Sustainability is more than a buzzword: it’s a societal goal. Because despite all the chatter about “going green” and living a sustainable life, we haven’t been particularly good at it until recently. Even today, the number of people expected to live in water-stressed areas is likely to grow from 3.6 billion today to 5.7 billion in 2050. Waste generation is projected to grow by 70% from 2016 to 2050.

The figures above are likely to be a reflection of rapid population growth and the current effects of climate change, not necessarily ill-will towards the environment. There’s one thing that can help reverse these trends: technology.

Technological tools can help make up where society’s concerted efforts leave off. New leaps in tech make it easier than ever to not only make big changes but to do so in a way that’s inexpensive both in terms of cost and human effort. Even individuals can use them in their own homes to make a huge difference.

Here are some of the smart tools that you can use to live more sustainably — and some of the tools on their way.

Joining the Internet of Things

By now, you’ve already heard of at least one or two smart home products. Frankly, they’re everywhere, and in 2017 their prices had really started dropping. Now, fully outfitting a smart home can cost about $15,000, but each device on its own is relatively affordable, such as the $50 Echo Dot. These devices aren’t just hype, nor are they simple gadgets. When combined with basic energy smart tips, smart home tech brought to you by the Internet of Things can take you or your way to being low-waste or even carbon neutral.

If you’re just getting started, you can use sensor-enabled gadgets to do things like automating your lights, control your thermostat, and use smart power strips to turn off devices and minimize background energy usage. Smart light bulbs, smart thermostats, and smart plugs are easy to find and install.

Want to take your conservation efforts to the next level? Tackle your water usage. If you have to water your lawn, consider a smart irrigation system, which only uses as much water as necessary given the season and your plants. Although it’s not smart, you can also use a green showerhead, which displays your water use and gives you a better sense of how much water you use and when.

These are just the primary tried-and-tested products available on the market. As sensors become smaller and cheaper and networks become faster, you can bet there will be more!

Going Paperless

Paper in your home not only creates clutter, but it’s also generally wasteful. The production of junk mail alone takes 100 million trees and 28 billion gallons of water annually. And that’s just mail you don’t want: it doesn’t include all the mail and other papers that you do want.

Going out of your way to make yourself a paperless house and office impacts your home’s contribution to waste. You should at a minimum opt out of junk mail where you can. You can also use sites like Catalog Choice and OptOutPrescreen.com to help you minimize what’s sent to you. Where you can, sign up for online bill pay, e-statements, and digital receipts. You can also prioritize your print to keep it limited to only what needs to go.

One of the big fears people have about going paperless is disorganization. Filing cabinets maintain a sense of order, even if they are clunky. Taking hand-written notes helps you conceptualize things. And you need to print some documents to sign them, right? There are hundreds of productivity apps available to help you skip paper, including:

• Google Drive
• GoodNotes
• Scanbot
• PandaDoc
• Evernote Scannable

Don’t forget: you can create a digital signature so you never need to print, sign, and scan again!

Embracing the Future of Smart Homes

Many of the available tech tools are now well-established. You’re as likely to find them at home living shows as you are at your local Target or even hardware store. But where are we going next? Because automatic lights and smart temperature control are a step forward, but we need more for true sustainability.

Some of the tech trends coming down the pipeline are as sustainable as they are imaginative. For example, Tesla is testing solar roof tiles that look exactly like traditional roof tiles but provide power to homes. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are also in the process of developing smart fabrics and textiles, which generate electricity through movement. Imagine your curtains blowing in the wind and generating power for your home at the same time. Then, there are the electricity-generating wooden floorboards currently underway at the University of Madison.

When you combine these developments with the cheap sensors that already exist in today’s sustainable home tech, you could get a fully-integrated smart home that not only manages its own energy but creates it, too.

Using technology in an eco-friendly way can help us do so much more for the environment both as individuals and as a society.

What smart tech tools are you using in your home?

Share your thoughts and comments with us.

About the Author

Ainsley Lawrence is a freelance writer that lives in the Northwest region of the United States. She has a particular interest in covering topics related to good health, balanced life, and better living through technology. When not writing, her free time is spent reading and researching to learn more about her cultural and environmental surroundings. Find her on Twitter.

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