Happy Earth Day: 37 Ways to Make Your Home More Environmentally Friendly

A coat of paint or new upholstery can transform a seemingly outdated piece into a stylish addition to your home, saving both money and the environment. Not only does this prevent perfectly good items from ending up in landfills, but it also adds unique character to How to make your home more environmentally friendly your home. Thrift stores, online marketplaces, and garage sales are treasure troves waiting to be explored.

• Homemade dishwasher tablets allow you to use biodegradable and eco-friendly materials, minimizing waste and the release of harmful chemicals into water systems.
• Products made from recycled plastic and glass are also excellent for various home applications like countertops and insulation.
• But homeowners often switch out front doors and sell their old – but still efficient – version on local buy and sells.
• Most people end up wasting precious resources during cooking without realizing it.

Green from the Ground Up: Essentials of Sustainable Home Design

These contain toxins such as mercury, lead, beryllium, and arsenic, which can be harmful to the environment and our health. Some parts that make up electronics (steel, copper, iron, glass) can be recovered and made into new items, so they must be disposed of properly—don’t throw them in the trash! To help reduce e-waste, keep electrical products for at least seven years, or donate them when you’re done. Double-pane windows help keep cold air out in the winter and heat from the sun out in the summer. The high-performing windows can reduce the amount of heat escaping by up to 50%.

What Is an Ecological Footprint?

Choose fruits and veggies with minimal packaging, and bring your own reusable mesh bags when grocery shopping. When it’s time for you to shop in a new mattress, invest in an eco-friendly option—i.e., one that doesn’t contain VOCs, which are often found in flame retardants, formaldehyde, plastics and polyurethane. And be sure to recycle your old mattress so it doesn’t end up in a landfill. Spring cleaning is the perfect time to go through your closet Marie Kondo-style and get rid of items that no longer bring you joy.

• From gift-giving and feasting, to your choice of tree and even your Christmas Day outfit, the choices we make and where and how we spend our money has power.
• It expands within the building cavity just like traditional spray foam, providing an air-tight envelope.
• Thirsty Americans toss out two and a half-million plastic bottles every hour, and only about one quarter are recycled.
• The latest boilers on the market are a lot more heat and energy efficient than their older counterparts.
• Store-bought tablets can be expensive, particularly if you opt for eco-friendly brands.

MORE SUSTAINABILITY INFORMATION

Sign up for one of my free online interior design consultations and ask me anything you want. Sustainable living is more than just a thing treehuggers talk about. Read the latest posts on living with the planet’s wellbeing always in mind. We hope you enjoyed reading this as much as we enjoyed penning it down for you.

Energy waste is reduced when the heating or cooling system is set to run only when needed. As =https://ecosoberhouse.com/ a result, using such technology can be both environmentally and economically advantageous. Here are doable, affordable options for reducing your carbon footprint. One of the most popular (and best) ways to power your home with renewable energy is using solar panels. It is relatively easy to install a solar system in your home to give you free, eco-friendly energy, while adding value to your home.

Add greenery inside your home

Also worth considering are geothermal heat pumps, aka ground source heat pumps. These use pipes buried in the ground to extract energy, which is amplified by a heat pump into heat that’s useful in a home. A backyard that’s large enough for the pipes is required, which may rule it out as an option for some homes.

Lincoln Park Row House

Our mission is to empower individuals, businesses, and communities to embrace sustainable practices that protect our planet and ensure a brighter tomorrow for generations to come. Homeowners can dramatically improve their eco-friendly practices by implementing these changes, major and tiny, leading to a more sustainable and greener way of living. Having a recycling bin makes you more conscious of the importance of recycling goods such as glass bottles, jars, and paper. Place trash and recyclables bins in different rooms, not just the kitchen, to increase your recycling efforts. Items that could be recycled are frequently abandoned in home offices and bathrooms due to the hassle of having to transport them to distant receptacles. Inspect areas such as behind cabinets regularly to detect any alcoholism small, clear drippings.