5 Reasons Why Fall Cleaning is Better than Spring Cleaning

If we all agree that our homes need at least one ruthless and focused de-cluttering clean-up each year, then I propose the fall for this event. Nesting instincts notwithstanding, the fall offers us the best timing for your annual elbow-greasing housework.

Consider these 5 reasons to get organized right now:

Fall’s harvest is bountiful but is soon followed by the withering end of life for our growing season.

Our homes are filled with unwanted items leftover from summer events, camping, renovation work, and yard work. With the year’s most productive, busy schedules on the go right now, taking care of the disorganization leaves us free to focus on our work and holiday planning.

Holiday season is just around the corner and the in-laws will be visiting!

Now is the time to clear the debris and boxes labelled: Sally-Ann from off of the spare room bed and start clearing space for visiting holiday guests.

Out with the old makes room for the new.

With the holidays our living spaces tend to become cluttered with new items and gifts. Clearing today’s junk away ahead of time will make the congestion of the holidays much easier. According to the EPA.gov, Americans produce the most waste between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.

Ringing in the New Year will be less stressful.

What’s the first thing we think of after the celebrations of New Years have passed? Oh, Joy! Now I have to take care of the new resolution.

Enjoy Spring.

Spring is a time for renewal and fresh starts. Having done your big de-clutter and clean in the fall, you can now turn your attention to outdoor activities, even your garden.

Home Makeovers that are Easy and Affordable

Are you looking to save the environment, but you cannot afford costly options like solar panels? Are you looking for a way to cut down on your energy costs, but are not all together sure about installing wind turbines in your back yard?

Don't worry! There are plenty of things that you can do to go green that are easy and affordable, allowing you to make big changes while staying within your budget.

Here are some basic green living tips that will allow you to stay within your budget while conducting eco friendly home and yard makeovers for greener living.

Audit

Start by performing a home energy audit, checking to see first if your local utilities do this kind of service or finding another service that may. The auditor needs to make a complete inventory of all of the appliances in your home that use electricity or water. Performing an energy audit is an excellent way to find out how efficient or how inefficient your appliances are, and if there are any ways that you can make your heating or cooling systems more efficient.

Change your Lighting

You should aim to replace any incandescent light bulbs in your home with more efficient CFL or Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs, as these will last longer and will utilize less power in the process.

Water

Some modern shower systems spew out an incredibly wasteful amount of water, at approximately 80 gallons of water per minute. By using a water-saving shower head, you can reduce this to 1.75 gallons per minute instead, saving thousands of gallons of water a year!

Toilet

Composting toilets are capable of turning human waste into natural fertilizer, and they are an excellent way to conserve water use. However, this is a pretty large step for many people. There is no shortage of other ideas to consider when it comes to going green in the bathroom. Consider using chlorine free, recycled toilet paper, organic cotton bath towels and other linens, and even a shower curtain that is free of PVC.

Carpeting

Your home carpet is a magnet for many things, like toxins, animal dander, fungi, dust, dirt and bugs. Not only is your carpet a reservoir of dirt and other nastiness, but it was probably also made from a petrochemical synthetic material like nylon for example. Instead, choose area rugs that are made from natural fibers, and choose rugs that are stitched rather than glued.

Natural Landscaping

Rather than drowning your lawn in dangerous chemicals and pesticides, you can make your own weed and bug repellent using water and hot peppers. Take out the grass, which soaks up water like a sponge, and replace your lawn with rocks, wild flowers, gravel and other native plants; these are all elements that do not require fertilizer or lawn, which saves you on chemicals and on water.

There are plenty of other things that you can do to significantly reduce your carbon footprint, saving on money in your utility bills at the same time.

Quick and Easy Steps to Green Remodeling

For a lot of home remodelers, the idea of going green can be absolutely overwhelming. Luckily, there is a wealth of information out there, and just because you are not already implementing these ideas, that does not mean you’re too far behind to make some leeway.

According to leading remodelers in the industry, the best way to handle green remodeling is not to allow yourself to become swamped, as long as you take things one step at a time. Do not try to take everything on at once, but rather, pick one or two things to green up your projects and go from there. You do not have to go to the extreme in order to have a green remodel.

Keep these small and quick tips in mind and you can green up your remodeling project without overwhelming yourself in the process.

Low-E Windows filled with Aragon Gas

You may not immediately think of it, but one of the easiest ways that you can go green is through the use of these windows. They allow you to significantly reduce heat gain because they reflect light during the summer months, and they help to keep heat inside during the winter months as well. If you make these windows your standard replacement windows, you can actually save money for homeowners and can reduce their reliance on artificial heating sources that produce harmful greenhouse gasses.

High Efficiency Furnaces

Another area that you can easily sell to homeowners is high efficiency furnaces because of the energy payback. If a homeowner has to replace a furnace anyway, why not pay a little bit more if it means getting significant savings in return? Because utility bills are continuing to go up, anything that cuts the use of energy in the home is usually a big seller with homeowners who are looking to remodel.

Paints and Finishes with Low-VOC Ratings

This one will cost more rather than saving any money for the homeowner, but it is all about improving their general comfort and health instead. These paints do not have any volatile organic compounds in them, preventing home owners from having negative reactions to them.

Dual Flush Toilets

These are toilets that offer two flushing options; one for liquid waste and one for solid, and they use the bare minimum of water required for each, saving the homeowner a significant amount of money in the process. They offer significant savings over toilets from earlier than 1992, going from the standard of 5 gallons per flush to 0.8 to 1.6 gallons for liquid and solid waste respectively.

Low Flow Fixtures

There are many faucets and showerheads that exist to reduce water, offering a savings of as much as 25 to 60 percent.

Reconfigure First

Can you find a way to offer what the homeowner is looking for without requiring additional space? Sometimes the clients believe that they want more space, but really all they require is a space that is more efficiently designed. Smaller homes can use fewer materials and will require much less energy for heating and cooling.

Purchasing Locally

Increasing how much you buy locally will significantly reduce your impact on the environment, even without changing anything else. One of the biggest ways that a product has an affect on the environment is the transportation of those materials across the state, country or even across the world.