Being environmentally conscious is far more than a trend; it is a civic responsibility to do your part to make your neighborhood and our planet a cleaner place to live. Making your HOA practices more eco-friendly is easy to do and makes your community far more attractive to potential homeowners.

Let’s go over some of the simple and straightforward ways that you can make your neighborhood and community a greener place for everyone.

How to Become an Eco-Friendly HOA

Becoming an eco-friendly HOA is not as complicated as it might sound. Making some minor changes and instituting some new policies can reduce your environmental footprint and, in many cases, can make your process cheaper and more manageable. Here are some ideas for great ways to become an eco-friendlier HOA.

Make your Office a Green Office

There are tons of ways to make the HOA office more eco-friendly! Start by eliminating physical copies unless absolutely necessary. After a year of dealing with the pandemic, most things have moved online, and almost everyone accepts email and even iPhone images as copies of paperwork and documents.

This should be an easy change to make and save time and manpower when filing and record keeping. Ensure your office recycles and uses only recyclable products, such as coffee cups, to reduce your office’s environmental footprint.

Invest in Solar Power and Solar Lights

A great way to become an eco-friendlier HOA is to take the time and money to invest in solar power and lights for community buildings and common areas. This will reduce or eliminate energy bills, which in time will pay for the initial investment.

It is also important to note that investing in solar lighting in shared outdoor spaces throughout the community will keep the community safer and help its curb appeal with potential home buyers.

Make All Future Building Projects Green

Sometimes it is hard to get HOA board members to invest in changing something that is already done and seems to be working. It is much easier to institute a policy that mandates all future projects be done in a more environmentally friendly way.

This will ensure that your community will do future builds and expansions in a greener way, without having to convince board members to fund something they have just recently built or spent money on.

Reduce the HOA’s Water Use

You can easily invest in a system that will consider local weather conditions and timing to activate any watering systems you have. This will dramatically affect the amount of water directly used by the HOA and cut costs from day one. Take into account landscaping and choose plants and shrubs that do not require frequent watering.

Also, be sure that you keep your residents educated about water conservation matters such as shortening showers, not overwatering yards, and making sure that leaks are fixed in a timely fashion.

Start a Community Garden

Gardens are one of the best investments that anyone can make when wanting to become more eco-friendly. A community garden will also provide fresh produce and give residents a chance to come together and accomplish something.

Everyone can have fun and make friends, which will also bolster the community’s sense of community, making it a much nicer place to live.

AR Management can help boards with property, fiduciary, and decision management. If your HOA is looking for assistance, contact us today.