A

A change in seasons can signal an exciting time to make some minor adjustments to improve your quality of life at home. Check out these quick tips to make your home healthier for you, your family and the planet!

Eliminate chemicals in your home. Cleaning products can contain harmful chemicals that linger in the air and on surfaces. Natural products like baking soda and vinegar make great cleaning products alone or together! Baking soda gets rid of odors and acts as a gentle abrasive, while vinegar acts as a natural disinfectant.

Eliminate household odors at the source. Got a sneaky odor lurking in your kitchen or bathroom?

If your dishwasher doesn’t run much, or if you have a spare bath that isn’t used often, those drains can be a common source of odor. When they're not used regularly, the water that typically seals your P-trap can evaporate, allowing sewer gasses to infiltrate your home. Try running your dishwasher on a short cycle and very briefly running the water in your sink, tub or shower to replace the water in your P-trap and reactivate the seal. While you’re at it, clean the filter in the bottom of your dishwasher frequently to get rid of any trapped food and debris. Using candles, plug-ins, or air fresheners may cover up the smell temporarily, but these products can add hazardous chemicals to your indoor environment without correcting the issue.

Save energy this summer! There are a multitude of initiatives you can take to conserve energy and reduce your carbon footprint, especially during the summer when our cooling bills can skyrocket. First, ask your local energy company to conduct an energy audit on your home. During this process, they’ll check to ensure your doors and windows are sealed properly, and that your insulation is in good shape. You’ll want to make sure you have at least 10” of insulation on the floor of your attic, and that it is evenly distributed. Take the time to inquire with your energy provider about a time-of-use plan that can help to reduce the cost of your energy usage.

Already rocking a time-of-use plan? Make sure to use appliances during off-peak hours, and if you’ve got an EV in the garage, charge it during morning hours.

If you work from home, review all of your electronic devices for energy efficiency and replace old or aging equipment with computers and printers that employ energy saving modes. Connect all devices to a smart power strip that can be operated remotely for the utmost convenience.

Ditch that saltwater filtration system!

Saltwater filtration systems add salt to the groundwater and use a lot of additional water to flush out their systems. Arizona’s public drinking water is hard and the calcification in the water creates build-up on plumbing fixtures and doesn’t feel good on your skin or hair. To improve your water quality, invest in an alternative whole-home system that employs a multi-stage filter to include a combination of UV, copper/zinc and carbon filtration.

Making these moderate adjustments can have a sizable and positive impact on your pocketbook, your lifestyle, and our planet.