Looking at big, shiny solar panels on rooftops, you may think that being eco-friendly is an expensive investment, however, in reality, it doesn’t take loads of money and effort to make your home more eco-friendly.
Before you decide to ring up a property maintenance professional, here are some environmentally friendly home ideas you can do yourself to help the planet.
In G20 countries across 2018, there was a 10% increase in electricity generated by wind power and a huge 24% increase in electricity from solar power, according to energy data collected.
Based on figures like these, it seems the world is improving its carbon footprint every day, and you can do your bit too – it’s easier than you might think!
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Water usage
Even though this isn’t directly related to electricity or fossil fuels, saving water is still very important. Firstly, you can limit the amount of water you use on a daily basis.
Ways to do this could be by taking showers instead of baths, not running the tap whilst you’re brushing your teeth and by fitting tap flow regulators to reduce the stream of water coming out of your tap.
Another good way to save water in your home is to fit a Hippo bag inside your toilet’s cistern. This will cause the toilet to fill up with less water for the next flush, saving the planet water and saving you money.
Using and reusing water
Water can also be recycled – watering your plants with ‘dirty water’ that has been used for something else before will ensure that no water is wasted. If you want to get more sophisticated with recycling water, you can install a special gutter system that collects rainwater for you to use.
How water is used is also important. For example, using cold water instead of hot water is a great way to save energy. You can do this by washing your clothes with special bioagents that activate at lower temperatures.
Water has a high specific heat capacity, meaning it takes a lot of energy to heat up even a cubic centimeter of water, so by using cold water for washes and cleaning, you’ll not waste energy.
Cutting down on Electricity
Saving electricity is one of the best suggestions for environmentally friendly home ideas as it can save a lot of energy. A good place to start is to employ the 15-minute rule when it comes to lights.
This means that when you’re leaving a room, if you’re going to be back in under 15 minutes, you should leave the light on, but if you’re going to be out for more than 15 minutes, you should switch the light off to save power.
Another method for saving electricity is buying LED light bulbs as they may be more expensive, but they last much longer than incandescent bulbs – around 50,000 hours (or at least 10 years with regular use).
Recycling
If you’re looking for something easy from the selection of environmentally friendly home ideas, recycling is the one for you.
If the area you live in doesn’t already have recycling bins, make your own. Get a box, a small bin or even a carrier bag, and start separating your waste into recyclable and non-recyclable.
Recycling must typically be dry (like newspapers and empty bottles) and not contaminated with food product or non-recyclable material.
Products that can typically be recycled include glass bottles, paper, cardboard, metal, tin cans, and textiles.
Outside the house
Solutions for how to make your home more eco friendly don’t just have to be in the house – you can make some changes outside too.
Getting a compost pile in your garden is a great way to dispose of food waste and other green items. Compost piles are great for wildlife like insects and worms and will help the environment in your garden.
More expensive options
If you’re looking to splash out on some environmentally friendly home ideas, there are some cool options you can go for.
Solar panels are a good investment as, even though they are expensive, they will save you money in the long run. They work by sunlight hitting a photosensitive surface to generate electricity.
Solar panels are silent, require little maintenance and can generate electricity even when it’s cloudy.
You can also install small wind turbines for the roof of your property to generate electricity. They come in many shapes and sizes but can be more expensive than some solar panels.
In conclusion
As you can see, it doesn’t take all that much to help do your part for the environment. Whether it be something small like using collected water to keep your plants healthy or something bigger like installing solar panels, you’ll be able to rest easy knowing you’re helping out to save the planet.
