Santa Cruz Real Estate News & Information

You’re ready to dip your toe into the “green” ocean by adding a few environmentally-friendly features to your Santa Cruz home and taking a “greener” attitude toward the way you live.  Whether you’re doing this strictly to help the planet, to save money or a combination, implementing water-saving systems and habits is a good place to start. 
Here are 10 ways you can conserve water in your Santa Cruz home:

1. Plant landscaping that requires minimal watering.  In the U.S.A., up to 1.5 billion gallons of water are wasted daily watering yards.  If the landscaping project is too expensive or time consuming right now, the next four tips give you easier-to-implement ideas for conserving water in your yard.

2. Water your lawn only when it truly needs it.  Walk across the grass to test if your lawn needs water.  If you leave footprints, it’s time to water. 

3. Water your lawn in the early morning.  Up to 30 percent of the water can evaporate when you water midday.

4. Set your lawn mower one notch higher.  This makes your lawn more drought-tolerant.

5. Buy a rain barrel.  Save rain water to water your lawn and garden.

6. Clean your concrete slabs with a broom.  Especially in the summertime, many people spray their concrete driveways, sidewalks or patios with water to clean them.

7. Wash your car using a bucket of water.  Or, use a commercial car wash that recycles water.  Call around to find one in your area that recycles water.

8. Wash full loads of laundry and dishes.  Use your water-saver cycle.  Scrape, rather than rinse, dishes before loading into the dishwasher.  Consider purchasing a high efficiency washing machine which can save over 50% in laundry water and energy use.

9. Check for water leaks.  Promptly fix any you find.  Check your water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used.  If the meter changes at all, you most likely have a leak.

10. Keep a bottle of water in the refrigerator. Don’t waste water waiting for it to run cold from the faucet.  When your faucet runs for 5 minutes, it uses about as much energy as letting a 60-watt light bulb run for 14 hours. 

If you implement just a few of these suggestions, you’ll save one of our most valuable and scarce resources, and you’ll also save money.

If you’d like to buy an eco-friendly Santa Cruz home, I can help.  Give me a call today at 831-662-6522 or email me at Lauren@LaurenSpencer.com.

For more information, please visit my website at www.MySantaCruzRealEstate.com.