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How to Get Sustainable Solutions for Your Belongings
People are awakening to the dangers of not putting our environment and planet first. There are numerous environmental hazards present in our daily lives, and many try to be as eco-conscious as they can be.
Did you know that you can make eco-friendly choices when it comes to self-storage? In fact, the act of self-storage itself is an environmentally friendly choice. Instead of disposing of your items so that they end up on a dump, you’re keeping them stored for later use again.
The storage industry is already fairly ‘green’, with carbon emissions being lower due to modern building practices, such as better insulation and modern air conditioners. If you’re looking to make your storage unit more eco-friendly, we have some tips for you.
1. Solar energy
Keep an eye out for a self-storage facility that makes use of solar panels, which convert the sun’s energy into electricity that can be used to power lights and plug points. They also enable the facility to rely less on the national grid, which we know is completely unreliable now, and offer a more consistent power supply, making solar energy a double win for you and for the facility itself.
2. Motion sensors
Motion sensors can be used for a few applications, most notably for the lights within a storage facility. Rather than keeping all the lights on all the time, motion sensors will detect when a person is nearby and turn on only the lights needed in that particular section of the facility. This is an energy-efficient way for the storage company to save money on its electricity bill, and therefore, do its part for the environment.
3. LED lighting
One easy way for anyone to reduce their carbon footprint is to use LED lights. These are affordable enough for the average individual and business and save a great deal of electricity. LED stands for light-emitting diode and are up to 80% more efficient than incandescent lightbulbs. They work by having an electrical current pass through a microchip which lights up the teeny-tiny light sources that make up an LED bulb—resulting in visible light.
4. Eco-friendly cleaning chemicals
Ask your storage facility what kind of chemicals they use to clean their storage units. Many use harsh ones, believing this to be the only way to ensure that the facility remains clean and sanitised. But it’s possible to do just as a good a job with eco-friendly chemicals, namely water-based ones, which are less harmful to the environment.
Why does this matter for a storage facility, though? Because the chemicals can leak into groundwater or evaporate, leading to damage to the environment.
5. Digital records
Many people still rely on paper copies of invoices and quotes to run their business, but this isn’t doing the environment any favours. Try to pick a storage company that makes use of digital records for its business. One way to do this is to introduce electronic signatures in customer agreements.
If it does need to use paper records, see if you can discover whether the facility recycles the paper once it’s done using it.
6. Location
Yes, being close to your home or work is not only convenient, but it’s also more environmentally conscious. If you have to drive an hour just to reach your storage unit, you’re going to be using a lot of fuel—unnecessarily, because you could choose one that’s much closer to you.
Easy Store is located in Randburg, a close, central, and convenient location for many major areas around Johannesburg.
7. Good insulation
Particularly with air-conditioned units, having excellent insulation for the storage unit is a must. Preventing this air from escaping is not only more eco-friendly, but it saves the storage company money in having to use less energy to cool the room.
It’s also a good idea to use a more modern inverter system air conditioner. These are much more energy efficient than the older styles, as they cool the room to the temperature desired and then maintain that temperature using technology similar to climate control.
Have you ever considered any of these factors when you’ve looked for a self-storage unit? It might not be the first place you look to when you want to behave environmentally friendly, but doing your bit by choosing a facility that practises good eco-conscious behaviours is a small step that makes a big difference.
At Easy Store, we have a unique way to save you on fuel. We offer storage units that we’ll deliver to your home or office directly, enabling you to pack up your goods right there on your property. Once you’re finished, we’ll come and collect your self-storage unit and take it back to our facility. Easy as that. Along with fuel savings, we use unique space-saving techniques that make our facilities eco-friendly and ideal for a sustainable storage experience.
