Supporting the Green Movement with Your Property 

People are becoming increasingly interested in living “greener” everyday lives by reducing their carbon footprint and incorporating practices like recycling and reducing water use. As property managers, steps can be taken to support and implement these practices.

Recycle Bins and Carts
According to a 2014 survey by the National Waste and Recycling Association, one of every three Americans don’t know the proper way to separate recyclable items. Clearly labelling recycling carts and bins, and placing them in accessible places around the property can be helpful to residents.

Provide Information about Recycling
A Kelton Global survey showed the recycle rate in America to be 34.5%, but with many people saying they would recycle more if they knew what items can be recycled. America Recycles Day is set for November 15th of 2015. Property managers could take advantage of the occasion to host a community event with information about recycling.

Recycling tips and methods could also be sent out through email newsletters, text message alerts, or posted to your company website. Just make the focus on digital information to avoid the use of extra paper.

Take Steps to Reduce Waste
More residents are also looking for ways to decrease the strain on natural resources, which means they’ll be expecting properties that honor this. According to Strata research in 2013, 64% of young adults age 18-33 were willing to pay more rent if they could live in a greener community.
Here are some ways to reduce waste in your community rental properties:

• Install low-water toilets and ENERGY-STAR-certified appliances.
• Encourage online applications and leasing contracts, and store resident files in the Cloud instead of using physical files.
• Make virtual tours and digital PDFs of floor plans available on your website instead of printed layouts.
• Send electronic monthly statements through email or text messages instead of mailing them.

Being more eco-minded is important to many residents renters, and it’s a smart move for a property owner to employ practices that encourage this. Not only will you attract more attention from conscious apartment seekers, you’ll also increase respect from colleagues and peers.

Source: Supporting the Green Movement with Your Property –