Make a difference and work towards saving the planet while increasing the value of your home by making it more green. Here are eight small changes that you can implement for a more environmentally friendly living space.
With many climate-related events occurring globally, it is important to take a look at the impact our actions have on the planet. Living more sustainably can be as simple as making some small changes to make your home more environmentally friendly.
1. Revisit Your Product Choices
We do not often think about the eco-impact of a product as we pick up another bottle of detergent or cleaning solution. As soon as these products leave the bottle and enter the water supply, they leave an impact on the planet.
Try opting for eco-friendlier brands, naturally based products, and stay aware of brands that practice greenwashing, promoting products that use misleading environmental marketing, misdirection, and the prioritise profit over sustainability.
Soda bicarbonate and lemon juice or vinegar is a great compound that can be used to scrub your spaces and clean off stains. For personal hygiene, try natural oils, locally sourced skincare, organic toothpaste and rinses, and reusable ear swabs.
2. Switch to Green Plumbing
Items like low-flow toilets and showers, polymer-based plumbing materials, and eco-friendly taps help reduce water wastage without breaking the bank.
3. Optimise Your Laundry System
Use Cold Water
Between 75% and 90% of the energy involved in doing a load of laundry goes into heating the water alone, so reducing your usage will help your bills and the earth. This not only relieves the energy needed to heat water, but also saves your clothes some wear and tear and keeps colours vibrant.
Air Dry Your Clothes
While you are saving money and energy from not using your dryer unit, you are also giving your laundry a break from the damage and roughness of a tumble in the heat. Line drying your clothes in the sun gives a fresh smell and reduces wrinkles.
4. Reuse & Recycle
Possibly the most well-known way to maintain an environmentally friendly household is recycling. Installing a simple, easy-to-use recycling system is crucial to reducing plastic pollution.
Also, turning your food waste into fertiliser for your plants by composting is an easy way to repurpose your kitchen scraps.
You can easily install a rainwater collection system outside your home. These bucket and spout systems collect and store rainwater from outside of your house, and allow you to reuse it later.
5. Go Green
Decorate your space with plants! This is a great way to spruce up a room while cleaning your air. Keep them watered with reused water and you have all the sustainable décor you could want.
6. Solar Paneling
Avoid coal and natural gas-fueled energy by instead storing energy from the sun to power your home. Solar panels do not usually fully replace energy providers, but they can go a long way. For those who do not have the option to install their own power sources, choosing to live in a more energy efficient building will be both cost effective and sustainable. Australia is home to many sustainability startups promoting solar power and efficient energy usage.
Properties that have solar power installed spend an average of 50% less time for sale on the market, the addition of solar panels increasing the value of your home by up to US$20,000.
7. Non-toxic Carpets
Protect your health with eco-friendly carpet options. Besides being aesthetically, non-toxic carpets can also absorb more heat, lowering your energy bill costs.
8. Tankless Water Heaters
Traditionally, water heaters hold gallons of water at a controlled temperature. Modern tankless heaters only use energy when you need it. They work by running water over hot coils on its way to your pipes. Tankless water heater options can not only lower your bills, but can also free up valuable storage space.
There are so many ways to be more environmentally friendly, and only so much you can do at one time. However, any green upgrades you can make will be kinder to the planet and kinder to your wallet.
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