Going Green: 5 Tips for an Eco-Friendly Home

The average U.S household creates a carbon footprint of 48 metric tons per year. That’s 48 tons of greenhouse gases that your home emits into the environment with disastrous effects. Don’t start fretting just yet. There is a lot that you can do about it. You have the power to drastically reduce your home’s carbon footprint by introducing some new habits and installations. So, how do you make an eco-friendly home? Keep reading for five tips on how to be a green household.

 

1. Reuse and Recycle for a Sustainable Home

This is one of the most basic eco-friendly tips for your home. Before you chuck something away, consider if it has a use, give it a second chance at life! That old shirt makes a fantastic cleaning rag, for example. Reuse as much as you can to avoid buying new products and make the most of the ones you have.

And of course…recycle. Don’t just recycle, be a superhero recycler. Avoid buying products that can’t be recycled and ensure you wash out all of your recyclable products.

2. Grow Your Own Greens

Start dabbling in growing your own food. Urban farming has become massively popular, so if you’re an apartment-dweller there’s no excuse!

Start by growing your favorite herb and some easy veggies, such as lettuce. Move on from there, one day you may have a self-sufficient vegetable garden.

 

 

3. Choose Clean Energy

This is one of the most important changes you can make to develop a more eco-friendly home.

Solar energy is the cleanest energy you can choose, with the least impact on the environment and infinite power to harvest.

Consider installing solar panels or using a solar generator.

4. Reduce Water Usage

Water is the critical source of life, and it’s not abundant or infinite. Creating a sustainable home needs to include working to reduce your water usage.

Turn off the taps when you brush your teeth, choose a shower over a bath, and most importantly — reuse water. Rather than just letting the tap run while it heats up, collect the water and use it to water your plant or pop it in reusable water bottles to put in the fridge.

5. Use Energy-Efficient Lightbulbs

Are your light bulbs energy efficient? Probably not. An easy, albeit quite expensive, way to make your home more sustainable is to replace your current bulbs with energy-efficient options.

Because most light bulbs can’t be recycled, only replace them when they’ve stopped working. Choose CFLs or LEDs for a whopping 60=80% less energy consumption than regular bulbs

Do You Have an Eco-Friendly Home?

Do you recycle and reuse whatever you can? Are you thinking about choosing alternative energy options? Or perhaps you have already. If you’re concerned that you don’t have an eco-friendly home, don’t worry, there are easy changes you can make to be a more sustainable household. Start with these five tips.

Did you find this post interesting? Our site is full of awesome content covering a range of fascinating topics — keep exploring for more.