Making more sustainable choices at home can help you reduce your carbon footprint and shave a few bucks off your energy bill. But, if you’re a renter or you’re strapped for space, finding ways to be more eco-friendly can be a challenge. Here are some quick sustainable living wins for your rental property.
While they may be cheaper, incandescent lights are massive energy-suckers — they use large amounts of electricity and have a super short shelf-life. LED lights, on the other hand, use at least 75% less energy and last 25 times longer than incandescent bulbs1. Switching to LED bulbs is a great way to reduce your long-term carbon footprint, and can help you save on your energy bill (your housemates will thank you!).
When sent to landfill, food waste — even just your tiny dinner scraps — is a massive contributor to green house gas emissions. One way to give back to the earth from home is to turn your scraps into rich top soil, aka liquid gold, by composting. Starting your own small system can be super easy and cheap with a bokashi bin. A tiny bin that sits on your benchtop, a bokashi bin breaks down and pickles your waste so you can use it to make your little veggie garden blossom. Many councils now even give residents a bokashi bin for free!
You may think a veggie garden requires a large backyard, but you can start one easily using just an outdoor wall as a vertical garden, or a pot on your balcony. By growing your own veggies, you can eliminate harmful pesticides used to grow what you buy from some supermarkets, helping to reduce water and air pollution. Growing your own produce can also help reduce the fossil fuels emitted by planes and trucks on their journey from the farm to the shops.
Once your veggie garden is set up, remember to get covered with AAMI Home and Contents Insurance. We cover pot plants, as well as decorative pieces and other personal items too.
Even if you don’t own a home, you can still get coverage for your valuables. Check out our Contents Only Insurance.
Running your washing machine with hot water can account for up to 90% of the energy it uses2. Instead, try running your machine on cold. It’s a much more sustainable way to do your washing. Hot tip — washing with cold can reduce wrinkles, which means you’ll need to iron less, helping you cut your carbon footprint even further.
Did you know whitegoods, like your fridge and washing machine, are some of the largest contributors to energy usage in a household? While energy-efficient goods may be more expensive, their operating costs (ie, the damage to your electricity bill) are much lower. So if you’re shopping around for whitegoods, pay attention to the energy label. Yes, that’s what that coloured label is for!
If you’ve added a veggie pot or two to your pad, or upgraded your whitegoods, you’ll want to make sure they’re covered by your insurance. Ideal for renters, AAMI Contents Insurance can cover these items, so if anything were to happen, you can keep living your eco-friendly lifestyle at home.
Explore AAMI Contents Insurance for Renters
Making the switch to a greener energy provider is a sure fire way to reduce your carbon footprint and live a more sustainable life at home. Rather than investing in traditional fossil fuels, like coal and gas, green energy providers use renewable energy sources, like solar and wind.
Don’t know where to begin? The Australian Government funded GreenPower program lets you swap out your standard electricity usage with 100% renewable energy.
Read more:
1Energy.gov/energysaver/save-electricity-and-fuel/lighting-choices-save-you-money/led-lighting
Insurance issued by AAI Limited ABN 48 005 297 807 trading as AAMI. Any advice has been prepared without taking into account your particular objectives, financial situation or needs, so you should consider whether it is appropriate for you before acting on it. Please read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement before you make any decision regarding this product. The Target Market Determination is also available.
The information is intended to be of general nature only. Subject to any rights you may have under any law, we do not accept any legal responsibility for any loss or damage, including loss of business or profits or any other indirect loss, incurred as a result of reliance upon the information. Please make your own enquiries.
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