As we discover more about how the planet works and what is hurting it, more people are becoming environmentally aware and keen to do what they can to protect the earth. Although this is not always easy outside of the home due to restrictions and other people’s and corporation’s rules, when you are in your own home there is a lot you can do. If everyone were to do at least some of these things, the planet would be much healthier for it. Here are some ways that you can be environmentally friendly in your home.
Save Water
When you think of all the ways you can help the planet from your home, water might be something that you forget to include. It is always there, something that barely any of us really think about, and yet it is vitally important to the planet and to our own health. It is also vitally important that we save as much water as we can and stop wasting it. The more we can save, the more environmentally friendly our homes can be (and as a benefit, we will also save money and stop paying for water that we’re literally flushing away).
It doesn’t take much to make these important changes. Simply by remembering to turn the tap off when you are brushing your teeth, or to use your dishwasher only with a full load in it, or even by installing a showerhead specifically designed to offer a lower flow, you can save many thousands of liters of water each year.
Know What You’re Using
If you don’t know how much energy you’re using within your home, it will be all but impossible to change your lifestyle for the better and know that you are using less. The heating and cooling in your home is one of the biggest ways that energy can be used, and it is crucial that you are aware of exactly how much you are using. Once you can see this, it will also be easier to remember to turn the heating down – or even off – when you need to rather than leaving it on all the time, for example, and you will be more likely to switch lights off when you are leaving the room.
Use Energy Efficient Bulbs
Everyone needs to use lightbulbs, even though they use a fair amount of energy. No one is suggesting that everyone needs to go back to using candles to light their way. However, if you can switch from standard bulbs to energy efficient ones, you can use your lighting without feeling guilty or worrying that you are causing harm to the planet. Energy efficient lightbulbs make a lot of sense because they use less electricity when they are on, but they also last longer, meaning you don’t have to buy some many – and you’ll save money because of that too.
Install Solar Panels
Solar panels are perhaps the biggest change that you can make to your home if you want it to be more environmentally friendly, and they might be the most expensive change too. However, the idea with solar panels is that they will eventually make enough energy to start paying you back because you can sell that energy on to the providers. This means that if you take out a Bonsai Finance loan to pay for the solar panels, you might even find that the panels one day pay for at least some of the repayments for you. Even if they don’t pay you back financially, the help they are offering to the planet is well worth considering.
Talk To The Experts
If you want to be more environmentally friendly within your home but you don’t know where to start, talk to the experts about what you can do. You might find that there is a local sustainability consultant near to you who can help, for example, or perhaps there are talks and workshops being produced that you can attend in order to learn more. If there is no one you can talk to in person, take a look online. There will be all kinds of forums that you can join where you can discuss the different ways to be more energy efficient and environmentally friendly,and you might discover things you never knew before.
Use Natural Cleaning Products
Having a clean house is something that many people want, and to achieve this end, they buy many different chemical cleaners. The result is that their houses are spotlessly clean, but that the planet is suffering. The harsh chemicals within these cleaners have a massively negative impact on the environment, especially when they go into the water supply. When this happens, the water needs to be purified more before it can be used which takes extra energy, plus the chemicals are harmful to the wildlife and fish.
It is far better to use natural cleaning products that have no chemicals in them. You can now find some of these natural products on the shelves in grocery stores, but if you really want to be extra environmentally friendly (and save money) you can make your own with products that you probably already have around the house such as vinegar, baking soda, and lemon juice.
Insulate Your Home
The best way to save energy in your home (thus making it more environmentally friendly) is to use as little as you can, and ensuring that you have the right levels of good quality insulation installed will help you to achieve this goal. When you have good insulation, your home is better able to keep the heat inside it, and this means you aren’t using lots of energy to keep your house warm, replacing the heat that is escaping through poor insulation.
You can insulate the walls and ceilings, and you can install double glazed windows to stop your heat from leaking out through the panes of glass. Plus, if you have any hardwood flooring, then rugs can help to keep your home more energy efficient, warmer, and less expensive to run.
