This article was originally published in the April/May 2002 issue of Real Money.
Almost everybody will rent living space at least once in his or her lifetime. More than 30 percent of American households rent a home or apartment. But renters face some major challenges when trying to live green. They don't have as much control over their living spaces: It's the landlords who hire repair personnel, arrange to maintain the grounds, and sometimes control the temperature settings. In addition, many green renovations are hard to take with you when you move – you can't often pack up a whole houseful of storm windows and take them to a new living space, for example. Also, it's hard to justify spending large chunks of money on low-flush toilets or an efficient washing machine if you won't get the benefit of an increased sale price when it's time to leave.
What's a sustainably minded renter to do?
It's true that the decision to switch your 400-family apartment building to solar power may not be in your hands. But more things may be under your control than you think.
Keep the Control You Have
Your first step as a green renter is to know your rights and exercise them. Roof and plumbing leaks, poorly maintained furnaces and boilers, cracked walls, or ill-fitting doors are not only health and safety problems, they are also wasteful and polluting. Landlords have an obligation to keep your living space habitable. Hold them to it! To learn more about your rights as a tenant, check out Renters' Rights: The Basics (Nolo Press, 2005), or visit Nolo's Renters' Rights page.
Painting. When you're first moving into a new rental, the landlord is required to deliver the apartment or home in habitable condition. That often means your new place will get a fresh coat of paint – which is laden with toxic chemicals. If you're happy with the current paint job, say so. Or, you can offer to supply less-toxic paint or do it yourself. To find trustworthy brands, consult Co-op America's National Green Pages. (If the home or apartment building you're renting was built before 1978, it may also contain lead-based paint. See sidebar.)
Pest Control. Your landlord is required to provide pest control, if needed, which can often mean your living space is subjected to monthly sprayings of toxic pesticides. You aren't required to accept those chemicals, however. The last time this author let the exterminator into her apartment, the result was an asthma attack that almost sent her to the hospital. (It didn't affect the bug population much.) So the next time the exterminator came calling, she politely told him his services weren't needed. She's been successfully using boric acid and other nontoxic alternatives. To learn more about less-toxic pest control, check out the Bio-Integral Resource Center (510-524-2567), which offers the book Common Sense Pest Control, or try the book Natural Pest Control, by Andrew Lopez (Invisible Gardener, 2003).
To get rid of that scourge of apartment living – mice – green-living expert Annie Berthold-Bond recommends Fresh Cab herbal air fresheners, which are made of essential oils, spices, and corn-cob chips. Fresh Cab is effective in chasing away mice, flies, moths, and mosquitos, Annie says, and you can also use them as nontoxic mothballs. To find a retailer near you, contact Crane Creek Gardens, 800-583-2921.
Plumbing. Older buildings are often plagued by plumbing problems, particularly habitually clogging drains. Anna White, of Washington, DC, says her landlord tried to solve his older building's drain clogging problem by buying every tenant a bottle of chemical drain opener. Happily, Anna's bottle is sitting unopened, since one cup each of baking soda and vinegar, chased 15 minutes later with a kettle of boiling water, always manages to do the trick when her drain clogs. You can also use nontoxic drain cleaners, available from Real Goods, Seventh Generation, and other green companies.
Energy. While most renters pay their own electricity bills, some may have theirs included in the monthly rental price. Most apartment dwellers have the cost of oil or gas heat included. When you're looking to rent a place, you may want to search for one that has separate utility metering. That way you can control your own temperature settings, as well as track (and reap!) the benefits from any energy-saving adjustments you make.
Whether you pay your energy bill or your landlord does, you can take steps to save energy and resources. Diane Fitzsimmins of Norman, Oklahoma, rents a duplex. Since the rental is a short-term arrangement, Diane says her family focuses on things that bring immediate return, like installing compact fluorescent lightbulbs, arranging for annual performance checks on the furnace and air conditioners to ensure they're operating at maximum efficiency, and using a clothesline in the backyard.
Unless you're moving our next month, don't write off improvements you can't take with you either. Get out a calculator – you might be surprised to find that some improvements will pay for themselves in a year or two.
Get the Landlord In On It
Once the basics are out of the way, you may want to use some creativity to help your landlord go the extra step with you. Here are some principles to remember when trying this:
- Always emphasize the cost savings of any green improvements you'd like to see made.
- If it's feasible, offer to do the work and get reimbursed. If that's not possible, offer detailed but straightforward information about the improvement you are suggesting and how to do it.
- Go in expecting cooperation: It just might work! But if you meet reluctance, organize other tenants! (See "How Lee Got His Apartment Building to Recycle," below.)
Adapt Sustainable Strategies
Some "green living" tips that assume homeownership can be adapted to the renter's advantage. Composting organic waste, for example, is something most yardless folks assume is out of their league. But when Anna White's garbage disposal broke, she discovered an alternative – vermi-composting. Vermi-composting is cheap, do-it-yourself, and generally odorless. To vermi-compost, you set up an aerated bin with some bedding (newspaper, soil) and red worms. The worms eat the bedding and organic waste and quickly transform it into a rich, dark soil that's perfect for fertilizing house plants. Worms in a 16"x19"x12" bin can process two to three pounds of garbage a week. Now Anna tosses her veggie scraps, eggshells, and other organic waste in a bin that's small enough to fit under a sink, or in a closet. For more information, check out Worms Eat My Garbage, by Mary Applehof (Flower Press, 1997).
Another space saver idea: Tom Osher of San Francisco didn't have space to grow his own food, so he used soda bottles to make compact gardens. You might also check in with your neighbors for green solutions you can do together. Join a community garden, for example, or bring your compost to a neighbor with a yard and a large bin.With a little imagination, you can find plenty of ways to adapt large-scale green living ideas for your home or apartment.
Celebrate the Rental
Renting has some inherently sustainable aspects: Less storage space provides a great incentive for reducing the amount of stuff we own. Urban multifamily living uses less land per person and provides the critical mass needed for public transportation, efficient recycling pickup, and walkable commercial districts. And in today's world, what could be more sustainable than that?
How Lee Got His Apartment Building to Recycle
When Lee Sonko moved to Jersey City, NJ, he took an apartment in a brand new high-rise building run by a large corporation. After moving in, he noticed that there were no recycling bins in the garbage rooms – and recycling was the law in the city. "I asked a worker if the building recycled," Lee recalls. "He laughed."
After frustrating calls to management and to an understaffed city enforcement agency, Lee made a flyer asking residents to call the management, the city agency, and the mayor. The flyer also referenced a Web site he created where people could read the city's recycling ordinance and discuss the situation. One night, he placed the flyers under the doors of almost every one of the 400 apartments in the building.
Two weeks later, recycling bins appeared. "Before this, I had 500 neighbors who didn't recycle," says Lee. "Now at least half of them do – and all of them have the option."
Lead is a dangerous neurotoxin, especially to children. The EPA has also cited it as a probable carcinogen. While most experts recommend leaving lead paint alone if it's in good condition, lead particles can become airborne as a result of friction caused by using windows or doors with painted frames. Double check the paint in these areas to be sure it's not deteriorating.
Unfortunately, landlords are only required by federal law to disclose the presence of lead paint, not remove it. They may legally state that they have no knowledge of lead paint in your building, but if it was built before 1978, they must give you the EPA's brochure, "Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home." However, some state regulations require landlords to remove lead-based paint from their rental properties. To check state or local regulations in your area or for more information, call the National Lead Information Center at 800-424-LEAD, or the Alliance for Healthy Homes. They can help you find certified professionals in your area to detect lead levels in your home. (Do-it-yourself tests exist, but they're not always accurate.)
