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Green Living in an Apartment  |
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Not everybody owns their home. For many of us, apartment living is the way we have to live, but apartment living and green living don’t always go together. Unfortunately, when living in an apartment that is rented, you don’t have the control over the apartment the way you would over your own home, which means that you might not be living in an environment that is as green as you want it to be.
But if you live in an apartment and you want to live green, there are some things you can do to green your immediate environment, and some of the apartment systems that won’t violate any agreement or make you someone the landlord is looking to replace. Consider the following:
Offer to replace appliances with energy star rated products. Not every apartment is graced with new appliances. In fact, most apartments simply have appliances, and those appliances are usually old, and not efficient. Consider talking with the landlord to see if you can purchase new appliances for the apartment and take the costs off your rent. Even if your landlord doesn’t want to adjust the rent, depending on the appliance, just the energy savings alone may make replacing the appliances worth the expenditure.
The furnace system in particular seems to be something that landlords just don’t want to think about. The chance that your landlord is changing the filters in the furnace are, at best, slim to none. Before the next heating season, replace your furnace filters. It will make your apartment a healthier environment as well as help your furnace run more efficiently. Again you can try to have your landlord deduct the costs from your rent, but even if that doesn’t happen, replacing the furnace filters is worth it regardless. The same runs true for air conditioning units as well.
Lawn care. While most landlords do care for the lawn at their properties, they usually show up early Saturday morning with gas powered equipment to cut the lawn. Consider offering to care for the lawn yourself, and instead of a gas mower, use an un-powered push mower to get the job done. Again, ask the landlord if they would reduce your rent to compensate, but even if they won’t, the added exercise and not having to deal with early morning Saturday visits from the landlord just may be enough to make it worth it for you to take care of yourself.
Apartment living and living green may not always go hand and hand, but you can make a difference even if you rent an apartment, and even if your landlord doesn’t necessarily make green living a priority. Every effort on your part does count.
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