Living in a green and eco-friendly home means you’re paying attention to the environment and saving the planet, but also exploring some sustainable and appealing changes as well. Somewhere between practicality and altruism, you too can introduce a couple of changes into your home and make it much better and greener than it ever was, elevating the level of eco-friendliness in your area and inspiring your friends and neighbours to do the same in their homes as well. Together, we can protect Mother Earth and preserve it for the generations to come, so here are a couple of ideas that are going to make your home green, sustainable and healthy today!
Utilize solar power
This might be the oldest idea in the book, but it’s still highly effective and amazing on more levels than one. If you live in a hot area with lots of sunny days, you just have to utilize all that solar power that’s already available to you and turn it into electricity you can use in your home. Keep in mind that you have to invest some money first and pay for proper installation and maintenance of your solar panels, but you’ll start saving a ton of electricity and cash almost immediately after that. Fortunately, this option isn’t limited just to the people living in the hottest regions in the world, since the biggest solar power fans come from countries like Germany, Italy and China, so this idea combines technology and sustainability, taking both to a whole new level.
Recycle, recycle, recycle
No matter what sort of home renovation you’re planning, you’re surely facing huge problems with all that furniture and materials you don’t need anymore. However, throwing this away is neither sustainable nor green, so you have to find an alternative. Donating your unwanted things to charity might be a much better solution that could help lots of people who are furnishing or renovating their own homes and can’t afford new supplies. Alternatively, you can repurpose and reupholster some of your furniture pieces and thus avoid purchasing new ones, which is a win-win solution, knowing how green and eco-friendly using second-hand materials really is.
Check your HVAC system
No matter where you live and what climate you prefer, everyone needs a great system that’s going to control the heating, ventilation and air conditioning in their home, which is why millions of homes all around the world rely on amazing HVAC systems that do all their work for them. Nevertheless, not all of these systems are completely eco-friendly, so you might want to fine-tune yours if you want to experience its full potential. Adding a programmable thermostat might do the trick, but more and more people are deciding to simply replace dated HVAC systems in their homes and install new ones instead. This way, they’ll be able to regulate their interior temperature more adequately, minimize their use of electricity and save lots of money in the long run, so it’s definitely an idea to explore.
Control your light
No matter how big your home is, it’s surely full of light bulbs that might not seem so dangerous, but are actually among the biggest enemies of your home budget. They use too much power and cost too much money, yet are still unable to illuminate your home adequately; that’s why you need to do two things – start opening your windows more frequently, and install LED bulbs. The reason for this is quite simple: the natural light is the best source of light in the world and you should rely on it as much as you can, while those LED bulbs use up to 80% less energy than your regular incandescent bulbs and can last up to ten years!
Ban smoking
Do you know that second-hand smoke is just as dangerous and unhealthy as mainstream smoke and can lead to some serious illnesses, including cancer, heart attack and stroke, even resulting in death? That means your home and your body are under attack even if you don’t smoke yourself, but still let other people light a cigarette in your living space. No matter how unpleasant that may be, you have to ban smoking from your home and ask all your guests to take their habit outside. This way, you’ll minimize indoor air pollution and save your family from toxic chemicals that are released during smoking, so this decision is going to make you all healthier and greener.
Of course, these aren’t the only ways to make your home greener and some of the other sustainable ideas include growing indoor plants, turning your appliances off when you’re not using them, installing low-flow faucets and shower heads, recycling your waste and making your own cleaning supplies instead of using store-bought options that are toxic and could harm your health and your home at the same time.
