Living in an apartment means, among other things, that you’re not taking up nearly as much space as someone in a house. You are helping out the planet just by creating less of a physical footprint. The taller the building, the more people per square foot of earth.

Unfortunately, many ecological decisions are already made for you when you live in an apartment. You don’t have much say about things like what kind of toilet is installed in your bathroom, or about whether or not your living space is designed to optimize temperature with minimal use of resources.

That’s not to say apartment dwellers can’t take steps to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle; of course they can. Here are some of the easiest and most basic things you can do while living in an apartment to be friendlier to the world around you:

• Consider energy-efficient modifications to windows and doors. You can install weather stripping, for example, or plastic sheeting to keep heat in during the winter and keep the heat out during the summer.
• Use CFL light bulbs. Get rid of your incandescent lights. They just use less electricity, which will save you money on your electric bill over time. You can also ask your landlord to consider switching to CFLs.
• Turn off your lights and appliances. If you’re not home, don’t run the television. Don’t leave your computer on overnight. When you leave a room, flip the light switch. These are basic behavioral changes that can save money and help save the environment.
• Pay attention to packaging. Try to buy products that use less packaging, and ones that are made from recycled materials. Consider buying fabric reusable grocery bags rather than plastic bags.
• Go digital. If you still subscribe to a paper, consider stopping your subscription and reading the news online. Same goes for magazines. Many magazines and papers now have a subscription model that allows you to get the same content digitally that you used to get in print.
• Save water. Take showers, not baths. Consider asking your landlord to install a low-flush toilet. If she won’t, you may be able to modify your toilet by placing a milk jug filled with sand (sealed tightly, of course) in your toilet tank to reduce the amount of water it uses. Faucet aerators and low-flush showerheads may be something the landlord will allow you to install yourself.
• Get renters insurance. OK, I’ll admit, renters insurance won’t help you live green. But, it will save you some green if something bad happens to your apartment.

Photo via Robert S. Donovan