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P2 House - Living Room

Pollution Prevention (P2) House

Living Room

Revised On: Nov. 24, 2023 - 8:20 a.m.

Common living room products contain ingredients that are considered household hazardous waste. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines household hazardous waste as anything that is corrosive or toxic, can explode under certain circumstances or can catch fire and react. This may include lighting, pesticides or bug repellants, window and floor cleaners, and aerosol products. Avoid disposing such waste in a landfill by:

  • Purchasing environmentally friendly products for window and floor cleaning
  • Disposing of electronic waste such as computers, printers, televisions and phones at appropriately designated e-waste events or disposal areas
  • Disposing of items such as old lighting, mercury containing bulbs, batteries and chemicals (e.g. cleaning products, pesticides and aerosols) through your local household hazardous waste event

Insulation

Ensuring your home is free of air leaks leads to both energy and utility bill savings, especially during summer months. For step-by-step instructions, visit the EPA's Energy Star Seal and Insulate page | Visit Page >

Window Treatments

Reduce energy usage and utility costs by furnishing your home with window treatments. Curtains, blinds and shades help keep the sun out during Arizona’s hot months, when temperatures can climb to 110-plus degrees. When upgrading windows, doors and skylights, be sure to look for the EPA's Energy Star label to make the most of savings. Learn more about the EPA's Energy Label | Visit Site >

Solar Window Screens

Replacing old screens with solar window screens can block up to 80 percent of the sun’s rays. This not only keeps your home cooler and reduces energy costs, it also protects furniture and carpets from fading.

Curtains

Curtains both block sunlight during the summer heat and create privacy. Blackout curtains reduce light, noise and energy costs with many brands advertising up to a 99 percent reduction of light and a 40 percent reduction of outside noise.

Shades

Unlike other window treatments, shades allow you to block solar light while maintaining an outside view.

Low Emissive Glass

Treated with an invisible coating (metal or metallic oxide), low emissive glass reflects solar heat while still allowing light to enter the window. This not only reduces heat that enters your home during summer, it also prevents heat loss in winter.

Skylights

Though a higher investment, skylights take advantage of natural light, reducing the need for artificial lighting and thus reducing energy costs. Research glass coatings that allow light, but not too much heat, from entering your home.

Energy-Efficient Lighting

Changing just 15 bulbs to energy-saving models saves about $50 per year in your home energy bill. Traditionally, light bulbs were purchased by looking for the wattage measure, but when purchasing new bulbs, look for Lumens, which measure brightness.

Incandescent Light Bulbs

The earliest of all bulbs to provide light, incandescent bulbs use a wire filament made from tungsten metal. Since much of their energy is converted to heat and only a small percentage is converted into visible light, these bulbs are currently being phased out in favor of more energy-efficient designs.

Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL)

CFLs use less energy and maintain a longer lifespan than incandescent bulbs. Since CFLs contain mercury, special care must be taken with broken bulbs and they should never be thrown in the trash, but recycled instead.

Light emitting Diodes (LEDs)

With a lifespan and energy efficiency superior to both incandescent bulbs and CFLs, LEDs are the newest bulbs. While their initial cost is higher, most bulbs last for about 15 years.

Learn more about energy-efficient lighting | Watch Video >