Creating a resilient community starts inside every Fort Lauderdale home, and every one of our neighbors has a role to play. Take these four actions to help us reach our city's sustainability goals and you'll be saving money along the way.
Think big and think small to use less energy. Lowering your energy consumption is easy to do. Just come at it from both ends. Small actions, like raising the thermostat by one degree or turning out the lights when you leave a room, really add up. Bigger things, like replacing old appliances with those that are Energy Star rated, or trying alternative energy can save much more. Check our tips for saving energy, and for greening each room in your house.
Save water. Fort Lauderdale's refreshing and delicious water is one of our most precious resources. As our community contends with the effects of sea level rising and also the occasional drought, we all need to think like conservationists. Check our tips for saving water inside your home, always be sure to check for leaky pipes and fixtures, and when you can switch to low flow faucets and appliances.
Use your carts, bins and dumpsters carefully. One of the most powerful ways our neighbors can help our city is to make less trash and throw it out properly. The fact is that we pay to process our trash and it goes to a landfill where it potentially creates more greenhouse gases. Recycling, on the other hand, generates income to support all of our sanitation services and it's good for the environment too. No matter where you live in our city, or in what type of building you live, you have the means to recycle. Take a few moments to learn how to do it, what not to recycle, and what to do with the things you can't, like hazardous waste, electronics, oversized items.
Make green choices and buy locally when you can. Today's environmentally conscious products are high quality, reasonably priced and readily available. Take a few minutes to get to know the standards for green purchasing and then simply look for the labels when you shop. Switching to CFL or LED light bulbs saves energy, biodegradable cleaners are better for our water system, and low VOC paints improve your indoor air quality. And when you shop close to home, you save fuel, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and put money into our local economy.
