Canadians love nature – and why not? There’s a whole lot to love, from coast to coast and from the majestic Rockies to the vast Great Lakes. It’s true, most of us now live in cities but, from hiking, camping, canoeing and rock-climbing to boating, skating and skiing, the great outdoors is never too far away – in body or in spirit.
The most recent statistics tell us that nearly one in five Canadian households participates in volunteer activities during the year, taking care of wildlife or the environment 1.
But how can we improve at our green practices inside the home when it comes to home comfort? We’ve put together a few simple ways Canadians are already reducing their carbon footprint here:
Heating Our Homes
Despite energy usage in Canada increasing between 1990 and 2017 due to the growing number of households and appliance usage, energy efficiency in homes improved 51%. That saved Canadians $14.6 billion in energy costs in 2017, coming in around $84/household per month.2
According to the latest Environment Canada study, we heat our homes using over 75% electricity and natural gas3 and 32% of all heating systems in Canada are high-efficiency gas furnaces. That’s a huge jump from 1990, which was sitting at just 3%. Want to learn more about high-efficiency furnaces and how to better manage your energy usage? Take a look at our Ultimate Furnace Guide and our article about the Benefits of Smart Thermostats.
Cooling Our Homes
As we approach summer, ways we can efficiently cool our homes is top of mind. Old air conditioning systems can be energy suckers and many Canadians want to make more sustainable and eco-friendly choices. That means upgrading to energy-efficient air conditioners and heat pumps. What’s a heat pump? A heat pump can both cool and heat your home. You can read all the reasons why heat pumps are a great, convenient choice that could help reduce your carbon footprint here.
Visit our Ultimate Air Conditioning Guide to learn more about how to find the right air conditioner for your needs.
Going Paperless
Many of us have already switched to paperless billing for the services we use in our homes. At Reliance™, we’re encouraging our customers to switch to paperless billing to help reduce CO2 emissions and paper consumption involved in delivering. In 2021, Reliance is committed to planting approximately 10,000 trees – one tree for every ten customers that switch to paperless – with One Tree Planted. Click here to go paperless!
Offset Your Carbon
Like you, Reliance wants to protect our natural environment for future generations. That’s why we’re proud to introduce the Carbon Offset Home Heating Program.
For the first time, Reliance customers renting SmartAir™ Green Series products have the opportunity to purchase carbon credits which are roughly equal to the greenhouse gas emissions from their equipment.
Reducing Water Waste
Did you know that older toilets use up to almost 23 litres of water every time you flush? If you have a household leak, a running toilet is most likely to blame and could be responsible for losing up to around 680 litres a week. That’s a whopping 35,360 litres a year!4 Imagine how that would look on a water bill! Thankfully, many Canadians have upgraded to efficient, low-flow toilets that use much less water, and if you have a running toilet, we can get that fixed fast! Visit our Plumping Repair page here and our latest plumbing offers here.
As well as reducing the amount of water we use, we want to reduce the amount of energy it uses. Some tips for this are switching to a tankless water heater, replacing your shower head and faucets with low-flow fixtures, doing laundry and running dishwashers with only full loads and using cold water instead of hot.5
Enjoy the Great Outdoors!
Finally, if you really need a reason to love and appreciate Canada in all its natural beauty, get out and enjoy one of our National Parks! Explore parks near you online and book your visit with Parks Canada.
1Statistics Canada
2Natural Resources Canada
3Natural Resources Canada
4Environmental Protection Agency
5Natural Resources Canada
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