Some Plants

Air purification systems aren’t the only way to clean up the air in your apartment and make it healthier; adding plants can make a big difference as well.

Greenery like English Ivy, rubber plants, and peace lilies clean the air in your home and enhance your décor, too.

Place plants in areas that may need air cleansing the most, such as kitchens, bathrooms, and bedrooms and breathe a little easier.

In my living room, I have a big peace lily. It gets beautiful white flowers once or twice a year.

Check and Replace Your HVAC Filter

If you have a furnace, central air conditioning unit, or HVAC system that uses ducts to heat or cool your apartment, make sure that you’re checking and cleaning the filter at least once per season (some companies recommend changing or cleaning filters monthly).

When the filter gets clogged, it causes the unit to work harder, spiking your energy bill.

If you aren’t sure if the filter needs to be changed, hold it up to the light; if you can’t see through it, it should be cleaned.

NOTE: You don’t need to buy a new filter every month; get one that’s reusable and wash it by spraying it with a hose or running it under a faucet. Just make sure it dries thoroughly before re-installing it. You can keep an extra on hand so you always have one to clean and one to replace it with.

Decorate Using Vintage and Recycled Furnishings

From rugs and bed frames to sofas, dining room tables and lamps, you can find great bargains and repurpose gently used (and sometimes brand new) furniture rather than buy brand new.

In addition to CraigsList.com, eBay.com and Freecycle.com, browse the listings at NextDoor.com, a site that makes it easy for neighbors to swap from each other or buy at a reasonable price.

Thrift stores, auction houses, estate sales and vintage shops (think antiques) are more great – and eco-friendly – places to shop.

Here’s one of the rugs I have in my home. When I got it 15 years ago it was already at least 60 years old.

Go Green

It doesn’t take much to green your rental apartment and make it healthier and more eco-friendly. Implement any of these changes and you’ll see the benefits in no time.

What Do You Do?

What else do you do to green your rental apartment? Please share!

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The post 8 Inexpensive Ways to Green Your Rental Apartment (& Save Money Doing It) appeared first on Big Green Purse.

1) Shop at vintage and value outlets before you buy new. Plastic-free guru Beth Terry told me that when she wants new clothes, she just means “new to her,” not necessarily bought new at the store. I’m right there with her. I needed a dress for a friend’s wedding recently. I found a gorgeous beaded gown at our local vintage shop, and it only cost me $30.

2) Shop at online consignment shops. Online consignment stores like thredUp offer thousands of brands, styles, and sizes at a highly discounted price. Plus, you can ship your own clothes off to them and make a little money back that you can either use to purchase other clothes on ThredUP or redeem them for cash on PayPal.

3) Borrow or exchange. That’s what girlfriends are for, right? And sisters, neighbors, people in your social network…you get the idea. Going skiing but don’t have ski pants? Surely someone you know does. Need an ugly sweater for a holiday party? Put out the word. Especially think about borrowing accessories like purses, belts, scarves, gloves, shawls, and other items that can work regardless of size.

4) Buy clothes made from recycled materials. I’ve stopped recommending clothes made from recycled plastic bottles. Micro plastic pollution in the ocean has become a huge environmental problem, and tiny clothing fibers are one factor. But other materials are being recycled into couture, including rubber tires and even coffee.

5) Look for ethically made, Fair Trade Certified clothing. There are so many benefits to buying Fair Trade clothes, we did an entire post about it here. Some of the best reasons: it’s better for people, since no little kids are allowed to work their fingers to the bone making you a pair of shoes or knitting you a scarf. It’s very stylish and trendy. And it’s increasingly available, especially online at stores like Nomad, where this dress comes from.

6) Make it vegan. Shoes, coats, jackets, belts, purses, jewelry, they’re all made without using animal products, either leather or animal tissue products. I have shoes made with hemp uppers and rubber soles, sweaters made from hemp rather than wool, and purses made from cotton and hemp rather than leather.

7) Order organic. Twenty-five percent (25%) of the world’s insecticides are used to grow cotton, though not all of the insecticides sprayed stay on the crop. A lot of it drifts for miles and lands on other food crops and residential areas. Still, it takes one pound of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to conventionally grow the three pounds of cotton needed to make a T-shirt and a pair of jeans. When you buy clothes made from organic fabrics, you take pesticides out of the equation.

8) Learn to sew. Sewing your own dress, pants or shirt will give you a new appreciation for what it takes to produce a garment. But if that sounds like it will require too much skill, talent or time, at least learn how to sew a seam, put back a button, or patch a tear. These are very easy repairs to make and will extend the life of your clothing significantly. If you really don’t feel like you can tackle something like sewing back on a button or repairing a seam, your local dry cleaners can probably do it for you. But before you give up, check out these Easy Sewing for Beginners videos.

9) Set your own style. The fashion industry has developed so that it moves fashion trends in and out of stores faster than the seasons change. This practice has led to clothes that are made poorly, often by people working in sweat shops, because it’s expected that they’ll quickly be replaced by whatever the newest fashion trend is. You’ll be an eco fashion queen if you set your own style, based on a look distinctive to you and well-made clothes you can dress up or down depending on your mood, event, season, and style.

Want to recycle your own clothes? Check out our post, “It’s Easier Than You Think!”

GD Environmental: Wales’ Leading Waste Management Company, GD Environmental, plays a vital role in helping larger companies achieve their green missions by operating an environmentally friendly waste management company which recycles 96% of waste and diverts 100% of waste from landfill to recycling. If you’re based in Wales, and looking to improve the sustainable performance of your business call GD Environmental today on 01633 277755 or visit www.gd-environmental.co.uk.

NOTE: Sponsorships help us bring you important information and expertise at no cost to you. Our editorial opinions remain our own. Thank you.

The post The 9 Best Ways to Dress Like an Eco Fashion Queen appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Fortunately, both my freshman and my junior know they have to make a pretty good case for “new” when they’re talking to me.

“Go shopping in your closet first,” I told them. “Look around your room. Then make a list of what you actually need.”

(I tried not to mention the same refrain they’ve heard over and over again: “In my day, I packed one suitcase and a manual typewriter, headed off to campus, and did just fine.”)

My daughter emerged from her room with a pile of gently worn clothes that she eventually took to Mustard Seed, our local thrift store, and exchanged for “new” (to her) sweaters and skirts. She seemed content to pack up the boots and shoes she already wears. We agreed that she needed new bedding to fit the extra-long twin mattress she’d be sleeping on at school, plus fluffy pillows and a fresh comforter to make her dorm room cozy.  In place of a new laptop, she got a new laptop case. I couldn’t begrudge her a few picture frames (though something tells me my smiling face won’t grace them). And she has no choice but to bring her own desk lamp, hangers, and even rugs, since the university doesn’t furnish them. I’m insisting she take a reusable water bottle and her floor length robe (yes, it’s a co-ed dorm…enough said?). She and her roommate have agreed to share a refrigerator and microwave, both of which they can rent from student services. I refused to buy her a tv, and she opted to save her own money rather than spend it on more electronics. “Besides,” she noted practically, “we don’t get cable.”

As I look at the stuff she’s been setting aside, I’m satisfied to see that the pile is relatively small. By inventorying what she already has, sharing what she can, realizing she has most of what she needs, and buying just a couple of things to fill the gaps, she’s heading to college feeling confident about the comfy cocoon she’ll be able to create for herself. Meanwhile, I don’t worry that we’ve either broken the bank or left a horrible carbon footprint in our wake.

My son also managed to get a grip on his “needs.” He finally concluded that while his computer hard drive was irreparably fried, his “old” printer and monitor could easily last another year. We happily bought him a new pair of tennis shoes, which he will wear until, like the last pair, he completely wears them out. He will reuse the furnishings he acquired when he first headed to college a couple of years ago, including a fabulous travel mug from Hudson Trail Outfitters that keeps coffee hot for a solid two hours. His book bag is still in good shape, as is his calculator, so no additional purchases there. He did get a new electric razor, having somehow lost his other one half-way through the summer, but no complaints from me on that score. “With the electric, I won’t have to throw away all those disposables or use shaving cream,” he argued. Music to my ears.

Their personal gear under control, we turned our attention to the practical. They still needed supplies like paper, pencils, pens and binders, as well as shampoo and soap. Trips to Staples and Target were equally frustrating. The only available pencils were made by Ticonderoga, a company that recently received an “F” from Forest Ethics for the clearcutting it practices in California’s Sierra Nevada forests. There was no recycled notebook paper to be seen.

Fortunately, I can mail order sustainably certified #2 pencils from Forest Choice and pens (left) made from sustainable wood scraps from The Green Office. I’ll call Greenline Paper for that recycled item. We’re stuck with PVC plastic binders; I’ve seen some options made from recycled cardboard, but didn’t think they would stand up to the drubbing they’d take given my students’ rough-and-tumble lives. Besides, the kids really didn’t like them.

As for personal care products, both kids are particular about what they put on their bodies. My daughter tends towards Burt’s Bees, which she’ll be able to find as easily on campus as here at home. My son, true to his gender, uses very little beyond basic bar soap and (Tom’s) toothpaste. Plus, he avoids any product containing anti-bacterial agents.

I couldn’t send either child off without an energy-conservation care kit: energy-saving power strips for all their electronics, a four-pack of mini compact fluorescent light bulbs they’re welcome to share with roommates (and bring home at the end of the year), and umbrellas so they can walk even when it rains.

“But, Mom,” my daughter wondered, “What about the cookies?”

Oops. Better break out the organic sugar and flour for those.

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