Love Where You Live

Live Green. Green Living. Both common phrases used to describe how we live, what products we use, when we use these products and even why we choose to live a sustainable and responsible lifestyle.

Now, we can take these phrases a little more literal and apply them to where we live.

As someone who has lived in rental apartments for the past 10 plus years, and someone who is conscious of my environmental impact, one of the biggest frustrations with the properties I have called home is the lack of a sustainability plan. Or, if there is a plan in place, the lack of accountability and communication with tenants regarding the important topic of sustainability.

Like many, I work hard to separate my waste, and conserve water and energy. But, when I see that our recycling stream is contaminated with non-recyclables and the building's lawn sprinklers come on in the middle of a hot summer's day, I'll admit, it's quite frustrating. And quite discouraging. And in a building of hundreds of tenants, I'm sure I'm not the only way that feels that way.

Recycle? Check. Walk to school? Check. Turn off the light? Check. So inspired by the resident's at a recent CRB building event I attended!

Thanks to the Certified Rental Building (CRB) Program, it's now possible to rent with confidence. When you see the “Rent with Confidence” Certified Rental Building Program symbol you can be assured that the building and the property manager responsible for the building have met the over 55 requirements of the only multi-residential apartment building quality assurance “certification” program in North America.

What is most impressive about this program is that 10 new environmental standards of practice are now a part of the CRB Program quality assurance commitment. The "Living Green Together " standards focus on four main practices - reducing energy consumption, reducing water consumption, reducing waste and promoting recycling and promoting conservation.

Ultimately, the goal of these standards is to reduce the environmental footprint of rental apartment buildings, while promoting healthy and more sustainable apartment communities.

Our future generation sure knows where its as when it comes to how you can green your community!

When you think of it, these standards really are no brainers. Reducing our energy consumption, recycling and promoting conservation are all actions that we be striving to achieve each day already. If not for the environment, for our wallets and for what we will be leaving behind for our future generations.

Thanks to CRB, residents can now be assured that when they choose to live in a Certified Rental Building they are selecting a Property Manager and staff that not only care about the quality of their building and the service provided, but also the impact that daily operations have upon the environment.

And to me, that is extremely important.

Find a "greener" CRB apartment home and live the CRB quality difference! Join the over 225,000 Ontario residents living in over 950 CRBP-approved apartment communities across the province. Learn more about the program here.

See more from the recent CRB event I attended here.

Do you live in a CRB building? Be sure to watch for a CRB event coming to you this summer! And don't forget to enter the #LoveCRB contest on Instagram to win some great prizes!