Making your home more eco-friendly is a great way to live a more sustainable lifestyle. Eco-friendly products are those that have minimal impact on the environment. When building a sustainable home from the ground up, you can design it with the environment in mind. Many builders, architects and interior designers specialize in green architecture. However, properly insulating your home can prevent the dissipation of heat, thereby reducing your energy consumption. You can do this by opting for double-glazed walls, windows, and roofs.
Choose an air pump or underfloor heating
It’s also a good idea to look into any government incentives that might be offered to individuals who switch to solar energy. Starting your organic garden, whether in your backyard or through community gardening efforts, is an environmentally beneficial How to make your home more environmentally friendly method of producing food. This method reduces carbon emissions while simultaneously improving soil health over time. You may immediately decrease plastic waste and ensure the freshness and organic nature of your food by growing it at home.
Energy Star Appliances & Equipment
Living off the grid may be a good option for those looking to embrace sustainable lifestyles. Learn more about how to live off the grid with our complete guide. Some home improvements can save homeowners money on energy and home repairs. Discover the best money-saving home improvements that’ll ease your utility bills. Look for cleaning products in sustainable, biodegradable packaging without harsh additives, or make your own. You can scroll through tons of recipes for DIY eco-friendly cleaning products, like nontoxic laundry detergent, on Pinterest and other sites.
Tinker with Your Toilet
Heating and cooling our homes accounts for more than half of our total energy usage, so it’s a logical place to target for reductions. Cultivating herbs, flowers, vegetables, fruits, and other plants in your backyard or on a windowsill has many benefits. Plants clean the air and provide a habitat for pollinating insects that are essential to all ecosystems. Growing plants can also strengthen your relationship with nature, allowing you to better appreciate the splendor of life, and ultimately turn you into a stronger advocate for the planet.
Go Electric
You will have no trouble finding plumbing fixtures that use water at lower flow rates. Most smart home systems also allow you to monitor the amount of energy you use, helping you to live more efficiently and use less electricity. You may even decide to build your home in a certain location https://ecosoberhouse.com/ based on the local building materials that are available. Using pesticides can cause toxins to leak into streams, ponds, lakes, and wells, and can contaminate groundwater. Pesticides are not only dangerous to the environment and our health, but also pets and other wild animals.
The Secrets of Green Living How-To Guides for a Sustainable Lifestyle
- Some people believe that building a green home is the only way to really reduce their carbon footprint – the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions they generate.
- The shape and size of your roof can also constitute effective passive design.
- Because the sun is lower in winter than it is in summer, the right amount of roof overhang will block harsh rays in summer while letting the light in during winter.
- “They connect to your existing plumbing using the provided adapter and hose in a matter of minutes.” Electric models require a nearby outlet.
A further eco heating option is an air source heat pump, or a mini split system, which can be ideal if you’re converting your home from an oil heating system. ‘Making a home energy efficient and all-electric (e.g., converting from natural gas and fuel oil) is a great step and also improves indoor air quality.’ says Whitman. With air source heat pumps, heat from the air gets absorbed into a fluid, which causes it to become a gas, which is then compressed, raising its temperature, and this is transferred into the heating system. Bear in mind that a well insulated, air tight home is required if you’re to use an air source heat pump. Living a sustainable lifestyle doesn’t have to be complex or expensive. It can save you money in the long run while also allowing you to make an environmental difference.
Incorporate recycled materials into your design
After all, «the global food system is responsible for around a third of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions—not to mention, half of the planet’s habitable land is used to produce food,» she continues. LED light bulbs consume up to 90% less energy, reduce your electricity consumption, and last longer. They can provide up to 10,000 hours of light, which equals two to four times more than many standard bulbs. Pesticide use can contaminate water, threatening local aquatic systems as well as the wider ecosystem. These chemicals are harmful not only to ecosystems and human health but also to pets and wildlife. To keep a healthy garden without using chemicals, use practices like companion planting, frequent crop rotation, and promoting plant health to boost natural pest resistance.
- Harvesting rainwater can provide a long-term answer to gardening problems.
- Even if your home is newer than that, insulation technology has come a long way in the last few decades, so it’s worth looking into whether your home’s current insulation is doing its job.
- Of course, not all prefab homes are as kind to the environment as others – check out our guide to the best eco-friendly prefab homes.
- When it comes to everyday home decor, try to purchase from companies committed to environmental responsibility.
- I’ll often get a beautiful vintage piece refurbished or reupholstered, to ensure it remains in use for many years to come,” she says.