Renting and living green

When you’re renting it’s harder to make changes to your home – but it doesn’t mean you have to lower your sustainable living standards. Tenants can make plenty of environmentally friendly choices for the flat or apartment that don’t involve tearing down walls or spending lots of money.  

All the standard no-cost or low-cost principles for living green apply whether you’re renting or owning a home. Using eco-bulbs, wrapping your hot water cylinder so it stays warmer for longer, limiting draughts, switching off unused appliances, fixing leaky taps and smart shopping all help to improve sustainability.

Choosing a place to live

The first and probably most important step on your path to green living is choosing where you’ll live.  Here are some tips to help: 

• Location, location, location – try to find a place that’s close to where you work, study, or regularly visit and preferably near good public transport.
• Add sustainability to your checklist – along with the usual questions about rent or room size ask yourself the following questions when you’re looking at renting a home:
    -is it insulated?
    -does it get good northerly sun? 
    -is the heating modern and efficient?
• Find a landlord who is happy for you to make green alterations to your home.
• Find out whether the local council offers a recycling / rubbish separation collection service.
• Ask the landlord whether you can create an organic compost area in the back yard.

You could also try negotiating some green deals for example –

• If the house is not insulated your landlord may be able to access a clean heating or insulation grant through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority’s  (EECA) ENERGYWISE programme.  Insulation and clean heating can add value to your landlord’s house so you might pay a bit more rent but you will save money on your heating costs and having a warm dry home has added health benefits.
• See if your landlord will reimburse you for a water-efficient shower head if you buy and install it.
• Put processes in place to manage leaky taps and other maintenance issues before they become a problem.   

Remember, you must get your landlord’s agreement before making any alterations to your home.  

Saving heat – low cost tips

Putting insulation in the ceiling is the best way of conserving heat and saving power. But if your landlord can’t be persuaded to do that, here are some handy heat-saving tips from Wellington City Council Eco Design Advisor Claire Benge:

Remember that if you are renting a property and you want to make alterations to the property to make it more ‘green’ or add fixtures then s42 of the Residential Tenancies Act  only allows you to do so if that has been agreed to in the tenancy agreement, or you get the prior written consent to do so from the landlord.

• Window drafts can be stopped by fixing V-seal to window frames where the window sash closes. V-seal is a flexible, adhesive-backed V shaped vinyl strip that fills gaps from one to five millimetres. Check the internet for your nearest supplier.
• Draught stoppers for the door can be made by stuffing a couple of old socks with rags or rolled up newspaper. 
• Low-cost window insulator kits can be fixed to timber (but not aluminium) window sashes using double sided tape. These are made of an acrylic sheet, like a thick glad wrap, which creates a kind of temporary double glazing for the window.
• Thermal backed curtains only stop reflected heat or cold, so two layers of curtains with a gap in between them are more effective. Choose a heavy material for the outside layer and light calico for the side closest to the window. By attaching a single row of rufflette tape to the side of the heavier curtain which faces the window, you can hook on a lighter curtain that creates another layer.
• Solar shutters can be made from pinex softboard. These can be cut to fit snugly into the inside of a south facing window at night. They reduce noise, draughts and heat loss.
• Don’t dry clothes inside - it introduces extra moisture into the house, and it encourages condensation and mould growth.
• Don’t choose unflued gas heaters – they are not the cheapest form of heating and are not good for your health because they produce air pollutants and can increase respiratory problems for some people. The cheapest short term heating for renters are electric column heaters or radiators. These should be on timer plugs as well to ensure they are used efficiently. But you should also stop drafts, improve curtains and insulate where you can.

Check out the rest of Claire’s blog.

External links

• Several councils operate an Eco Design Advisor service. Check out the Eco Design Advisor website to find out if there's one in your area.
• For more information on the health risks from unflued gas heaters, check the Ministry of Health website.
• Find out how you can make your home warmer, drier and healthier for you and your family on the Smarter Homes website.