Wondering how to be more environmentally friendly at home when redesigning spaces? Maximizing natural light and using recycled materials are fantastic starting points. Consider relocating spaces such as offices or dining rooms to more light-filled locations. It is also critical to maintain clean windows along with functioning window coverings to let in as much light as possible. Increased insulation of your home’s barriers ensures that heat does not escape during the colder months. Consider cotton sheets instead of materials such as sheep’s wool and fiberglass.
Grow Your Own Food
What changes will you commit to for a greener home? Your actions today can influence the environment for future generations. Pesticides can harm beneficial insects and wildlife. Instead of chemicals, use natural methods to manage pests.
Choosing Eco-friendly Products
You could try new habits that focus on how you use what you already have or how you get rid of things if those changes feel easier to you. Here’s more about starting new sustainable habits with disposal first. Here’s the thing about sustainable living that often gets overshadowed by our consumption-driven culture. Sustainable living is a mindset as much as (and probably more than) a series of lifestyle habits and swaps. Green cleaning products use more natural and organic methods of cleaning which are far less harmful.
Avoid Single-Use Plastics
You can reduce your food waste by saving some scraps like apple cores, bread crusts, or fruit peels to compost. Many people head to the grocery store with a vague idea of what they want but end up coming home with much more than they needed. This can create a lot of wasted food that doesn’t get eaten.
Compost Organic Waste
Many electronic devices, including televisions, microwaves, scanners, and printers, use standby power to save warm-up time even when not in use. Use power strips for these devices to simplify plugging and unplugging (Peters, 2019). When it’s not possible to avoid packaging, reuse containers, what is alcoholism polystyrene (styrofoam) fillers, and bubble wrap, or see if your local shipping service can use them. After reducing and reusing, the third-best alternative is recycling (Peters, 2019). As technology adapts to different scenarios, many different products can be used to take notes.
- Each choice—to fix a leak, to compost your scraps, to choose a durable product over a disposable one—is a powerful act.
- You can download offline maps onto your phone so that even when you have no internet abroad, you can still get around easily (Lucy, 2021).
- They come in various colors and brightness levels.
- Eco friendly soap doesn’t hurt the planet so palm free oils and natural ingredients are the way to go.
- In today’s digital age, we can cut down on paper by storing information on our computers instead of printing it.
If you care about the environment and want to cut down on carbon emissions, consider leaving the car behind, how to be more environmentally friendly at home start biking or walking, and use public transportation. When more folks use buses or trains, there are fewer cars on the road and less pollution. You can also opt to carpool with friends or coworkers. Begin by running a few errands on weekends and gradually increase the time you spend without using your car. Meat and dairy products account for a considerable amount of the greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture. Energy-efficient light bulbs last up to 12 times longer than traditional ones, giving the same quality of light with much less energy.
Plastic-Free Living
Another benefit of LED bulbs that is often overlooked is the amount of heat they emit. In her spare time, she’s a serial library book borrower, a messy gardener, and a mom of two boys who spends a lot of time in hockey rinks and on baseball fields. I’d love to hear other ideas you might add to this list. I’d love to help you overcome your obstacles and find ways to incorporate more eco-friendly habits into your everyday. This is pretty straightforward (and it’s good for your budget).
Switching to environmentally friendly cleaning solutions reduces environmental damage and usually contains mild substances. Though some organic cleansers are more expensive, making your cleaning solution from common household items can be both ecological and cost-effective. Air travel in particular contributes to climate change, and so do all of the vehicles on roads worldwide. Whenever you can, walk, bike, or take public transportation to curb air pollution and global warming emissions. And when it’s time to go on vacation, choosing locally owned hotels, organic restaurants, and green businesses can help minimize your travel footprint. Using a clothesline to dry clothes is an eco-friendly alternative to energy-consuming dryers.