This guest-post is brought to you by Miranda.

April 22 marks Earth Day. And, in honor of Earth Day, there are several steps you can take to live a life that is less harmful to the earth. One of those ways is to “green” things up around your house. And you can do it using a home equity loan.

Right now, understandably, it can seem like a dubious idea to get into debt with your home in order to make your house more environmentally friendly. But if you take the appropriate steps, you can increase the value of your home, and save money in the long run.

First, be careful! Don’t take the entire amount you might be offered. Instead, only take what you need to complete your projects. Indeed, the more you can pay for up front, the better. You don’t want to end up with negative equity.

Next, evaluate the most pressing changes, and prioritize them. Replacing your windows with energy efficient panes, increasing the insulation in your home and installing solar panels are all upgrades that are more expensive (and have more of an impact). You can slowly change the bulbs in your home over time as well, but a home equity loan isn’t needed for such projects.

Finally, understand that there are some advantages to using a home equity loan to make your house greener. You will get interest that comes with tax benefits, and many states (in addition to the federal government) offer tax credits for going green. Additionally, before you take out your home equity loan, make sure you check for state grants. In many cases, you can have part of your green project paid for.

Miranda Marquit is a freelance writer specializing in personal finance. She writes for Lending Leaves and is an editor at DestroyDebt.com.