You're not alone if you're currently considering how environmentally friendly your home is. Whether you feel you're doing as much as you can to be sustainable or struggle to incorporate eco-friendly solutions into your daily life, there is much to think about regarding the subject of sustainability.
In this article, we will delve into the five quickest and easiest ways that you can improve how eco-friendly your home is. We aim to help you lower your household's carbon footprint and work toward becoming more energy efficient with renewable energy sources and sustainable materials.
It goes without saying that purchasing second-hand produce is better for the environment and helps to reduce waste. One of the main items in any household is furniture, with big furniture such as couches, beds, and tables being a priority. While many find it essential to purchase high-quality and first-hand furniture, sustainable and second-hand furniture can be just as good in quality.
Most sustainable furniture either consists of recycled or natural materials with little environmental impact. The best eco friendly brands will work with local artisans where they are based, ensuring culture and tradition can be implemented in the furniture designs.
Additionally, situating a sustainable brand near artisans will usually go hand in hand with being near farmers, ensuring sustainable materials are harvested correctly. Accurate farming minimizes the impact on the environment and lowers the carbon footprint due to less exportation required to produce the furniture.
Smaller companies often have much lower energy consumption because their products are not mass-produced like larger companies. Therefore, finding a company that works with local artisans and farmers to produce bespoke furniture from recycled materials is likely the best way for you to add furnishings to your home with minimal environmental impact.
Eco friendly homes don't need to be void of endearing home decor, and plants can actually have multiple health and environmental benefits. Plants absorb carbon dioxide, ensuring the air in your home is fresh, acting as a subtle way of air conditioning without excess energy. So, not only do plants look great, but they are an excellent way to reduce energy consumption and improve the air quality of your house.
Installing solar panels is one of the best and most powerful ways to incorporate renewable energy into your home. Environmental and energy efficiency benefits aside, solar panels are a great way to save money.
Solar panels absorb heat and sunlight, which is then converted into usable energy which powers household electrics efficiently. Of course, there are misconceptions surrounding solar power regarding if power can be generated on cloudy days. However, as long as you are situated in an area with substantial daylight hours and weather conditions that aren't extreme, your solar panels will work efficiently. Thus, saving you money on your energy bills and helping you take a step further to becoming an eco friendly house.
It can be challenging to reduce your household waste, especially if you live with many others and find yourself often chucking out fresh produce or food that has gone out of date. While this may not seem like a huge issue initially, food waste has a hugely negative impact on the environment, with landfill waste increasing yearly.
Therefore, implementing small ways to ensure your food can be preserved for longer will significantly help. Whether you make a more specific plan regarding your household's grocery shopping habits or invest in items such as a breadbox to preserve essential grains such as bread, there are plenty of ways that you can combat an excess level of food waste.
Whether we choose to admit it or not, we've all bought from a company that isn't sustainable at least once in our lives. It's easier said than done to be 100% eco friendly, and it requires you to apply a much stricter level of thought to your shopping habits.
If you are thinking of making a large furniture or household purchase, the best thing you can do is to delve into the ethos of your chosen company. Suppose the company you are looking at doesn't appear to have sufficient information regarding how they are striving to do their best for the environment. In that case, you can take this as a hint that being eco friendly isn't a priority to them.
Instead, you are looking for companies with an entire section dedicated to their ethos, assuring you that they are striving toward being more eco-friendly. Information regarding tracking their carbon footprint when shipping products is essential, along with insights into how they support their workers and source materials.
Another element to making eco friendly purchases for your household is to ensure they are made from durable material. If you buy a dining room table that isn't durable and will only last a few years, you will need to purchase a new one in a shorter period. Purchasing low-quality and bad durability items equate to more waste, which is incredibly costly for consumers.
Instead, focusing your attention on the materials used by companies and how durable these materials are will ensure your item is long-lasting. Reclaimed wood, such as teak wood, is one of the most durable types of wood, so looking out for this material could be helpful.
Portella
February 26, 2024
When discussing sustainable materials, I think it’s important to highlight steel, particularly for windows and doors. Not only do steel doors and windows have a long life, but they also boost a home’s energy efficiency quite a bit. It’s worth noting, especially, the benefits of thermally broken steel doors and windows. This technology really steps up the game in terms of insulating homes, cutting down on energy loss, and helping us live more eco-friendly. In this article, you can read more about thermally broken windows and doors and decide whether you need it: https://portella.com/blog/thermally-broken-windows-worth-it/.